Ideological Confrontation and the Manipulation of Oral History: a Zambesian Case

1987 ◽  
Vol 14 ◽  
pp. 257-273
Author(s):  
Matthew Schoffeleers
Keyword(s):  
Oral History ◽  
Scarce Resource ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Systems ◽  
The Past ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Origin Myths ◽  
The Moment ◽  
At Will ◽  
Original Event

Ever since Malinowski formulated his concept of myths as charters, there has been a tendency among anthropologists to regard origin myths more or less as post factum constructs designed to legitimize existing privileges and positions. A classic example of this pragmatist view is Leach's study of political systems in highland Burma, in which he attempts to demonstrate that origin myths change with clocklike regularity in response to shifts in the political constellation. More recently, however, voices have been raised, particularly among historians, which insist that a society's past cannot always be manipulated at will, but that under certain conditions it has to be treated circumspectly in the way one deals with any scarce resource.My own interpretation of this view is that accounts of the past, when they concern important aspects of a society, are often (or perhaps always) constructed in such a way that the original event is somehow preserved and recoverable. The qualification “somehow” is added on purpose to make clear that the phrase ‘oral history’ refers to such a wide range of genres and mnemonic techniques, and that the methods at our disposal to extract the original event are still so rudimentary--despite the progress made over the past dozen years or so--that for the moment one cannot do more than express belief in our ultimate capability to discover what happened in actual fact.

scholarly journals Online Life Writing

2020 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 147-150
Author(s):  
Silvia Schultermandl
Keyword(s):  
Life Style ◽  
Asylum Seekers ◽  
Life Writing ◽  
The Political ◽  
Online Media ◽  
The Past ◽  
Everyday Lives ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Literary Market ◽  
Do So

In lieu of an abstract, here is the first paragraph of this contribution to this forum: The advent of Facebook in 2004, Twitter in 2006, Tumblr in 2007, Instagram and Pinterest in 2010, and Snapchat and Google+ in 2011 facilitated the emergence of “everyday” autobiographies out of keeping with memoir practices of the past.[1] These “quick media” enable constant, instantaneous, and seemingly organic expressions of everyday lives.[2] To read quick media as “autobiographical acts” allows us to analyze how people mobilize online media as representations of their lives and the lives of others.[3] They do so through a wide range of topics including YouTube testimonials posted by asylum seekers (Whitlock 2015) and the life-style oriented content on Pinterest.[4] To be sure, the political content of these different quick media life writing varies greatly. Nevertheless, in line with the feminist credo that the personal is political, these expressions of selfhood are indicative of specific societal and political contexts and thus contribute to the memoir boom long noticed on the literary market.[5]

scholarly journals THE ISSUE OF LEGITIMACY OF THE LATVIAN POLITICAL SYSTEM

2017 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
pp. 313
Author(s):  
Gunārs Ozolzīle
Keyword(s):  
Political Institutions ◽  
Political System ◽  
Political Regime ◽  
The Political ◽  
Sociological Research ◽  
Political Systems ◽  
Conceptual Approach ◽  
The Past ◽  
Diffuse Support ◽  
Sufficient Resource

A democratic political system can be sustainable and stable only if it has society’s support that is based on legitimacy. So far, the attention of Latvian researchers has mostly been devoted to the so-called “ratings” of separate political institutions and politicians, but no attempt has been undertaken to investigate the political system as a whole through the prism of legitimacy. The aim of the present article is to explore whether there is a sufficient resource of legitimacy of the Latvian political system in order to provide stability and efficiency of the regime. The empirical basis of the research mostly consists of the results of the sociological research conducted in Latvia during the past six years (2011–2016). The data analysis of the present research is based on David Easton and Pippa Norris’ conceptual approach to the study of legitimacy of political systems. One of the conclusions that can be made is that the political system of Latvia is characterised by insufficient diffuse support, which then indicates that the political system experiences the problem of legitimacy. As there is a divided society in Latvia, both communities lack a shared national identity, which could connect the society. In addition, it can be stated that around half of the society is not satisfied with the functioning of the political regime. The analysis performed in the article allows concluding that the trust in political institutions is extremely low and the assessment of the political authority performance is highly negative.

The Political Economy of the Resource Curse

1999 ◽  
Vol 51 (2) ◽  
pp. 297-322 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael L. Ross
Keyword(s):  
Economic Growth ◽  
Economic Development ◽  
Resource Curse ◽  
The Political ◽  
Economic Problems ◽  
The Past ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Resource Wealth ◽  
New Research ◽  
Natural Resource Wealth

How does a state's natural resource wealth influence its economic development? For the past fifty years, versions of this question have been explored by both economists and political scientists. New research suggests that resource wealth tends to harm economic growth, yet there is little agreement on why this occurs. This article reviews a wide range of recent attempts in both economics and political science to explain the “resource curse.” It suggests that much has been learned about the economic problems of resource exporters but less is known about their political problems. The disparity between strong findings on economic matters and weak findings on political ones partly reflects the failure of political scientists to carefully test their own theories.

Rethinking national temporal orders: the subaltern presence and enactment of the political

2016 ◽  
Vol 42 (4) ◽  
pp. 597-612 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tarja Väyrynen
Keyword(s):  
Political Power ◽  
The Political ◽  
National History ◽  
The Past ◽  
Subaltern History ◽  
The Moment

AbstractHow the past is remembered is fundamental to the production and reproduction of postwar sovereign political power. However, Internation Relations’ (IR) explicit interest in the practices of remembrance, and particularly in time remains a relatively new one. This article seeks to show how Jacques Rancière’s discussion of temporality, subaltern history, and politics – which allows the study of parallel and enmeshing temporal universes – contributes to the IR literature on time. In this view, when speech is acquired by those whose right to speak is not recognised they can produce temporalities that disturb hegemonic representations of time constellations and reorganise the nation’s relationship to its past. The article analyses the moment of Kaisu Lehtimäki’s telling her war story in public, and understands it to be a material and symbolic event that shatters the hegemonic distribution of the Finnish postwar national history and truth.

scholarly journals THE EVOLUTION OF THE INSTITUTION OF THE PRESIDENCY IN THE POST-SOVIET REPUBLICS OF TRANSCAUCASIA AND CENTRAL ASIA

2021 ◽  
pp. 53-61
Author(s):  
Dmitry BEREZYUK ◽  
◽  
Alexander KLYASHTORIN ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Central Asia ◽  
Political Process ◽  
The Political ◽  
The Caucasus ◽  
The Past ◽  
Political Resources ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Soviet Space ◽  
Post Soviet Space

The article provides a comparative analysis of the political mechanisms and fundamental constitutional principles of the functioning of the institution of the presidency in the post-Soviet republics of the Caucasus and Central Asia. According to the authors, in Georgia and Armenia, the institution of the presidency is evolving in the direction of weakening, which inevitably leads to an increase in the role of the parliament and the Cabinet of Ministers in the political process. Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan are following the path of forming personalist political regimes. The presidents of these countries have not only a wide range of formal powers, but also informal political resources that allow them to rule indefinitely and pass power on to their descendants. Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan stand apart. The first country represents an example of successful institutionalization of presidential rule. Kazakhstan is one of the few states of the post-Soviet space, where a systematic and civilized transit of presidential power took place. At the same time, the political system remained stable. The situation in Kyrgyzstan is developing in a fundamentally different way, where a whole series of coups has taken place over the past few years. This country has a president, but the institution of the presidency, de facto, is absent.

scholarly journals The Ideological Influence of the Communist Party of China on the Communist Party of Vietnam

2021 ◽  
Vol 65 (7) ◽  
pp. 64-70
Author(s):  
M. Terskikh
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
Communist Party ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Systems ◽  
National Interests ◽  
Communist Party Of China ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Ideological Influence ◽  
Similarities And Differences

The article focuses on the peculiarities of Vietnam’s position in the orbit of the ideological and theoretical influence of China. The author examines the most important party documents of both states, reveals their main similarities and differences. The author concludes that Hanoi scrupulously studies, critically assesses, and actively uses the experience of Chinese economic and political reforms. The party and state leadership of Vietnam, when carrying out major transformations of recent decades, was directly guided by the successful experience of their Chinese colleagues. This led to the situation where today’s political systems of Vietnam and China are quite similar, but still are not (and will never be) twin brothers. At the same time, the countries developed a wide network of inter-party contacts which is used not only as an instrument of exchanging views on adapting Marxism-Leninism to current realities, but also as an additional and mutually beneficial channel of communication on a wide range of issues. Despite this, the similarity of the political systems does not necessarily lead to a change in foreign policy. China has an impressive array of tools to influence its southern neighbor, but their ideological closeness is definitely not the most important of them. It is concluded that the role of ideology in Vietnam’s policy, although it remains noticeable, is significantly inferior to the role of national interests and pragmatic views.

scholarly journals Prenatal diagnostics of aninborndefects

2014 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 26-29
Author(s):  
ANNA WOJTYŁKO– GOŁOWKIN ◽  
MACIEJ BAGŁAJ ◽  
ALEKSANDER WOJTYŁKO
Keyword(s):  
Pregnant Women ◽  
Surgical Intervention ◽  
Prenatal Testing ◽  
In Utero ◽  
Test Results ◽  
Past Medical History ◽  
The Past ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
The Moment ◽  
Inborn Defect

Prenatal diagnosis offers a wide range of tests that can be carried out at various stages of pregnancy in order to conduct early diagnosis of congenital malformations. The purpose of this publication is to discuss the methodology, suitability and availability of prenatal testing. The detection of anatomical abnormalities in utero and postnatal verification of the diagnosis decreases the risk associated with malformation in a significant way. Prenatal detection of the defect requiring the surgical intervention on the first days of the life is particularly important. Intrauterine diagnosing of the defect allows to implement the diagnostic and healing progression at the newborn directly after the birth. Transport in utero is the safest way of transmitting the child to the high- specialistic centre . The consultative team looking after the mother and the newborn with an inborn defect should be composed of specialists from obstetrics, neonatology, pediatrics, anesthesiology, pediatric surgery and genetics. In the case of prenatal suspicion or detection of the defects that are possible to surgically repair, it seems appropriate to incorporate a pediatric surgeon to the therapeutic team in the moment of detection in the prenatal period. According to the Polish Gynecological Association it is recommended for every pregnant woman to have an ultrasound scan of the foetus at least 3 times during pregnancy. Minimally invasive screening is destined to all pregnant women in Poland, irrespective of the age. Invading examinations are proposed in case of the positive screening (presence of genetic sonographic marker or wrong biochemical test results) or for pregnant women with the past medical history and at the age above 35.

The Christian and Politics

Worldview ◽  
1969 ◽  
Vol 12 (10) ◽  
pp. 11-14 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter J. Riga
Keyword(s):  
Political Order ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Systems ◽  
The Past ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
The Church

After centuries of discussions and disputes over the church-state relationship, it would seem that there is little to say about the “Christian and politics.” The reality is that the relationship is more disputed today than it has ever been. Nor has the theology of the secular, so extensively developed over the past few years, increased the area of agreement about the perspective from which the Christian should look at the political order, how he can speak to it and to what extfent the emphasis should be placed on “Christian” or on “politics.”There have been few political systems in man's history which have not appealed to God in one way or another for their justification or foundation or mission.

Oral Tradition and the History of Igala

1969 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 29-43 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. S. Boston
Keyword(s):  
Oral Tradition ◽  
Early Period ◽  
Time Span ◽  
Oral Traditions ◽  
The Political ◽  
The Past ◽  
Major Development ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
History Of ◽  
Growth And Change

A wide range of contact with other peoples has tended to produce variety and divergence in Igala traditions concerning the origin of the kingship. To select one or other of these traditions for special emphasis, as was done in the past, is to misrepresent the nature of the corpus as a whole. Analysis of this complex body of tradition can be simplified by concentrating on three problems, the problem of divergence, the question of chronology, and the need to distinguish between the historical and the political functions of oral tradition. Divergence in Igala tradition reflects divisions within the clan system on which Igala political structure is based. But these differences of emphasis can be resolved if the time span covered by the legends is properly understood. These traditions open with a mythical or quasi-mythical period in which events are placed without reference to their sequence in time. Mythical thought is concerned with structure in the abstract, with form rather than with process. Thus it is argued that the early period of Igala history, where most of the divergence occurs, demonstrates the interaction of different principles of political growth and change, the time span being defined conventionally by associating each major development with one reign or generation. Dating from archaeological and ethnographic material suggests that a much longer time span is involved in Igala history than might be indicated by a superficial analysis of the oral traditions, based on genealogical counting.

Political Demand Channels in the Processes of American and British Imperial Expansion, 1870–1913

1975 ◽  
Vol 27 (2) ◽  
pp. 227-255 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen Cooney
Keyword(s):  
Primary Source ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Systems ◽  
Political Processes ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Imperial Expansion ◽  
Western Imperialism ◽  
Political Demand ◽  
Source Materials ◽  
International Linkage

Before one can make conclusive statements about the causes of western imperialism, one must comprehend the network of political processes and administrative relations by which expansionist demands were fed into the political systems of imperial powers. The channels followed by demands which led to British and American imperial expansion are mapped through reference to historical studies based on a wide range of primary source materials. Expansionist demand channels are studied within the framework of Easton's concept of the political system, and of linkage theories concerning the relation of national political systems to the extra-societal environment. The British and American systems provide contrasting examples of simple and complex linkage. American expansion can be studied within the simple domestic-international linkage framework developed by contemporary authors; to comprehend the process of British expansion, one must consider the complicating factor of local imperial demands.

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