scholarly journals Introduction

2018 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 123-129
Author(s):  
Julia McClure

Abstract This forum examines the role of charity in empire formations from a diachronic and transregional perspective. It focuses upon the beliefs, discourses, and practices of charity that developed within Christianity and the roles they played in the West’s imperial projects, from the first global empires that emerged from the Iberian Peninsula in the sixteenth century to projects of philanthro-imperialism in modern China. This forum exposes the complex religious, economic, political, and cultural roles that charity has played in imperial projects and increases our consciousness of the ways it continues to shape global politics. It shines light on the way in which governing bodies, institutions, and individuals have instrumentalized charity to achieve a range of strategic functions whilst shaping the narrative and image of their power. Viewing empire through the lens of charity also provides the opportunity to bring not only the rich but also the poor into focus and to explore the ways they have been active subjects negotiating for a range of material and immaterial resources in imperial contexts.

2022 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julie De Groot

How did citizens in Bruges create a home? What did an ordinary domestic interior look like in the sixteenth century? And more importantly: how does one study the domestic culture of bygone times by analysing documents such as probate inventories? These questions seem straightforward, yet few endeavours are more challenging than reconstructing a sixteenth-century domestic reality from written sources. This book takes full advantage of the inventory and convincingly frames household objects in their original context of use. Meticulously connecting objects, people and domestic spaces, the book introduces the reader to the rich material world of Bruges citizens in the Renaissance, their sensory engagement, their religious practice, the role of women, and other social factors. By weaving insights from material culture studies with urban history, At Home in Renaissance Bruges offers an appealing and holistic mixture of in-depth socio-economic, cultural and material analysis. In its approach the book goes beyond heavy-handed theories and stereotypes about the exquisite taste of aristocratic elites, focusing instead on the domestic materiality of Bruges’ middling groups. Evocatively illustrated with contemporary paintings from Bruges and beyond, this monograph shows a nuanced picture of domestic materiality in a remarkable European city.


Author(s):  
K. K. Yadav ◽  
Kumud Dhanwantri

In the present age of industrialization and unregulated urbanization, the Aravali ranges in India are facing deforestation and degradation. The major reasons behind this are the needs of the poor, and greed of the rich. Therefore, part of the Aravalli Ranges falling in different sub-regions of the National Capital Region, has been taken as case study. The chapter intends to provide an insight into the scenario of forests and wildlife in the sub-regions; the challenges, responses, and immediate initiatives taken up by the constituent state governments. It also discusses ways forward to engage the governments and local communities in the protection of forests and wildlife. The conclusion strives to provide probable strategies that can be adopted to transform the transitions of Aravalli into a positive one and ways for engaging government machinery for better governance to escape the grim future we foresee.


Daedalus ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 148 (1) ◽  
pp. 30-36
Author(s):  
David F. Levi ◽  
Dana Remus ◽  
Abigail Frisch

With the prospect of nonlawyers stepping in to do low-fee legal work, how should the legal profession conceive of its relationship to that work and ensure that nonlawyers bolster rather than undermine the value that lawyers add to society? Lawyers should reclaim their role as connectors in their communities: interstitial figures with the knowledge, skill, and trust to help resolve disputes, move beyond stalemates, dispel tensions, and otherwise bring people and resources together in productive solutions. They should do so, at least in part, through pro bono work for poor and low-income clients. It would be a mistake to stand in the way of innovative solutions to the justice gap. But it would also be a mistake, and a deep loss, if lawyers–particularly those who do not normally represent poor and low-income clients– turned their backs on the poor and low-income segments of our society.


2011 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 63-78 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sunil Jose Gregory ◽  
Gnanapriya Chidambaranathan ◽  
Padma Kumar

This article discusses the socio-economic impact of mobile telephony in a developing country like India. Emerging markets are experiencing technology leapfrogging in terms of telecom evolution and adaptation. While the rich and affluent use mobile technology to enhance their lifestyle, for the poor, mobile based applications can augment their daily livelihood. Due to economic compulsions, the focus of the market has been on mobile services and applications that belong to the primary category. This paper identifies the potential of livelihood enabling applications and describes successful global projects in livelihood enabling mobile applications in areas like mHealth, mEducation, mAgriculture, and mFinance. The paper concludes by identifying a set of challenges for developing livelihood enabling mobile apps in India and makes policy suggestions that can increase the viability of such mobile applications in India.


Exchange ◽  
2006 ◽  
Vol 35 (3) ◽  
pp. 270-277
Author(s):  
Gnana Robinson

AbstractAll Churches and Missionary Movements in different parts of the world assert without hesitation that in all that they do, they follow the way of Jesus Christ. But the gross injustice in international economic dealings promoted by the so-called 'Christian Nations' in the world and the consequent widening of the gap between the rich and the poor in the world, the discrimination of people on the basis of creed, class, race and colour practised by many Christians and the power-struggle and corruption found in many local churches make the world wonder, the way of which Christ these Christians follow! The image of the Biblical Jesus is that of the Servant-leader, crowned with thorns, who emptied himself of all worldly riches, pomp and power and laid down his life as a ransom for many. Since the time of Emperor Constantine, this thorn-crowned servant Jesus is turned into a gold-crowned King, an anti-Christ with the face of 'Mammon', the idol of riches and power. Since one cannot worship God and Mammon at the same time, it is mandatory on the part of us all faithful Christians, to introspect ourselves and decide, the way of which Christ we want to follow.


2012 ◽  
Vol 27 (2) ◽  
pp. 271-299 ◽  
Author(s):  
DANIËLLE TEEUWEN

ABSTRACTIn many localities in the Dutch Republic, charitable collections were the single largest source of income for relief institutions for the outdoor poor. This article takes into account both the role of the authorities organising collections and the role of the city-dwellers making charitable donations. It is demonstrated that people from almost all layers of urban society contributed to the collections. By means of thorough planning and exerting social pressure, religious and secular administrators of poor relief tried to maximise Dutch generosity. They presented making charitable donations as a duty of the rich as well as of the less well-off. In the Dutch Republic, not only the elites, but also the middling groups of society, who approximately constituted almost half of the urban population, were of vital importance in financing poor relief.


2014 ◽  
Vol 44 (1) ◽  
pp. 147-169 ◽  
Author(s):  
PETER SKILLING ◽  
JESSICA McLAY

AbstractThe high level of academic, public and policy attention paid to the deservingness of the poor and (especially) of welfare recipients contrasts with the scant attention paid to the deservingness – or otherwise – of the rich. This discrepancy reflects socially dominant – but contestable – ideas about equality of opportunity and the role of individual merit within market systems. In this journal, Karen Rowlingson, Stewart Connor and Michael Orton have noted that wealth and riches have remained invisible as policy ‘problems’. This invisibility is socially important, in that policy efforts to address current, socially damaging, levels of economic inequality require attention to the deservingness of the rich, as well as of the poor. This article draws on recent survey data from New Zealand to provide new insights into public attitudes to the rich. It finds that the New Zealand public view the rich as more individually deserving of their outcomes than the poor are deserving of social assistance, and that attitudes towards the rich are related to redistributive sentiments at least as strongly as attitudes towards the poor. In concluding, the article reflects on the limitations of existing data sources and makes suggestions for future research.


Author(s):  
Hoang Thi Anh Dao ◽  

The sixteenth century is considered the beginning time of trade activities between Vietnam and Western countries after great geographical discoveries in the world, in which Portugal was the pioneer country to establish trade relations wit h Vietnam. Cochinchina, with many favourable factors in terms of human, geography, and goods, was the place to attract Portugal on the way of exchange and establishment of Intra - Asian marine trade network. Thus, what factors led Cochinchina to a strategic position in this trade network, and Portugal had come here to trade with specific characteristics are, and the consequences of this trade process are, is the purpose of this article. Based on analyzing objective and subjective factors, generalizing and systematizing commercial activities between Cochin china and Portugal, the author provides objective assessments of the role of Cochin china in the voyage to The East of the Western countries in the contemporary time.


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