scholarly journals Unify Religious and Ethnic Identity: Can it be New Approaches for Community Development in Contemporary China?

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 53-76
Author(s):  
Fatima Yang-Guiping
Keyword(s):  
Community Development ◽  
Minority Groups ◽  
National Development ◽  
Economic Stability ◽  
Contemporary China ◽  
Sustainable Community Development ◽  
The Public ◽  
New Instrument ◽  
Religious Dialogue ◽  
The Public Sphere

Nowadays, religion has continuously been a supposition that separated from the role of development. However, the harmonious co-existence between Islam and Confucianism has been a new trend for sustainable development. Through harmonious dialogue among ethnicity and cultural society, community development issues encouraged all stakeholders to build a balanced life. This study aims to deliberate interpretation of the historical experience of co-existence between Islam and Confucianism amidst common heritage as a new instrument of national development in China. This study uses a historical approach and qualitative methods, in which the article answered scepticism that religions only could produce hatred, conflict, apartheid, and inclusivism. The result shows that made Islam an indispensable part of Chinese civilization. There could contribute to the contemporary global dialogue that is resolving the conflict among religions and nationalists. Instead, there makes strengthen for sustainable community development affected economic stability. The paper concludes that escalating the harmonious co-existence and religious dialogue should be rising in the public sphere as a new trend for sustain and prosperous people with minority groups in contemporary China.

Tolerance and Accommodation

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lori G. Beaman
Keyword(s):  
Public Sphere ◽  
Power Relations ◽  
Minority Groups ◽  
Religious Diversity ◽  
Religious Minorities ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Public Sphere

This chapter problematizes the notions and language of tolerance and accommodation in relation to religious diversity, and traces their genealogy both as legal solutions and as discursive frameworks within which religious diversity is increasingly understood in the public sphere. The problem they pose is that they create a hierarchy of privilege that preserves hegemonic power relations by religious majorities over religious minorities. Tolerance in this context might be imagined as the broadly stated value that we must deal with diversity and those who are different from us by tolerating them. Accommodation might be seen as the implementation of this value—that in order to demonstrate our commitment to tolerance we must accommodate the ‘demands’ of minority groups and those individuals who position themselves or align themselves with minorities.

The Freedom to Exclude: The Case of Israeli Society

2016 ◽  
Vol 49 (2) ◽  
pp. 237-266 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michal Tamir
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Public Sphere ◽  
Minority Groups ◽  
Private Property ◽  
Israeli Society ◽  
Private Sphere ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Law ◽  
The Public Sphere ◽  
The Right

The phenomenon of social exclusion in Israel is a vivid demonstration of the Basic Laws' failure to fulfil their integrative role. Despite the ‘constitutional revolution’ and the Supreme Court's ongoing endeavour over the last two decades to instil a bill of rights through its jurisprudence, Israeli society has failed to fully internalise values of equality. In terms of legal jargon, individuals continue to claim and exercise ‘sole and despotic dominion’ over their private property in order to avoid contact with individuals belonging to certain minority groups. In many cases, such behaviour in the private sphere results in exclusion from the public sphere.This phenomenon is especially astonishing considering the fact that many laws in Israel apply the right of equality to the private sphere. Furthermore, the Israeli Supreme Court has developed comprehensive human rights jurisprudence applicable to the private sphere. The gap between the law in the books and the law in action illustrates that effective implementation of human rights in the private sphere cannot be achieved solely by specific legislation or by jurisprudence that is sensitive to human rights. This argument is backed by several recent bills which preserve and enforce the exclusion of minorities, particularly of Arabs, from the public sphere. These bills illustrate that exclusion is indeed a growing phenomenon in Israeli society that cannot be overlooked. Moreover, they underscore the urgent need to entrench a direct obligation to apply human rights to the private sphere at the constitutional level. This will be achieved only when Israel adopts a full constitution.

scholarly journals Religious Pluralism Discourse in Public Sphere of Indonesia: A Critical Application of Communicative Action Theory to Inter-religious Dialogue

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 158-188
Author(s):  
Sung Min Kim ◽  
J.B. Banawiratma ◽  
Dicky Sofjan
Keyword(s):  
Public Sphere ◽  
Public Discourse ◽  
Religious Pluralism ◽  
Action Theory ◽  
Communicative Action ◽  
Strategic Action ◽  
The Public ◽  
Religious Dialogue ◽  
Validity Claims ◽  
The Public Sphere

This paper examines religious pluralism discourse in post-Reformasi Indonesia. Though there is general consensus about the importance of maintaining inter-religious harmony, there are still various perspectives and arguments on the idealization of dealing with religious diversity in society. The differences are found not only between the advocates and opponents of religious pluralism but also among proponent groups of religious pluralism. This paper looks at how religious organizations for inter-religious harmony struggle for legitimating their religious pluralism ideals in society. In this context, this paper, by using Habermas’ theory of communicative action, focuses on the characteristics of their efforts to communicate with others in the public sphere. It examines inter-faith dialogue done by NGOs’ activities and arguments, focusing on their validity claims for justifying religious pluralism. This paper argues that some conceptions and presuppositions of this theory need to be critically assessed and modified in analyzing these NGOs’ discourse so that it can be appropriately applied to the Indonesian context in which religion has substantial power to influence people’s thoughts and behaviors. Particularly it will point out 1) the problem of universalized rationality, 2) power relation and strategic action, and 3) the role of religious reason in public discourse. [Artikel ini mengkaji diskursus pluralisme agama di era pasca-Reformasi Indonesia. Meski ada kesepakatan akan pentingnya membangun harmoni lintas agama, tapi pada tataran praktiknya masih ada pelbagai perspektif dan argumentasi dalam menyikapi keanekaragaman agama dalam masyarakat. Perbedaan ini tidak hanya ditemukan di kalangan mereka yang kontra, tapi juga di kalangan mereka yang pro pluralisme agama. Artikel ini bermaksud meneliti bagaimana organisasi agama yang memperjuangkan harmoni lintas agama berjuang memancang ide-ide ideal mereka terkait pluralisme agama di masyarakat. Dalam konteks ini, penelitian ini mengacu pada teori communicative action-nya Habermas dan fokus memantau karakteristik organisasi-organisasi tersebut dalam berinteraksi satu sama lain di ruang publik. Artikel ini bermaksud menguji sejauh mana dialog antar-agama dilakukan oleh organisasi-organisasi ini, terutama validitas klaim mereka dalam menjustifikasi pluralisme agama. Artikel ini berargumen bahwa konsepsi dan asumsi dari teori-teori tersebut perlu ditinjau ulang secara kritis untuk bisa diterapkan dalam konteks Indonesia, di mana agama masih memiliki kekuatan potensial untuk mempengaruhi pemikiran dan perilaku masyarakat. Secara khusus artikel ini akan membahas 1) problem rasionalitas universal, 2) relasi kuasa dan aksi strategis, serta 3) peran logika agama di ruang (diskursus) publik.

Colonial rule and the rise of African politics (1930–1963)

2020 ◽  
pp. 28-42
Author(s):  
Derek R. Peterson
Keyword(s):  
Public Sphere ◽  
Minority Groups ◽  
Colonial Rule ◽  
African Politics ◽  
Ancient History ◽  
The Public ◽  
Common Purpose ◽  
Political Borders ◽  
The Public Sphere ◽  
Ways Of Life

This chapter explores how colonial Kenya’s African politicians cultivated intimacy—a feeling of common purpose and shared destiny—among disparate and divided people. Early African activists exerted a custodial authority over their people’s language, culture, and morality. They sought to amend decorum and conduct even as they represented their people’s interests in the public sphere. The second part of the chapter describes how, in the context of Kenya’s imminent independence, minority groups sought to reincorporate communities that had been separated by political borders. Convinced that majority rule was a mortal threat to their unique ways of life, minorities worked to convince British authorities to alter the shape of Kenya. That is why, as Kenya moved into a new epoch, there was a florescence of irredentisms, a revival of forgotten traditions, and a plumbing of ancient history.

Institutional listening in deliberative democracy: Towards a deliberative logic of transmission

Politics ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 026339572110606
Author(s):  
Mary F Scudder ◽  
Selen A Ercan ◽  
Kerry McCallum
Keyword(s):  
Deliberative Democracy ◽  
Political Institutions ◽  
Minority Groups ◽  
The United States ◽  
United States Senate ◽  
Royal Commission ◽  
Formal Institutions ◽  
The Public ◽  
Institutional Responses ◽  
The Public Sphere

This article explores the role of institutional listening in deliberative democracy, focusing particularly on its contribution to the transmission process between the public sphere and formal institutions. We critique existing accounts of transmission for prioritizing voice over listening and for remaining constrained by an ‘aggregative logic’ of the flow of ideas and voices in a democracy. We argue that formal institutions have a crucial role to play in ensuring transmission operates according to a more deliberative logic. To substantiate this argument, we focus on two recent examples of institutional listening in two different democracies: Australia’s Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse and the United States’ Senate Judiciary Committee’s confirmation hearing for Supreme Court nominee, Brett Kavanaugh. These cases show that institutional listening can take different forms; it can be purposefully designed or incidental, and it can contribute to the realization of deliberative democracy in various ways. Specifically, institutional listening can help enhance the credibility and visibility of minority groups and perspectives while also empowering these groups to better hold formal political institutions accountable. In these ways, institutional listening helps transmission operate according to a more deliberative logic.

scholarly journals The Face Of Islam After The 2019 Presidential Election: Democracy And The Challenge Of Dialogue

Dialog ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 43 (2) ◽  
pp. 265-274
Author(s):  
Muhammad Radya Yudantiasa
Keyword(s):  
Public Sphere ◽  
Presidential Election ◽  
Descriptive Analysis ◽  
Religious Leaders ◽  
The Public ◽  
Library Research ◽  
Religious Dialogue ◽  
The Face ◽  
The Public Sphere ◽  
The Impact

This article examines the problems of intra/interreligious dialogue that occurred after the 2019 presidential election. The focus of this study is to analyse the impact of Islamic populism on the sustainability of dialogue in Indonesia. The trend of Islamic populism is basically narrative and analytic of Indonesian political studies. The political contestation has an impact on the intra/inter-religious dialogue problems or even transcending ethnic and group boundaries. This situation requires intense dialogue among scholars, activists, elites, religious leaders and society members. This research is a library research using descriptive-analysis method. The main theory in this research is agonistic theory. This theory sees the conflict from more positive ways. This article argues that the discourse and the narration of moderate Islam needs to be brought into public sphere. Hence, the peaceful characters of Islam and tolerant Islam become the dominant colors of Islam in the public sphere. Artikel ini mengungkap kembali problematika tentang dialog pasca pemilihan presiden 2019. Fokus dari artikel ini adalah untuk menganalisis pengaruh dari populisme Islam terhadap keberlanjutan dialog di Indonesia. Tren dari populisme Islam pada dasarnya merupakan sebuah narasi dan analisis yang banyak dikaji dalam lingkup studi politik di Indonesia. Peristiwa kontestasi politik yang terjadi di dalam pemilihan presiden 2019 menunjukkan adanya permasalahan terhadap dialog dalam/antar agama dan bahkan melampaui batas-batas etnik maupun kelompok agama. Situasi ini meniscayakan para aktor-aktor dialog dari kalangan akademisi, aktivis, elit politik, pemuka agama, dan masyarakat untuk terlibat dalam kontestasi ini. Penelitian ini merupakan studi kepustakaan (library research) dengan menggunakan metode deskriptif-analisis. Teori utama yang digunakan dalam artikel ini adalah teori agonistik (agonistic theory). Teori ini berfungsi untuk melihat konflik dalam sudut pandang yang positif. Artikel ini menyimpulkan bahwa klaim tentang wacana dan narasi Islam yang moderat harus muncul untuk dikontestasikan dalam ruang publik. Dengan demikian, wajah asli Islam yang damai, toleran dan rahmatan lil-‘alamin akan menjadi wajah yang dominan dalam ruang publik.

scholarly journals Social Values in Europe.  Protecting Freedom of Thought, Conscience, Religion, Creating What?: Justice,  Sophia, Phronesis        

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Olga Nickole Papkova Kuyan
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Quantum Theory ◽  
Public Sphere ◽  
Social Values ◽  
Legal Doctrine ◽  
The Public ◽  
New Instrument ◽  
Freedom Of Thought ◽  
The Public Sphere ◽  
The Right

The multidimentional human rights catastrophe 2020-2021 is input for this writing. We see it as the culmination of arguments about regulating the social values, the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion in Europe (art 9 ECHR) in its broader sense. We question: what are thought, conscience, religion in Europe? The paper aims at revealing how different states bound by ECHR (Italy, France, Russia) are redefining their relationship to thought, conscience and religion, under the challenge of changing minds, increasing religious activism in the public sphere, associated with the spread of new religious movements and Islam; how this process mobilizes a complex array of often unrelated official actors, but also mindful men who want to be recognized by public opinion eager to curb what is perceived as “foreign” or “extremist” expressions of thought, conscience, religion; by politicians navigating between political correctness and populism, by national and external judiciary like ECtHR; how this process is gradually producing a new and common paradigm of the relationship between states, the public sphere and thought, conscience and religion. We scrutinize (re)construction and formatting of thought, conscience and religion in the West through courts, giving the rebirthing to the Lautsi case. We intend to find which doctrine\idea has been developed by the Court in Europe. What will be with judicial decision-making in France and Europe? How to overcome the crisis? We are seeking a new instrument. We go into Mindful Politics/Judiciary, Dharma and Judiciary/Politics. We use the Complex Thinking concept and Quantum Theory, Sophism, Theology, Eastern and Ancient thoughts as Puzzles. We refer to Lady Justice-Prudentia-Sophia and Phronesis. We refer to the decoloniality to re-learn the thoughts-heritage that have been pushed aside, buried, discredited by the forces of modernity: UN Secretary-General Dag Hammarskjold, Vl.Solovjev, Ivan Ilyin. Also we use new data, such as O’Murchu Diarmuid, Doing Theology in an Evolutionary Way (2021), Rovelli Carlo, Helgoland (2020), Molari Carlo, Il cammino spirituale del cristiano (2020), Mancuso Vito, I quattro maestri (2020). Our core topic is the importance of legal ideas and legal doctrine for court decisions. Our core thought is the Russia’s experience in balancing secular and religious values and peaceful coexistence of peoples, it’s importantance for the international community. It’s part of the big research, started in 1990, continued in different ways, at UNIPV (with Prof.J.Ziller) in the framework of CICOPS, in particular. Key terms: human rights and freedom, thought, conscience, religion, pluralism, equality, secularism, neutrality, positivism, legal symbols, Lady Justice, Sophia, Prudentia, Phronesis, quantum theory, Islam, rule of law, legitimacy, historical-interpretive account of judicial politics, complexity.

scholarly journals Indigenous Ethics and Bionomic Concepts in the New Latin American Constitutions and their Contribution to the Environmental Debate

2016 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 72-88
Author(s):  
Ronei Alberti Da Rosa
Keyword(s):  
Latin American ◽  
Minority Groups ◽  
Indigenous Communities ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Enlightenment ◽  
Indigenous Groups ◽  
Global Environmental ◽  
Andean Countries ◽  
The Public Sphere ◽  
The Right

In Latin America, the public sphere has historically conceded a narrow participation range to the indigenous people. Following democratization that changed the continent starting in the 1980s, some Andean countries began to adopt constitutional reforms that enabled the indigenous communities to participate in national decision making.   They even went to the point of putting the traditional justice applied by minority groups and the national modern constitutions on the same level.  This is particularly the case with Ecuador and Bolivia. In 2008, Ecuador became the first nation to codify and include in its constitution the Rights of Nature. The Ecuadorian ecosystem, thus, became a person of rights, possessing inalienable rights to exist and flourish. Citizens were as well given authority to petition on behalf of the ecosystem. In Bolivia, the New State Politic Constitution, approved in 2009, bestows upon the indigenous groups the right of applying their own justice. This process expresses the accommodation of two juristic zones: that from the Enlightenment positivistic tradition and the autochthonous one. This new legal architecture included regional popular ethical principles that widened the debate about the natural environment and the way the state deals with it. It is the case of concepts like Pachamama (a holistic notion of world) and sumak kawsay (equivalent to that of wellbeing, or even the Good Life). Their revival has diversified the internal juridical landscape by adding an Amerindian perspectivism. This paper will investigate the range of the application of indigenous Ethics and bionomic concepts in multicultural societies, specifically in the case of Latin American countries that have included such elements in their constitutions. It will discuss whether that sort of parallel axiological system could represent a valuable contribution to the global environmental debate.

The Media and the Public Sphere in Contemporary China

boundary 2 ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 38 (1) ◽  
pp. 101-134 ◽  
Author(s):  
Q. Liu ◽  
B. McCormick
Keyword(s):  
Public Sphere ◽  
Contemporary China ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Media ◽  
The Public Sphere

scholarly journals Comprensión del territorio para la construcción de apropiación e identidad en el municipio de Soacha

2019 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrea Bibiana Reyes-Guarnizo
Keyword(s):  
Urban Growth ◽  
Ecological Impact ◽  
National Development ◽  
The Public ◽  
Palabras Clave ◽  
Social Mapping ◽  
Development Plans ◽  
The Public Sphere ◽  
Los Grupos ◽  
Public Politics

Resumen El crecimiento demográfico del municipio de Soacha (Colombia) genera un impacto urbano y ecológico que propicia la disminución del sentido de pertenencia y de arraigo entre sus habitantes; por ello, se busca reconocer cuáles son las experiencias que los diferentes actores involucrados tienen sobre el municipio. La presente investigación tiene un enfoque cualitativo, donde se analizan los Planes Nacionales de Desarrollo (PND) entre 1970 y 2012, a la luz del crecimiento urbano, las características históricas y las políticas de gobierno. Se aplicaron encuestas y ejercicios de cartografía social, con lo que se evidenciaron los contrastes entre las percepciones del municipio por parte de sus habitantes, caracterizadas por la indiferencia hacia lo público y la agresividad hacia el medio ambiente. Se trabajó con un grupo focal a través de una estrategia de reconocimiento del territorio. El resultado permitió analizar cómo la construcción del territorio depende de la interacción de los grupos sociales con el entorno físico; de esta manera, se construyen relaciones de apropiación que realzan rasgos identitarios, y ello es fundamental para fomentar un cambio en la percepción de dichos grupos sobre el municipio y suscitar interés en continuar reconociendo el territorio. Palabras clave: Crecimiento urbano; desarrollo urbano; imaginarios urbanos; percepción urbana; políticas públicas; segregación urbana.   Abstract The demographic growth of the municipality of Soacha (Colombia) generates an urban and ecological impact that leads to a decrease in the sense of belonging and roots among its inhabitants. Therefore, it was sought to identify the perceptions that the different actors involved had about the municipality. This research had a qualitative approach, where the National Development Plans (PND, for its Spanish acronym) between 1970 and 2012 were analyzed, in the light of urban growth, historical characteristics and government policies. Surveys and social mapping exercises were applied, which evidenced the contrasts between the perceptions of the inhabitants about the municipality, characterized by indifference towards the public sphere and aggressiveness towards the environment. The project worked with a focus group through a territory recognition strategy. The result allowed to analyze how the construction of the territory depends on the interaction of social groups with the physical environment. In this way, appropriation relationships that enhance identity traits are built, and this is essential to foster a change in the perception of those groups about the municipality and arouse interest in continuing to recognize the territory. Keywords: Urban growth, urban development, urban imaginary, urban perception, public politics, urban segregation.   Recibido: marzo 6 / 2019  Evaluado: mayo 7 / 2019  Aceptado: agosto 15 / 2019   Publicado en línea: septiembre de 2019                              Actualizado: octubre de 2019

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