Contested minorities – the case of Upper Silesia

AbstractUpper Silesia in terms of ethnicity is a typical example of a historical region in Europe, but in fact, one of the few exceptions in contemporary Poland, where its mixed ethnic and religious structures have at least partly survived until today. While their existence had been denied by Nazi Germany (1933-1945) as well as by the Polish People's Republic (1945-1989), the emancipation of the German and Silesian minorities after the democratic changes of 1989 have evoked strong emotions in the ethnically almost uniform country. Nonetheless, the recent situation of minorities has improved as never before. Minority organisations has been officially recognized and German finally has become the second language in some municipalities of Upper Silesia, but the largest ethnic group in the whole country, the Silesians, have still experienced no formal recognition as a national minority. This article deals with the demographic aspects of the ethnic groups in Upper Silesia since the 19th century until recent times. The census results concerning the ethnic minorities or languages in Upper Silesia have been contested since the first records of that kind have been taken. The outcomes of the both last censuses of 2002 and 2011 concerning the minority question reflected for the first time a much more realistic picture of the status quo. Furthermore, they showed that the idea of Silesian identification found an unexpected high number of supporters. This fact indicates an emerging meaning of regional identification amid significant changes of cultural values in Polish society.

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從中國廣西東興京族語言環境的角度窺察京語的傳承方式：喃字

中正漢學研究 ◽

10.53106/2306036020190600330006 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 33 (33) ◽

pp. 171-190

Author(s):

阮蘇蘭阮蘇蘭 ◽

阮大瞿越阮大瞿越

Keyword(s):

Present Article ◽

Comparative Perspective ◽

National Minority ◽

Chinese Characters ◽

The Status ◽

City District ◽

First Time ◽

Language Transmission

京族分布於廣西東興市江平鎮，是中國的少數民族之一，其民族語言「京語」是越南語的一種方言。承受著來自漢語普通話、漢語白話方言以及通用越南語的巨大壓力，京語正處於消亡的邊緣。保護及傳承該民族語言的需求變得極為迫切，一群老一輩的京族知識份子選擇了以喃字作為傳承京語的手段。本文以2015年兩次在京族三島進行的社會語言學田野調查的考察成果為基礎，初步探索京族人之所以選擇傳承喃字作為傳承語言方式的原因，及喃字傳承方式。相比之下，漢字系統的「喃字」無法如現代越南語(或稱「國語字」)一般，能呈現京語的語音面貌，在記錄和傳承京語語言方面上並無優勢。本文認為，選擇「喃字」作為京語傳承載體是出於民族生命的考慮，強調「喃字」是和漢字一脈、京族和漢族是部分與整體的關係。  Jing people inhabit Jiangping town of Dongxing city district in Guangxi and constitute a national minority in China. Their language – the so-called Jing language -- is a dialect of the Vietnamese. Now the Jing language faces extinction because of the pressure from standard Mandarin, spoken dialects of Chinese, and standard Vietnamese. In order to protect and promulgate the Jing language, a group of local old intellectuals have decided to use Nôm characters as a tool of transmission of the Jing language. The present article, based on materials collected during two fieldwork trips to the “three islands area of the Jing nationality” in 2015, for the first time discusses the reasons why the Nôm characters have been chosen as the tool of language transmission as well as the ways of transmission of the Nôm characters themselves. In comparative perspective, the Nôm characters belonging to the Chinese characters system, unlike Romanization of modern Vietnamese (the so-called quốc ngữ) cannot represent the exact pronunciation of the Jing language, and therefore cannot offer advantage in the task of transmission of this language. The author argues that the choice of the Nôm characters as the tool of the Jing language transmission is caused by considerations of the survival of this ethnicity; it emphasizes original connections between Nôm and Chinese characters, as well as the status of the Jing as a part of the big Han nation.

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BASIC CHARACTERISTICS IN THE TRADITIONAL CULTURE OF ETHNIC MINORITIES IN THE CENTRAL HIGHLANDS – THE CASE STUDY OF THE BA NA ETHNIC GROUP, KON TUM PROVINCE, VIETNAM

European Journal of Political Science Studies ◽

10.46827/ejpss.v4i2.1130 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 4 (2) ◽

Author(s):

Do Thi Cuong ◽

Nguyen Xuan Te

Keyword(s):

Ethnic Group ◽

Cultural Values ◽

Ethnic Groups ◽

Ethnic Minorities ◽

Traditional Culture ◽

Language Writing ◽

Central Highlands ◽

The Rich ◽

Basic Characteristics ◽

Village Elders

Kon Tum is not only a countryside with many revolutionary traditions but also a land of multi-ethnic cultural identities with 28 ethnic groups living together, in which ethnic minorities account for over 53% with 7 ethnic groups in the locality, including Xo Dang, Ba Na, Gia Rai, Gie Trieng, Brau, Ro Mam, Hre (Hre) [2, p.1]. Each ethnic group has its own traditional cultural identity, which has been handed down through generations. Cultural values such as language, writing, festivals, architecture, traditional costumes, etc. create the unique value of each community, are the link that connects each individual in the community, and also are the door to exchange, develop and integrate with other communities. Ba Na ethnic culture is an important component in the rich Kon Tum culture, imbued with national identity. Through the process of researching and surveying the opinions of artisans, village elders and experts on the Ba Na ethnic group in Kon Tum province, we found that the culture of ethnic minorities in the Central Highlands in general and Ba Na ethnic group in Kon Tum province has the basic characteristics of forest culture, upland farming culture, and gong culture. Those characteristics have created the unique and the charming in their traditional culture. Article visualizations:<img src="/-counters-/edu_01/0871/a.php" alt="Hit counter" />

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Data mining techniques based on grey system theories for time sequence data

Computer Science and Information Systems ◽

10.2298/csis0602073b ◽

2006 ◽

Vol 3 (2) ◽

pp. 73-82 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Liu Bin ◽

Zhang Hui ◽

Liu Sifeng ◽

Dang Yaoguo

Keyword(s):

Data Mining ◽

Sequence Data ◽

Status Quo ◽

Time Sequence ◽

Grey System ◽

Science Field ◽

Data Mining Techniques ◽

Embedded Knowledge ◽

The Status ◽

First Time

Data mining is an interesting focus in computer science field now This paper deals with data mining techniques based on Grey system theories for time sequence data. Firstly, thoughts of data mining with embedded knowledge are expatiated, and the status quo of Data mining techniques is presented briefly. Then, based on the above thoughts and the Grey system theories, data mining techniques based on Grey system theories for time sequence data are proposed for the first time, and the idiographic arithmetic with GM(1,1) as an example is introduced in this paper. Last, it forecasts the total homes in 2002~2005 connecting with Internet in Shang Hai City by the arithmetic.

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Ukrainian Issues in Geopolitical Thought of the Twentieth and Twenty-first Centuries

International Studies Interdisciplinary Political and Cultural Journal ◽

10.1515/ipcj-2016-0008 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 18 (2) ◽

pp. 5-39

Author(s):

Jacek Reginia-Zacharski

Keyword(s):

International Relations ◽

Status Quo ◽

Relative Power ◽

Late Autumn ◽

Windows Of Opportunity ◽

Russian State ◽

The Status ◽

History Of ◽

First Time

Ukrainian lands in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries have been in proximity of great geopolitical changes several times. During that time the Ukrainian nation – due to various factors – encountered a number of “windows of opportunity” for achieving the realization of dreams about independence and national sovereignty. The author identified in the period considered four “general moments,” of which two have been completed successfully. The first of these occurred in 1990–1991, when for the first time in modern history, Ukrainians managed to achieve a lasting and relatively stable independence. The second of the “moments” – still unresolved – are events that began in the late autumn of 2013. The process, called “Revolution of Dignity”, represents a new quality in the history of the Ukrainian nation, therefore, that the Ukrainians have to defend the status quo (independence, territorial integrity, sovereignty, etc.) but not to seek to achieve an independent being. The analysis leads to the conclusion that the ability of Ukrainians to achieve and maintain independence is largely a function of the relative power of the Russian state as measured with respect to the shape and quality of international relations.

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What Revolutionary Action Means Today

Fugitive Democracy ◽

10.23943/princeton/9780691133645.003.0020 ◽

2016 ◽

Author(s):

Sheldon S. Wolin

Keyword(s):

Political System ◽

Status Quo ◽

The Political ◽

Human Beings ◽

American Democracy ◽

Western History ◽

Democratic Citizen ◽

The Status ◽

The Masses ◽

First Time

Tocqueville claimed that American democracy had eliminated the causes of revolution. He believed that the revolutionary impulse would wither because for the first time in Western history the masses of ordinary human beings had a tangible stake in defending the status quo. This chapter, however, asks, is it right for the democratic citizen to undertake revolutionary action when the political system retains some of the formal features of democracy but is clearly embarked on a course that is progressively antidemocratic without being crudely repressive? What are the precise ways in which a system that is formally democratic conceals its antidemocratic tendencies? Are pseudo-democratic substitutes introduced that create the illusion of democracy? Was the idea of a democratic citizen partially skewed at the outset so that its development in America was truncated? And, finally, does it make sense even to discuss the possibility of revolution under the circumstances of an advanced, complex society? In what terms would it make sense to talk of revolution today—what would revolutionary action by democratic citizens be?

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From Claims to Violence: Signaling, Outbidding, and Escalation in Ethnic Conflict

Journal of Conflict Resolution ◽

10.1177/0022002721996436 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 002200272199643

Author(s):

Manuel Vogt ◽

Kristian Skrede Gleditsch ◽

Lars-Erik Cederman

Keyword(s):

Ethnic Group ◽

Civil Conflict ◽

Status Quo ◽

Organizational Level ◽

Political Organizations ◽

Conflict Escalation ◽

Movement Interaction ◽

The Status ◽

The Government ◽

Ethnic Movements

Do radical political demands increase the risk of ethnic civil conflict? And why do ethnic movements make radical demands in the first place? We contend that when movements are fragmented, individual organizations use far-reaching claims relative to the status quo to attract attention from the government, boost intra-organizational discipline, and outbid rivals. Yet, such radical claims also increase the risk of conflict escalation. We test our arguments at both the ethnic group and organizational levels, using a new dataset on ethno-political organizations and their political demands. Our results show that the scope of demands increases the more organizations exist within an ethnic movement and that radical demands increase the risk of civil conflict onset. This effect is specific to the dyadic government-movement interaction, irrespective of other ethnic groups in the country. Moreover, at the organizational level, radicalization in demands increases the likelihood that an organization becomes engaged in civil conflict.

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Exile and the Other in Two Short Stories by Elena Garro

Mexican Studies/Estudios Mexicanos ◽

10.1525/msem.2005.21.1.213 ◽

2005 ◽

Vol 21 (1) ◽

pp. 213-229

Author(s):

Teresa M. Hurley

Keyword(s):

Short Stories ◽

Status Quo ◽

The Other ◽

Elena Garro ◽

Female Protagonists ◽

The Status ◽

First Time ◽

Alternative Discourses ◽

Lost Child ◽

The Way

This article explores how in two short stories, ‘‘La primera vez que me vi’’ (The First Time I Saw Myself) and ‘‘El niñño perdido’’ (The Lost Child), Elena Garro draws on several discourses, contrasting the official one of the status quo (in post-revolutionary Mexico) with the alternative discourses of those who find themselves on the margins of society or in exile and hence in the position of ‘‘Other’’. The article also focuses on the way the marginalization of the female protagonists of the stories in some ways reflects that experienced by the author at a certain point in her life. Este artíículo explora cóómo en los dos cuentos, ‘‘La primera vez que me vi’’ y ‘‘El niñño perdido’’, Elena Garro utiliza varios discursos para contrastar la voz oficial del statu quo (del Mééxico pos-revolucionario) con los discursos alternativos de los que se encuentran en los máárgenes de la sociedad o en el exilio y, por ende, en la situacióón de ‘‘Otro’’. El artíículo tambiéén se centra en la forma en que la marginacióón de las protagonistas de los cuentos refleja, en ciertos aspectos, la de de la misma autora en algúún momento de su vida.

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Academic, Activist, or Advocate? Angry, Entangled, and Emerging: A Critical Reflection on Autism Knowledge Production

Frontiers in Psychology ◽

10.3389/fpsyg.2021.727542 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 12 ◽

Author(s):

Monique Botha

Keyword(s):

Cultural Values ◽

Knowledge Production ◽

Knowledge Creation ◽

Critical Reflection ◽

Status Quo ◽

Call To Action ◽

Autism Research ◽

Autistic People ◽

The Status ◽

The Face

There has been a focus on autistic-led and participatory research in autism research, but minimal discussion about whether the field is hospitable to autistic involvement. While the focus on participatory and/or autistic-led research is abundantly welcome, a wider conversation should also happen about how autistic people are treated in the process of knowledge creation. As such, I present a critical reflection on my experiences of academia as an autistic autism researcher. I open by questioning whether I am an academic, an activist, or an advocate before discussing my journey through academia, and my exposure to dehumanizing, objectifying, and violent accounts of autism. I highlight how the construction of objectivity has resulted in a failure to question the validity of these dehumanizing accounts of autism, which are regarded as “scientifically-sound” by virtue of their perceived “objectivity.” Furthermore, I discuss how the idea of objectivity is used to side-line autistic expertise in disingenuous ways, especially when this knowledge challenges the status-quo. Despite claiming to be value-free, these dehumanizing accounts of autism embody social and cultural values, with a complete lack of transparency or acknowledgment. I then discuss how these dehumanizing accounts and theories—entangled in values—reverberate into autistic people's lives and come to be ways of constituting us. Following this, I discuss the rationality of the anger autistic people feel when encountering these accounts, and instead of urging people to distance themselves from these emotions, I discuss the value of “leaning-in” as a radical act of dissent in the face of research-based violence. I then make a call to action urging all those who write or speak about autism to engage reflexively with how their values shape their understanding and construction of autistic people. Lastly, I conclude by answering my opening question: I have emerged as an advocate, activist, and academic. For me, belonging to the autistic community, acknowledging our marginalization, and recognizing our suffering within society means that hope for a better and just future has always, and will always underpin my work.

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The English Education in Primary Schools in Minor Ethnic Areas in Western China - Taking Leshan City as an Example

English Language Teaching ◽

10.5539/elt.v9n8p152 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 9 (8) ◽

pp. 152

Author(s):

Wang Bing

Keyword(s):

Ethnic Minorities ◽

Primary Schools ◽

English Education ◽

Status Quo ◽

Western China ◽

Southwestern China ◽

The Status

As we all know, China is a country with many ethnic minorities mainly living in the northeastern and southwestern China. The English education in the primary schools in these areas is an important issue. The article analyzes the status quo of English education in primary schools in minor ethnic areas, taking the Leshan city, a western one as an example, and then proposes some suggestions of enhancing English education in primary schools in minor ethnic areas.

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“Global” discourses of democracy and an English city

Journal of Language and Politics ◽

10.1075/jlp.7.3.04far ◽

2008 ◽

Vol 7 (3) ◽

pp. 413-430 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Michael Farrelly

Keyword(s):

Status Quo ◽

Local Identity ◽

Apparent Contradiction ◽

Democratic Ideal ◽

The Status ◽

Established Democracies ◽

Global And Local ◽

First Time

In many contemporary polities, democracy is portrayed as a universal good, a democratic ideal appears to be spreading globally, its practice burgeoning; it seems to be appearing for the first time in some places and deepening in established democracies. Yet, when one looks for the concrete touch of democracy in one’s own activities, groups, communities and nation it becomes elusive. I discuss this apparent contradiction in relation to discourse and a new “Area Forum” in the English city of Preston. The categories of ‘global’ and ‘local’, ‘identity’ and ‘branding’ prove useful in discussing the contradiction as situated in the English context. I suggest that this problem of democracy may be understood in terms of the ideological concept of ‘democratism’: the assumption that the status quo in England is unproblematically democratic whilst discursively closing off the possibility of genuine democratic progress.

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