From Toleration to Liberty

Author(s):  
Thomas Kselman

This chapter offers a broad overview of the history of religious liberty in France from the sixteenth to the nineteenth century. Early in this period philosophers such as Montaigne, Bayle, Voltaire, Rousseau, and Constant moved from an understanding of religious liberty as a collective right designed to protect minority religious communities to an increased sensitivity to the right of individuals to make personal religious choices. The chapter situates Article Ten of the Declaration of the Rights of Man (1789), which established religious liberty as a fundamental right, within this historical context. It concludes with an examination of the political theory and constitutional structures of Restoration France that created the space for individuals to realize the right announced in Article Ten.

2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 136-149
Author(s):  
Gilda Silva ◽  
Luiz Alexandre Solano Rossi

Este estudo aborda o profetismo bíblico em Miqueias (Mq 3,9-12). Em uma terra devastada, em que não há mais profetas, justifica-se o resgate do profetismo como missão em denunciar a injustiça e anunciar o direito, mais especificamente em relação aos vulneráveis. O objetivo deste estudo é compreender os atos proféticos de Miqueias, apropriando-se deles como chave de leitura para a atualidade, à luz da História da Salvação, conceituando-se resistência como resgate da relação humana com a terra, enquanto vínculo sagrado com a Promessa de Deus a seu Povo. Este intento será conseguido mediante revisão bibliográfica e aproximação bíblico-teológica, buscando-se a reflexão e a entrega do significado do texto conforme o contexto histórico vivido com as lideranças político-religiosas em Miqueias (Mq 3,9-12). Ao investigar a ruptura da Aliança, a perda da posse da terra e a perda do vínculo como nação em Israel, vividas pelos camponeses contemporâneos a Miqueias, procura-se delimitar a responsabilidade pela relativização do direito à terra, como aliança sagrada e consequente perda da condição de identidade como Povo de Deus. Resultados: O estudo demonstrou a função social do profeta como decodificador do momento histórico, atemporal, levado pela força da indignação, da qual procede sua resistência, não solitária, mas, solidária, amparada no sonho coletivo e comunitário, organizado e possível. Considerações Finais: A pesquisa ampliou a compreensão bíblica e teológica da necessidade do resgate da dignidade humana em periferias urbanas, construindo a cidade justa, fundada na agroecologia urbana e na bem-aventurança da simplicidade. This study speaks about the theme of biblical prophetism in Micah (Mic 3,9-12). In a devastated land, where there are no more prophets, the rescue of prophetism as a mission to denounce injustice and announce the right, more specifically in relation to the vulnerable, is justified. The objective of this study is to understand the prophetic acts of Micah, appropriating them as a key for reading today, in the light of the History of Salvation, conceptualizing resistance as a rescue of the human relationship with the earth, as a sacred connection with the Promise of God to his People. This intent will be achieved through a bibliographic review and a biblical-theological approach, seeking to reflect and rescue the meaning of the text according to the historical context experienced with the political-religious leaders in Micah (Mic 3,9-12). In investigating the rupture of the Alliance, loss of land ownership, loss of the bond as a nation in Israel, experienced by contemporary peasants to Micah, it seeks to delimit the responsibility for the relativization of the right to land as a sacred alliance, and consequent loss of the condition of identity as People of God. Results: The study seeks to demonstrate the social function of the prophet as a decoder of the historical, timeless moment, driven by the force of indignation, from which comes his resistance, not solitary, but, solidary, supported by the collective and community dream, organized and possible. Final Considerations: The research intends to base biblically and theologically the rescue of human dignity in urban peripheries, building the just city, founded on urban agroecology and the bliss of simplicity.


2012 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 245-272
Author(s):  
Dunja Larise

It is generally assumed that the European Muslim brothers derive their concepts of state and society primarily from the traditional Islamic political theory that originated in the historical context of the Muslim Middle East. In contrast, this article asserts the hitherto scantily analyzed influence of liberal political theory, especially its idea of civil society, in the evolution of the political and social theory of the European Muslim Brotherhood within the context of the Muslim minority position in Europe. The article identifies the tendency of the European Muslim brotherhood towards the multiculturalist communitarian model of political and social accommodation, and does this by tracing the history of the conceptual interconnectedness between modern Islamic and liberal concepts of civil society as a privileged space of political action in the absence of realistic prospects for the seizure of state power.


1977 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 252-269 ◽  
Author(s):  
John A. Garrard

This paper represents an attempt to analyse certain aspects of the work on ‘community power’ within a historical context. It begins with a critical review of those writers whose work has included a historical dimension, particularly R. A. Dahl. It is argued that generalizations about the location of power in the past need to go beyond the mere analysis of the background of office-holders, and the consequent search for a socioeconomic ‘élite’. Indeed, such generalizations need to be tested quite as rigorously as any that are made about the present. On the basis of research done on Salford, an attempt is made to suggest a framework for the comparative analysis of the political context within which nineteenth-century urban municipal leaders operated, and by which their power was conditioned.


Author(s):  
Nurit Yaari

This chapter examines the lack of continuous tradition of the art of the theatre in the history of Jewish culture. Theatre as art and institution was forbidden for Jews during most of their history, and although there were plays written in different times and places during the past centuries, no tradition of theatre evolved in Jewish culture until the middle of the nineteenth century. In view of this absence, the author discusses the genesis of Jewish theatre in Eastern Europe and in Eretz-Yisrael (The Land of Israel) since the late nineteenth century, encouraged by the Jewish Enlightenment movement, the emergence of Jewish nationalism, and the rebirth of Hebrew as a language of everyday life. Finally, the chapter traces the development of parallel strands of theatre that preceded the Israeli theatre and shadowed the emergence of the political infrastructure of the future State of Israel.


2010 ◽  
Vol 43 (03) ◽  
pp. 463-466 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elizabeth F. Cohen

In the English constitutional tradition, subjecthood has been primarily derived from two circumstances: place of birth and time of birth. People not born in the right place and at the right time are not considered subjects. What political status they hold varies and depends largely on the political history of the territory in which they reside at the exact time of their birth. A genealogy of early modern British subjecthood reveals that law based on dates and temporal durations—what I will call collectivelyjus tempus—creates sovereign boundaries as powerful as territorial borders or bloodlines. This concept has myriad implications for how citizenship comes to be institutionalized in modern politics. In this article, I briefly outline one route through whichjus tempusbecame a constitutive principle within the Anglo-American tradition of citizenship and how this concept works with other principles of membership to create subtle gradations of semi-citizenship beyond the binary of subject and alien. I illustrate two main points aboutjus tempus: first, how specific dates create sovereign boundaries among people and second, how durational time takes on an abstract value in politics that allows certain kinds of attributes, actions, and relationships to be translated into rights-bearing political statuses. I conclude with some remarks about how, once established, the principle ofjus tempusis applied in a diverse array of political contexts.


2016 ◽  
Vol 26 (2) ◽  
pp. 339-352
Author(s):  
TIMOTHY SCOTT BROWN

‘In Search of Space’ explores the history of Krautrock, a futuristic musical genre that began in Germany in the late 1960s and flowered in the 1970s. Not usually explicitly political, Krautrock bore the unmistakable imprint of the revolt of 1968. Groups arose out of the same milieux and shared many of the same concerns as anti-authoritarian radicals. Their rebellion expressed, in an artistic way, key themes of the broader countercultural moment of which they were a part. A central theme, the article argues, was escape – escape from the situation of Germany in the 1960s in general, and from the specific conditions of the anti-authoritarian revolt in the Federal Republic in the wake of 1968. Mapping Krautrock's relationship to key locations and routes (both real and imaginary), the article situates Krautrock in relationship to the political and cultural upheavals of its historical context.


2016 ◽  
Vol 58 (2) ◽  
pp. 550-576 ◽  
Author(s):  
Assef Ashraf

AbstractThis article uses gift-giving practices in early nineteenth-century Iran as a window onto statecraft, governance, and center-periphery relations in the early Qajar state (1785–1925). It first demonstrates that gifts have a long history in the administrative and political history of Iran, the Persianate world, and broader Eurasia, before highlighting specific features found in Iran. The article argues that the pīshkish, a tributary gift-giving ceremony, constituted a central role in the political culture and economy of Qajar Iran, and was part of the process of presenting Qajar rule as a continuation of previous Iranian royal dynasties. Nevertheless, pīshkish ceremonies also illustrated the challenges Qajar rulers faced in exerting power in the provinces and winning the loyalty of provincial elites. Qajar statesmen viewed gifts and bribes, at least at a discursive level, in different terms, with the former clearly understood as an acceptable practice. Gifts and honors, like the khil‘at, presented to society were part of Qajar rulers' strategy of presenting themselves as just and legitimate. Finally, the article considers the use of gifts to influence diplomacy and ease relations between Iranians and foreign envoys, as well as the ways in which an inadequate gift could cause offense.


1986 ◽  
Vol 13 ◽  
pp. 363-382
Author(s):  
Larry W. Yarak

One of the more perplexing issues in the history of Asante's relations with the Europeans on the nineteenth-century Gold Coast has been that of the origin and significance of the so-called “Elmina Note,” the pay document which authorized the Asantehene to collect two ounces of gold (or its equivalent in trade goods) per month from the Dutch authorities at Elmina. Not only have modern historians of Ghana evidenced no small amount of confusion on this matter, but during 1870/71 the Asantehene, the British, and the Dutch also disagreed strongly over the political significance of the note, as the Dutch negotiated to cede their “possessions” on the Gold Coast to the British. Failure to resolve these disagreements contributed significantly to the Asante decision to invade the British “protected” territories in 1873. This action in turn led to the British invasion of Asante in 1874, which most historians agree constitutes a critical watershed in Asante history. Clearly, the matter of the “Elmina Note” (or kostbrief as it was known to the Dutch) is one of some historical and historiographical importance. An examination of the relevant Dutch, Danish, and British documentation now makes possible a resolution of the major questions concerning its origin and meaning.The debates between the Asante, the British, and the Dutch show that in the later nineteenth century there was considerable agreement over certain issues: first, no one disputed that the Dutch had for some time past paid to the Asantehene (actually to an envoy dispatched by the king to Elmina) a stipend (or kostgeld, as the Dutch termed it) of two ounces of gold per month, or twentyfour ounces per year.


Author(s):  
Sean Hanretta

The concept of culture, in the Boasian sense of the learned, variable, and mutable “structures” underlying “the behavior of the individuals composing a social group collectively and individually,” has played an important role in the production of knowledge about many human societies. This chapter examines two moments in the history of the culture concept as applied to West Africa. First, a moment during the process of the concept's formation in the mid-nineteenth century; second, a moment in the 1950s that revealed the political limits of appeals to culture. Juxtaposing the lives of Edward Wilmot Blyden, the father of Pan-Africanism, and the Ghanaian doctor and poet Raphael Armattoe, one of the first Africans nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize, the chapter illuminates the diverse networks and shifting political valences that shaped the rise, redemption, and circumscription of the culture concept in Africa from colonialism to neoliberalism.


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