scholarly journals [Rev.] Arnason J. The Labyrinth of Modernity: Horizons, Pathways and Mutations. Lanham: Rowman and Littlefeld, 2020

2021 ◽  
Vol 27 (2) ◽  
pp. 164-172
Author(s):  
Mikhail Maslovskiy
Keyword(s):  
Subject Matter ◽  
Main Subject ◽  
Social Transformations ◽  
Multiple Modernities ◽  
Theoretical Approaches ◽  
Historical Processes ◽  
Politics And Culture ◽  
Historical Dynamics ◽  
Global Modernity ◽  
Eurasian Region

The main subject matter of Johann Arnason’s book is multiple modernities. The author discusses various theoretical approaches towards modern societies and offers an original conceptualization of historical processes. He analyzes patterns of modernity in the fields of economy, politics and culture, as well as sequences of various modernity types. Particular attention is devoted to social transformations in the Eurasian region. Arnason carefully examines the formation and historical dynamics of the Soviet and Chinese versions of “alternative” communist modernity. Finally, he discusses global modernity and the need to reconsider its trajectory in light of communist experience.

scholarly journals The soviet version of modernity and its historical legacy: New theoretical approaches

2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 7-17
Author(s):  
E. V. Maslovskaya ◽  
M. V. Maslovskiy
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Context ◽  
Path Dependence ◽  
Sociological Theory ◽  
Smooth Transition ◽  
New Historicism ◽  
Political Liberalization ◽  
Social Transformations ◽  
Multiple Modernities ◽  
Theoretical Approaches ◽  
High Degree

The article considers some approaches to the analysis of post-communist transformations in Russia and Central and Eastern Europe. In the studies of social-political changes in post-communist societies, there is a new turn towards the analysis of long-term historical processes and the cultural context of contemporary social transformations. The authors emphasize that the ‘new historicism’ in the studies of post-communist transformations follows the sociological theory of multiple modernities, although its importance is not always recognized by researchers. Its original version developed by Shmuel Eisenstadt in the 1990s was not free from certain limitations due to the concept of ‘cultural program’ that presupposes a high degree of path dependence; however, these limitations were overcome in the works of Johann Arnason and Peter Wagner. The studies of post-communist transformations are often based on the early versions of modernization theory which presupposed a smooth transition to the market economy and liberal democracy. However, this approach encountered difficulties under the reversal of economic and political liberalization. The multiple modernities theory overcomes the limitations of this approach, it is relevant for the analysis of transformation processes in contemporary Russia and other post-communist states. In the recent studies of the historical legacies of communism, they are not considered as a ‘cultural program’ determining the trajectory of social development. The article describes some contemporary conservative ideologies in Russia as an example of the Soviet historical legacy’s influence, and argues that various ‘ideological ecosystems’ present their own interpretations of modernity.

Historical Dynamics

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Turchin
Keyword(s):  
Religious Conversion ◽  
Synthetic Approach ◽  
Dynamical Processes ◽  
Factors Affecting ◽  
Historical Processes ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Historical Dynamics ◽  
State Breakdown ◽  
Political Economic ◽  
High Degree

Many historical processes are dynamic. Populations grow and decline. Empires expand and collapse. Religions spread and wither. Natural scientists have made great strides in understanding dynamical processes in the physical and biological worlds using a synthetic approach that combines mathematical modeling with statistical analyses. Taking up the problem of territorial dynamics—why some polities at certain times expand and at other times contract—this book shows that a similar research program can advance our understanding of dynamical processes in history. The book develops hypotheses from a wide range of social, political, economic, and demographic factors: geopolitics, factors affecting collective solidarity, dynamics of ethnic assimilation/religious conversion, and the interaction between population dynamics and sociopolitical stability. It then translates these into a spectrum of mathematical models, investigates the dynamics predicted by the models, and contrasts model predictions with empirical patterns. The book's highly instructive empirical tests demonstrate that certain models predict empirical patterns with a very high degree of accuracy. For instance, one model accounts for the recurrent waves of state breakdown in medieval and early modern Europe. And historical data confirm that ethno-nationalist solidarity produces an aggressively expansive state under certain conditions (such as in locations where imperial frontiers coincide with religious divides). The strength of the book's results suggests that the synthetic approach advocated can significantly improve our understanding of historical dynamics.

scholarly journals Theoretical Approaches to the Concept of Responsibility of Members of Political Parties and its Correlation with Legal Responsibility

2019 ◽  
pp. 53-62
Author(s):  
V. Е. Mamedova
Keyword(s):  
Political Parties ◽  
Social Responsibility ◽  
Subject Matter ◽  
Legal Responsibility ◽  
The Political ◽  
Basic Properties ◽  
Theoretical Approaches ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Legal Responsibilities

The paper proposes the author’s understanding of responsibility of members of political parties provided by the political parties’ constitutions and other intraparty documents (intraparty responsibility). Also, the paper demarcates intraparty responsibility, legal and other types of social responsibility. It is concluded that the responsibility of members of political parties is a subspecies of social and statutory responsibility. The study has determined the tendency of convergence (diffusion) of internal party and legal responsibilities; the analysis has been carried out concerning perspectives of treating the responsibility of members of political parties as positive; the author substantiates the conclusion about the need to study intraparty responsibility exclusively in retrospective aspect. The author elucidates the thesis concerning expediency of enforcement of intra-party penalties as the subject matter of responsibility of members of political parties. Also, the basic properties of intra-party responsibility are revealed and analyzed. The study has investigated the influence of ambivalent nature of political parties and peculiarities of intra-party relations regarding the properties of responsibility of members of political parties.

scholarly journals In Search for the Scope of Main Subject Matter within Article 4(2) of Directive 93/13 after Andriciuc. Practical Consequences of the General CJEU Pronouncements

2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 127-146
Author(s):  
Piotr Sitnik
Keyword(s):  
Supreme Court ◽  
Subject Matter ◽  
Focal Point ◽  
Recent Case ◽  
Swiss Franc ◽  
Main Subject ◽  
Control Practice ◽  
The Supreme Court ◽  
Unfair Terms ◽  
The Eu

The paper delves into the intricacies surrounding the ‘main subject matter’ requirement with a view to delineating its scope by reference to CJEU jurisprudence. Specifically, regard is had to the recent case of Andriciuc, its dictum and potential ramifications it may have for the judicial purview in the field of unfair terms control. Practice in recent years has brought to the fore the issue of indexation clauses as the focal point for doctrinal disputes. Comprehensive analyses of the main subject matter have also been carried out by Polish courts at all instances, including that in the Supreme Court, within the context of claims brought by consumers who entered into loans denominated in the Swiss Franc following the events of the so-called ‘Black Thursday’. The paper strives to decode the practical ramifications of the CJEU’s general doctrinal interpretations, offeringsuccinct corollaries pertaining to the compatibility with the EU standard, of the judicial interpretations of Poland’s courts with regard to the concept.

The Fall of Hong Kong: Britain, China and the Japanese Occupation. By Philip Snow. [New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 2003. xxvii+477 pp. £25.00. ISBN 0-300-09352-7.]

2004 ◽  
Vol 178 ◽  
pp. 529-530
Author(s):  
Hugh D. R. Baker
Keyword(s):  
Hong Kong ◽  
Subject Matter ◽  
Economic Advantage ◽  
The Political ◽  
New Haven ◽  
Yale University ◽  
Main Subject ◽  
Japanese Occupation ◽  
Limited Success ◽  
History Of

This title has been used before, but usually with reference just to the conquest of Hong Kong by Japan in 1941, and here the battle for the territory is covered in a mere 20 pages. The main subject matter is indeed the Japanese occupation, but the title may be taken to have double reference because it is Snow's thesis that it was this brief period of less than four years that led inexorably to the handover of Hong Kong in 1997. He argues that the loss of Britain's imperial prestige was exacerbated and set in concrete by the clear message of post-1945 history that it was the Chinese who were the driving power behind Hong Kong and her development. Too weak (sometimes too insensitive) to take full economic advantage from events, the British presided over “an astonishing explosion of wealth. But in the process their own role had become so exiguous that it no longer really mattered, was indeed barely noticeable . . .“ This may be rather too harsh a judgement on the British (who in their ‘second innings’ hung on for more than half a century after all) but Snow is surely right in tracing the beginning of the distant end to the Japanese conquest which drew a line under received truths and cleared the way for the emergence of new attitudes on all sides.The political history of the pre-invasion period from the late 1930s, of the occupation itself, and of the immediate years after British resumption of control in August 1945 is nicely pieced together from a wide variety of sources, and Snow has tried hard to draw on Chinese, Japanese and Eurasian writings as well as on the much greater wealth of British accounts, both official and private. In this striving after balance he has had only limited success, the result still being an Anglocentric history, though certainly not entirely an Anglophile one. The problem is not of his making, but reflects the relatively sparse and unsystematic nature of sources available at present in Chinese especially.

scholarly journals HISTORIES OF MODERN MIGRATION IN EAST ASIA: STUDIES OF THE FIRST HALF OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY

2017 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 171-195
Author(s):  
Noriaki Hoshino ◽  
Qian Zhu
Keyword(s):  
Twentieth Century ◽  
East Asia ◽  
English Language ◽  
East Asian ◽  
Border Crossing ◽  
Japanese Empire ◽  
Social Transformations ◽  
Theoretical Approaches ◽  
Heterogeneous Features

In recent historical studies of modern East Asia, the issue of migration has received increased scholarly attention. This article traces recent historiographical and methodological trends by analyzing influential English-language works on modern East Asian migrations in the first half of the twentieth century. Modern East Asian migrations during this period present dynamic and heterogeneous features as results of modern social transformations, such as the development of global capitalism, national and global economic integration, the emergence of new transportation and communication technology, and the expansion and collapse of the Japanese empire. Accordingly, the historical works on modern East Asian migrations we examine display a variety of historiographical and theoretical approaches. Specifically, this article underscores important trends or comparable emphases in these studies, including the growing scholarly interest in transnational/regional border crossing movements, migrants’ subject formations in the new environments, and the methodological interest in the role of culture, political economy, and the environment. Thus this article offers a reflective overview of the ongoing development of migration studies centering on modern East Asia.

scholarly journals The role of scientific language in Philip Pulman’s ‘His Dark Materials’

Mnemosyne ◽  
2018 ◽  
pp. 14
Author(s):  
Annalisa Bonomo
Keyword(s):  
Dark Matter ◽  
Subject Matter ◽  
Scientific Language ◽  
Main Subject ◽  
His Dark Materials ◽  
Political Opinion ◽  
The World

Philip Pullman’s epic is a ‘dark matter’ made up of religious and scientific underpinnings which challenge his readers’ knowledge of the world, making them ‘intellectually adventurous’. Although scientific language seems to sound uncomfortable to his younger readers, he builds on myth and physics a new dimension of « stark realism dealing with matters that might normally be encountered in works of realism, such as adolescence, sexuality, and so on; and they are the main subject matter of the story - the fantasy is there to support and embody them, not for its own sake ». Pullman’s heroes (Lyra, Lord Asriel, Mrs Coulter and Mary Malone) are all scientists involved in a new political opinion of the world and in the role to be played in a universe which seems to be ‘probabilistic’.

scholarly journals From the concepts of meaning and reference to the concept of prototypicality

2020 ◽  
pp. 68-87
Author(s):  
Carlos Assunção ◽  
◽  
◽  
◽  
Carla Araújo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Subject Matter ◽  
Cognitive Linguistics ◽  
Cognitive Semantics ◽  
Great Contribution ◽  
Theoretical Approaches ◽  
The World ◽  
Reference Form ◽  
The Way

Meaning is a uniquely human phenomenon. In linguistics, this subject matter is especially complex, considering the multiplicity of theoretical approaches and the variety of disciplinary fields that address the issue. A similar concern applies to the concept of reference, because, although most linguists today agree that meaning and reference form two different realities, the discussion about the relation between these two terms has not yet been fully examined. Cognitive Linguistics has made a great contribution to this discussion by recognizing that we cannot present the postulate of the existence of a level of meaning that belongs only to language and is distinct from the level at which the meaning of linguistic forms is associated with the knowledge of the world. The objective of this work is to show that, with Cognitive Linguistics, the ideas of meaning and reference are re-equated and have gained strength in the scope of linguistic studies reinforced by the concept of prototype. For such purpose this text describes the way these concepts have evolved based on their theorisation, paying particular attention to cognitive semantics, but not intending to make an exhaustive theoretical-methodological analysis of them.

scholarly journals Popular religions and multiple modernities

2020 ◽  
Vol 18 (25) ◽  
pp. 38-57
Author(s):  
Cristián Parker
Keyword(s):  
Latin American ◽  
Eastern Asia ◽  
World Religions ◽  
Multiple Modernities ◽  
Sociological Approach ◽  
Northern European ◽  
Historical Processes ◽  
Theoretical View ◽  
Independent Churches ◽  
Multiple Interactions

Religious diversity and pluralism is increasing in Latin America. The religious field that was some decades ago totally Catholic has changed radically. Not only Pentecostalism or NeoPentecostalism but other Evangelicals as well as independent churches of various denominations and forms, non-affiliated people and many diverse (ethnic, afro-American , New Age, etc.) and diffuse religious expressions are growing. The main argument of this paper is that this religious changes toward pluralism can be fully understood in the context of multiple modernities theory, provided that it be revised and modified. A new sociological approach is needed. The classical sociological concepts and theories, beginning with secularization, must be criticized and replaced with a more complex theoretical view. Latin American historical processes must be compared with what is happening in other regions of the world and not only with the West. World religions are answering each one by their own path to multiple interactions with modernities. The key understanding of changes must come from a better insight of popular religions worldwide. Latin American, Eastern Asia, Islam regions, are good examples of popular forms of religious revitalization that contrasts with the Northern European case. They put in evidence the fact that new ways of producing sense and spiritual search in non-Western geo-cultural areas are framing specific relationships between religion and modernities and bringing about new religious pluralisms.

scholarly journals Noospheric Paradigm of the Strategy of the Rising Reproduction of the Population of Russia

2018 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 77-94
Author(s):  
A. Subetto
Keyword(s):  
Reproductive Health ◽  
Subject Matter ◽  
Socioeconomic Development ◽  
Turning Point ◽  
Main Subject ◽  
Progressive Development ◽  
World Outlook ◽  
Scientific World ◽  
Scientific Report ◽  
Noospheric Strategy

The article contains the main subject-matter of the scientific report «Noospheric Paradigm of the Strategy of the Rising Reproduction of the Population of Russia» delivered by the author at the sitting of the Academic Council of the Institute of the Socioeconomic Problems of Population, RAS, on 6 February 2018. The author stresses that Russia and humankind entered the Era of Great Evolution Turning Point on the turn of the 20th and 21st centuries which requires revising the bases of both modern scientific world outlook and formed institutes and mechanisms of socioeconomic development, those supporting the progressive development of reproductive health of nation, in particular. The formed imperative of surviving is the synthesis of the noosphere and socialist imperatives. Hence- the main provisions of the noospheric strategy of the rising reproduction of the Russian population

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