Religion, nationalism, and gender: Perspective from South Asia

2020 ◽  
pp. 205789111989852
Author(s):  
Nandini Deo
Keyword(s):  
Sri Lanka ◽  
South Asia ◽  
Religious Community ◽  
Religious Fundamentalism ◽  
Woman Question ◽  
Review Of The Literature ◽  
The Creation ◽  
And Gender ◽  
British Colonies

Religious mobilization often takes the form of engagement with “the woman question”: how should women as carriers of culture comport themselves? This article shows that many of the debates over the role of women and religion in South Asia are misunderstood when they are seen as instances of religious fundamentalism. Rather, the theoretical framework to make sense of public religion and gender debates should be through the lens of postcolonial nationalism. The creation and consolidation of the nation is what is at stake—not the creation of the religious community as such. In order to make this argument, the article offers both a review of the literature on secularism and gender as well as short case studies from India, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. These three former British colonies have each struggled to arrive at a secular settlement and often the contestation over the place of religion has centered on the rules and roles of women in these societies.

The Role of Music and Allied Arts in Public Writings on Cultural Diversity: “People of Sri Lanka”

2020 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
pp. 93-100
Author(s):  
Gisa Jähnichen
Keyword(s):  
Sri Lanka ◽  
Cultural Diversity ◽  
South Asia ◽  
Case Studies ◽  
Sri Lankan ◽  
Culturally Different ◽  
The World ◽  
Official Languages ◽  
The Way

The Sri Lankan Ministry of National Coexistence, Dialogue, and Official Languages published the work “People of Sri Lanka” in 2017. In this comprehensive publication, 21 invited Sri Lankan scholars introduced 19 different people’s groups to public readers in English, mainly targeted at a growing number of foreign visitors in need of understanding the cultural diversity Sri Lanka has to offer. This paper will observe the presentation of these different groups of people, the role music and allied arts play in this context. Considering the non-scholarly design of the publication, a discussion of the role of music and allied arts has to be supplemented through additional analyses based on sources mentioned by the 21 participating scholars and their fragmented application of available knowledge. In result, this paper might help improve the way facts about groups of people, the way of grouping people, and the way of presenting these groupings are displayed to the world beyond South Asia. This fieldwork and literature guided investigation should also lead to suggestions for ethical principles in teaching and presenting of culturally different music practices within Sri Lanka, thus adding an example for other case studies.

scholarly journals Historical, Socio-cultural and International Political Preconditions for the Emergence and Formation of the Australian Union

2020 ◽  
pp. 68-90
Author(s):  
I. Vietrynskyi
Keyword(s):  
Industrial Revolution ◽  
Political Processes ◽  
Early Stages ◽  
South Wales ◽  
Australian Continent ◽  
Colonial Empire ◽  
The Status ◽  
The Creation ◽  
British Colonies

The article examines the prerequisites for the creation and early stages of development of the Commonwealth of Australia from the founding of the first European colonies prior to the legal formalization of the federation. Also mentioned are the variability of approaches to the development of Australia’s historiography, in particular from the positions of classical English and modern Australian views. Also, the early stages of the development of the continent that preceded the discovery of Australia by Europeans are considered. It analyzes the wide context of geopolitical processes in Europe in the era of imperialism (XVI-XIX centuries), as well as the circumstances of the formation of large colonial empires. In particular, features of the status, place and role of England in the international political processes of the XVIІ and XVIII centuries are shown, and the stages of the formation of the British colonial empire are also considered. The complex of internal socio-economic as well as foreign policy prerequisites for the beginning of the colonization of Australia by Great Britain is analyzed, in particular the attention paid to the consequences of the British Industrial Revolution XVIII. The stages of formation of the British colonies in Australia, as well as the development of the mainland from the establishment of the first settlement - New South Wales until full control of the continent are investigated. The characteristics of the economic, social, political, demographic and other aspects of the development of Australian colonies are analyzed. The article discusses the evolution of trade and administrative relations between individual colonies, as well as the stages of preparation for the creation of a federation, which was called the Commonwealth of Australia and changed the country's colonial position to the dominion status in the British Empire. Particular attention is paid to the international political processes that accompanied the development of the Australian continent, as well as the role of colonial administrations in regional geopolitical processes, in particular the colonization of New Guinea.

scholarly journals Associations Between Lifestyle Factors And Parkinson’s Disease In An Urban Sri Lankan Clinic Study

10.3823/2516 ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ruwani Wijeyekoon ◽  
Vindika Suriyakumara ◽  
Ranjanie Gamage ◽  
Tharushi Fernando ◽  
Amila Jayasuriya ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Parkinson’S Disease ◽  
Parkinson's Disease ◽  
Sri Lanka ◽  
South Asia ◽  
Lifestyle Factors ◽  
Background Information ◽  
Lifestyle Factor ◽  
Coffee Drinking ◽  
And Gender ◽  
Tea Drinking

Background- Information on lifestyle factors (eg. coffee /tea drinking, smoking) and Parkinson’s Disease(PD) in South Asia is limited. The objective of this study was to determine associations between lifestyle factors and PD in a clinic-based study in Sri Lanka. Methods–Demographic and lifestyle factor data was collected from an unselected cohort of PD patients and age and gender-matched controls attending clinics in Greater Colombo, Sri Lanka. Findings–Of 229 patients with parkinsonism, 144 had Idiopathic PD. Controls numbered 102. Coffee drinkers and smokers were significantly less likely to have PD (coffee, p<0.001; OR=0.264; smoking, p=0.043; OR=0.394). Coffee drinkers were older at PD onset(p<0.001). Similar trends seen with tea drinking were not statistically significant. Conclusions -This is the first formal study of PD and these lifestyle factors in South Asia. It demonstrates an association between coffee drinking, smoking and a decreased prevalence of PD, and coffee drinking and later age of PD onset.  This is in line with other studies done worldwide, suggesting biological associations with global relevance.

The politics of (in)visibility displays: Ultra-Orthodox women manoeuvring within and between visibility regimes

2019 ◽  
Vol 73 (12) ◽  
pp. 1609-1631 ◽  
Author(s):  
Varda Wasserman ◽  
Michal Frenkel
Keyword(s):  
Gender Studies ◽  
Religious Community ◽  
The Other ◽  
High Tech ◽  
Collective Identities ◽  
Jewish Women ◽  
Matrix Of Domination ◽  
And Gender

How does the multiplicity of surveilling gazes affect the experience of employees subjected to a matrix of domination in organisations? Building on a case study of ultra-religious Jewish women in Israeli high-tech organisations, the article demonstrates how the intersectionality of gender and religiosity exposed them to a matrix of contradicting visibility regimes – managerial, peers, and religious community. By displaying their compliance with each visibility regime, they were constructed as hyper-subjugated employees, but simultaneously were able to use (in)visibility as a resource. Specifically, by manoeuvring between the various gazes and playing one visibility regime against the other, they challenged some of the organisational and religious norms that served to marginalise them, yet upheld their status as worthy members of both institutions. Juxtaposing theoretical insights from organisational surveillance and gender studies, the article reveals the role of multiple surveilling gazes in both the reproduction of minorities’ marginalisation, and their ability to mobilise it to maintain their collective identities.

Christian Monasticism in Asia

2020 ◽  
pp. 557-574
Author(s):  
Matteo Nicolini-Zani
Keyword(s):  
Sri Lanka ◽  
Present State ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Creation ◽  
Asian Context

The chapter begins with an overview of the history of Christian monasticism in the various countries of Asia, giving attention to major publications in the field. It reconstructs the process of documenting early foundations and their later evolution, with particular reference to China, Korea, and Sri Lanka. It then considers the ways in which contemporary Western monasticism has responded to the manifold challenges of the Asian context. Two themes are explored: the creation of a distinctive ‘monastic missiology’ for Asia; and the role of some key figures in the historical encounter of Western monastics with their Eastern confrères. The chapter addresses, finally, the present state of Christian monasticism in Asia. It charts the number of Christian monasteries throughout Asia, and it identifies the major issues that now face Christian monasticism there.

scholarly journals Fundamentalism, Revivalists, and Violence in South Asia

1989 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 345-349
Author(s):  
Yusuf Talal DeLorenzo
Keyword(s):  
South Asia ◽  
South Asian ◽  
Religious Fundamentalism ◽  
Sufficient Evidence ◽  
Asian Religions ◽  
University Of Wisconsin ◽  
Human Situation ◽  
Contemporary Reality ◽  
Role Of Religion

The volume under review is essentially a collection of papers presentedat a two-day workshop on the changing division of labor in South Asia heldat the University of Wisconsin in 1984 at which the two major themes werethe emerging role of women; and the “increasingly violent role of religion.”IThe latter theme became the subject of this book.Concerning this subject, the editor, Dr. Bjorkman, writes:“If, then, you have been perplexed about the chronic religiousviolence in contemporary South Asian states, you need search nofurther for relief. The following chapters examine, explore, andexplain aspects of religious fundamentalism, self-righteousrevivalists, and murderous mayhem among the four major faithsof South Asia."Then, evincing his concern for the human situation in the area, and hisown obviously painful experiences there, Dr. Bjorkman continues:“. . . one may justifiably conclude that a no-win situationcharacterizes the South Asian mosaic. Contemporary reality isdepressing, if not gruesome; the daily documentation of death anddestruction, cruelty and carnage, is sufficient evidence thereof?Candidly assessing the objective of his work, Dr. Bjorkman states:“The aim of this book is to uncover some of the socio-politicaltruths disguised by the frequent invocation of “fundamentalist” and“revivalist” claims in contemporary South Asian religions.”And in order to prepare the reader for what lies ahead, the learned editoradds:“One can come away from this volume wringing one’s hands indespair at the utter hopelessness of human foibles. Or one cancatch glimpses of truth and possible points of leverage by whichthe certain slide into anarchy might be arrested and even reversed.Sigmund Freud once wrote: ‘The truths contained in religious doctrinesare after all so distorted and systematically disguised thatthe mass of mankind cannot recognize them as truth (Freud1928 :78) .“Thus, before moving on to even the editor’s introductory chapter, theinterested reader, in the sense of his or her faith or allegiance to one or theother of the four major religions of South Asia, will begin to feel queasyat the prospect of what lies ahead. Many such, I suspect, will put the volumedown and start wringing their own hands at the utter hopelessness of humanfoibles in the guise of Western academic treatments of Eastern affairs of thespirit. But no, gentle reader, dismay not; the volume is not your averagewitch hunt. On the contrary, as food for thought it is immediately engaging,and as an opportunity for self-exam ...

The Post 9-11 US Foreign Policy towards South Asia

2017 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-19
Author(s):  
Sohaib Khaliq
Keyword(s):  
South Asia ◽  
Supply And Demand ◽  
Policy Issue ◽  
Religious Fundamentalism ◽  
Demand Model ◽  
Regional Dynamics ◽  
The Us ◽  
The Usa ◽  
Supply And Demand Model

This study encompasses two of the most important and intricate areas of concern regarding the US policy for South Asia. The first policy issue concerns the balancing of regional geopolitical equation among the three key players—Afghanistan, India and Pakistan. Through a qualitative analytical lens, it is argued here that an effective balancing of regional dynamics can only take place by eliminating the inherent contradiction in two of the current US policies in place—hyphenation and dehyphenation. Decompartmentalising India and Pakistan and viewing the regional geopolitics as an outcome of their mutual interaction could be the first step in simplifying the regional dynamics. The second policy concerns the rise of religious fundamentalism and the potential role of ideological factors. Two propositions are put forward. First, the study provides a potential mechanism based on supply and demand model to understand and accommodate political and ideological factors linked with the rise of violence. Second, in addressing whether and to what extent the USA should commit itself to the ideological warfare, the study provides one promising scenario based on the empirical findings drawn from one of the relatively successful cases of democracy and moderate Islam in the Muslim world.

scholarly journals Business Entrepreneurship And Education

2021 ◽  
Vol 17 (33) ◽  
pp. 211-224
Author(s):  
Pedro Álvaro Correia Pereira ◽  
Irene García Medina ◽  
Patricia Margarida Farias Coelho
Keyword(s):  
Skills Acquisition ◽  
Review Of The Literature ◽  
Endogenous Factors ◽  
Factors Affecting ◽  
Individual Motivation ◽  
Self Employment ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Family ◽  
The Creation

This study is a review of the literature regarding business entrepreneurship and education. The main aim is to study the social and educational factors affecting the creation of self-employment for young people as a contribution to the development of local entrepreneurship, reducing unemployment and leveraging economic development. Of the various social influencers, it was important to understand the role of the family, especially of the parents, in motivating and sustaining the creation of one's own job and in the actions of entrepreneurship. In the same sense, at the educational level, to perceive the consequences of access to new resources that expand and support knowledge and skills acquisition useful for creating one's own job and reducing risk aversion of business activities. Finally, to understand the role of endogenous factors such as intelligence and individual motivation in the pursuit of entrepreneurship activities and their relationship with social and educational influencers.

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