Boys' circumcision and girls' puberty rites among the Swahili of Mafia Island, Tanzania

Africa ◽  
1976 ◽  
Vol 46 (1) ◽  
pp. 21-33 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. P. Caplan

Opening ParagraphIn the north of Mafia Island, the rites surrounding the circumcision of boys and the first menstruation of girls are no longer, if indeed they ever were, universally performed. This article attempts to explain this situation, and in so doing, draws on some of Turner's work on symbolism. In particular, his distinction between different levels of meaning expressed by symbols—the exegetical, the operational and the positional (1962)—is followed in a discussion of the political implications of performance or rejection of the rites.


Africa ◽  
1979 ◽  
Vol 49 (2) ◽  
pp. 159-171 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michel Verdon

Opening ParagraphThe Abutia Ewe form one of what the British colonial administrators dubbed the ‘traditional areas’, over one hundred of which are said to compose the Ewe people or Eweland. These Ewe traditional areas lie in the southern half of the Volta Region (in Ghana) and in southern Togo. Although much has been written about the Ewe, little is known about the political organisation of the inland areas, north of the coastal savanna. In fact, most authors have treated the Ewe as if they were thoroughly homogeneous and could be analysed as one ethnic group or one society, only acknowledging variations between the north and south, not considered significant enough to make them completely different groups (Spieth 1906; 1911; Westermann 1935; Ward 1949; Manoukian 1952; Nukunya 1969; Friedländer 1962; Asamoa 1971 amongst many others). And yet I contend that the northern areas are as distinct from the southern ones as they are from the Akan populations. As a result, none of the present available literature is particularly useful as a paradigmatic model of the northern areas' political organisation.



1994 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 167-185 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hansruedi Hitz ◽  
Christian Schmid ◽  
Richard Wolff

The fundamental restructuring of the capitalist world system in the shift from Fordism towards flexible accumulation has produced remarkable changes in the process of urbanization. In this paper the spatial implications for Switzerland are examined. First, the way in which the Swiss economy, based on export-oriented industrial production, developed into a ‘headquarter economy’ specialized in controlling and organizing multinational production as well as in commanding international circuits of capital is investigated. Second, changes in the urbanization process in Switzerland are examined through a study of the rise of five urban regions and the transformation of Zurich into an international control center. Third, the regional and local effects of Zurich's headquarter economy and the political implications of the urbanization process are examined. Finally, the transformation of the urban periphery and the emergence of a city-belt in the north of Zurich are focused upon.



2021 ◽  
pp. 564-584
Author(s):  
James Marten

This chapter describes two crucial campaigns in Virginia between September and December 1864. The second Shenandoah Valley Campaign witnessed the destruction of Lt. Gen. Jubal Early’s small army by Union forces led by Maj. Gen. Philip Sheridan, while the Fifth and Sixth Offensives of the Petersburg Campaign trapped Gen. Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia in its thinning lines around Petersburg. The essay also explores the political implications of the campaigns, as both sides waged war in the fall of 1864 with one eye on the congressional and presidential elections in the North. It furthermore examines the destruction of crops and other supplies in portions of the valley as an example of Northern “hard war” strategy, the use of African American troops, and the conditions faced by troops in the trenches. These campaigns marked the beginning of the end of the Confederacy’s capacity to wage war.



Professare ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 109
Author(s):  
Claudemir Aparecido Lopes

<p class="resumoabstract">O professor Giorgio Agamben tem elaborado críticas à engenhosa estrutura política ocidental moderna. Avalia os mecanismos de controle estatal, nos quais os denomina ‘dispositivos’, cuja força está na imbricação às normas jurídico-teológicas com seus similares ritos e liturgias. Suas ocorrências e legitimidade preponderam no tecido social cuja organização sistêmica se põe quase como elemento natural e não cultural. O texto tem por objetivo explorar a concepção política de Agamben sobre a política contemporânea, especialmente considerando seu livro: ‘Estado de Exceção’, cuja investigação apresenta a possibilidade de atenuação dos direitos de cidadania e o enfraquecimento da prática da liberdade política e o processo de relação dos indivíduos no meio social através da redução das subjetividades ‘autênticas’. Analisamos ainda a transferência do mundo sacro elaborado pelos teólogos católicos presente na modernidade à política cuja democracia moderna faz do homem (sujeito) tornar-se objeto do poder político. Faz também, reflexão dos conceitos de subjetivação e dessubjetivação relacionando-os às implicações políticas do homem moderno. A pesquisa é bibliográfica com ênfase na análise dos conceitos elaborados por Agamben, especialmente quanto ao ‘dispositivo’. Conclui que o indivíduo ocidental, de modo geral, sofre o processo de dessubjetivação e está ‘nu’, indefeso e alienado politicamente. Ele precisa voltar-se ao processo de ‘profanação’ dos dispositivos para libertar-se das vinculações orientadoras que forçosamente o descaracteriza enquanto ser ativo e livre.</p><p class="resumoabstract"><strong>Palavras-chave</strong>: Política. Liberdade. Subjetivação.</p><h3>ABSTRACT</h3><p class="resumoabstract">Professor Giorgio Agamben has been criticizing the ingenious modern Western political structure. It evaluates the mechanisms of state control, in which it calls them 'devices', whose strength lies in the overlap with legal-theological norms with their similar rites and liturgies. Its occurrences and legitimacy preponderate in the social fabric whose systemic organization is almost as a natural and not a cultural element. The text aims to explore Agamben's political conception of contemporary politics, especially considering his book 'State of Exception', whose research presents the possibility of attenuating citizenship rights and weakening the practice of political freedom and the individuals in the social environment through the reduction of 'authentic' subjectivities. We also analyze the transfer of the sacred world elaborated by the Catholic theologians present in the modernity to the politics whose modern democracy makes of the man - subject - to become object of the political power. It also reflects on the concepts of subjectivation and desubjectivation, relating them to the political implications of modern man. The research is bibliographical with emphasis in the analysis of the concepts elaborated by Agamben, especially with regard to the 'device'. He concludes that the Western individual, in general, suffers the process of desubjectivation and is 'naked', defenseless and politically alienated. He must turn to the process of 'desecration' of devices to free himself from the guiding bindings that forcibly demeanes him while being active and free.</p><p class="resumoabstract"><strong>Keywords</strong>: Politics. Freedom. Subjectivity. </p><p> </p>



2010 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 46-66
Author(s):  
Arkotong Longkumer

This article considers the importance of “religion” and “identity” in the process of fieldwork in the North Cachar Hills, Assam, India. The political sensitivities in the region provided a difficult context in which to do fieldwork. This is chiefly because of the various armed insurrections, which have arisen as a consequence of the complicated remnants of British colonialism (1834–1947), and the subsequent post-independence challenge of nation building in India. This article raises important methodological questions concerning fieldwork and the relational grounding of the fieldworker relative to the inside/outside positions. It reflects on these issues by discussing the Heraka, a Zeme Naga religious movement. Their ambiguity and “in-between” character accommodates both the “neo-Hindu” version of a nation or Hindutva (Hinduness) and the larger Naga (primarily Christian) assertion of their own cultural and religious autonomy. The Heraka provides an alternative route into ideas of nationhood, religious belonging and cultural identity.



2019 ◽  
Vol 118 (11) ◽  
pp. 365-371
Author(s):  
J Dorasamy ◽  
Mr Jirushlan Dorasamy

Studies, especially in the North America, have shown a relationship between political orientation and moralfoundation. This study investigated whether moral judgements differ from the political orientation of participantsin South Africa moral judgment and the extent to which moral foundations are influenced by politicalorientation.Further, the study investigated the possibility of similar patterns with the North AmericanConservative-Liberal spectrum and the moral foundation. There were 300participants, 78 males and 222 females,who completed an online questionnaire relating to moral foundation and political orientation. The results partiallysupported the hypothesis relating to Liberal and Conservative orientation in South Africa. Further, this studypartially predicted the Liberal-Conservative orientation with patterns in the moral foundation, whilst showingsimilar findings to the North American studies. A growing rate of a neutral/moderate society is evidenced in SouthAfrica and abroad, thereby showing the emergence of a more open approach to both a political and generalstance.”””



2020 ◽  
Vol 14 (4) ◽  
pp. 28
Author(s):  
O. V. Lagutin ◽  
E. O. Negrov

The article deals with the assessment of the prospects of the political future by representatives of Russian youth. The text of the article has been prepared within the framework of the project “Potential of Youth Political Leadership in The Course of Political Socialization and Circulation of Elites in the Russia Regions in the 2010s (using the example of South-Western Siberia and the North-West of the Russian Federation), RFBR grant No. 18-011-01184. The relevance of the research is in combining a fundamental review of the main directions of research of the role of youth participation in the social and political process and the involvement of a specific empirical study conducted in the spring of 2019, which allows highlighting various aspects of the situation. The empirical part of the study is based on the study “Ideas of Youth about Possibilities of Youth Leaders and Youth Organizations in Russia”, which was conducted in spring 2019 in four constituent entities of the Russian Federation — Altai Territory, Leningrad and Novosibirsk Regions and St. Petersburg. The method of research was a personal standardized interview, the sample size was 1000 respondents (250 in each of the regions), representatives of young people aged 14 to 30 permanently reside in the territory of the studied subjects of the federation. Based on factor and cluster analyzes, the main models of expectations of the political future are presented. The article should be of interest to researchers, both professionally involved, and simply interested in the topic of the influence of the real political process on such a significant group of the population as youth.



2009 ◽  
Vol 19 (0) ◽  
pp. 15-23 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arthur VERSLUIS


Author(s):  
Daniel S. Markey

This book explains how China’s new foreign policies like the vaunted “Belt and Road” Initiative are being shaped by local and regional politics outside China and assesses the political implications of these developments for Eurasia and the United States. It depicts the ways that President Xi Jinping’s China is zealously transforming its national wealth and economic power into tools of global political influence and details these developments in South Asia, Central Asia, and the Middle East. Drawing from extensive interviews, travels, and historical research, it describes how perceptions of China vary widely within states like Pakistan, Kazakhstan, and Iran. Eurasia’s powerful and privileged groups often expect to profit from their connections to China, while others fear commercial and political losses. Similarly, statesmen across Eurasia are scrambling to harness China’s energy purchases, arms sales, and infrastructure investments as a means to outdo their strategic competitors, like India and Saudi Arabia, while negotiating relations with Russia and America. The book finds that, on balance, China’s deepening involvement will play to the advantage of regional strongmen and exacerbate the political tensions within and among Eurasian states. To make the most of America’s limited influence along China’s western horizon (and elsewhere), it argues that US policymakers should pursue a selective and localized strategy to serve America’s aims in Eurasia and to better compete with China over the long run.



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