scholarly journals Power and religion: Geertz position of present-day Bali

2017 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 249
Author(s):  
Ni Wayan Radita Novi Puspitasari

This article analyzes the changes of religious - political power relations from the mid of 1950’s to present-day Bali. Anthropologist Geertz stated that Balinese Hinduism is a “superstition”, “rhetoric” and “state cult” that had been applied in the Negara as a theatre state. Within the conception of Hinduism by referring to the relation between the Divine God -Tri Murti and Tri Hita Karana, the Balinese society is believed in the relation between Gods, the people and its environment. Although in the post-colonial era, Balinese people are maintaining the power existence of the local kingdoms, mainly the system of warna. Through the accumulation of charisma, Geertz provided a concept that Negara was basically a state created by honor and ceremony. Thus, the democratic governmental system of Indonesia hardly reach the political arena within the Balinese society. As a result, through the self-awareness and the notion on equality, the Sudra could establish their role as an influential Balinese personage.

2004 ◽  
Vol 36 (2) ◽  
pp. 253-275 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hootan Shambayati

Countries such as Iran and Turkey do not fit comfortably into the democratic and authoritarian categories. In these countries, elections are held regularly, and the will of the people is accepted as one source of sovereignty. At the same time, both constitutionally and in practice the elected officials have to share the exercise of political power with institutions that do not draw their power directly from the will of the people. In such systems, the judiciary has two important political functions. First, the judiciary acts as a politically insulated decision-maker through which the unelected head can exercise some degree of control over the actions of the elected head. Second, the judiciary's direct involvement in the political arena increases political tensions and legitimates the continuation of the two-headed system. In systems based on divided sovereignty, the tensions created by the judicialization of politics contribute to the stability of the regime.


Author(s):  
Sydney Bertram

While many academics and popular journalists have recently addressed historical epidemics in the context of COVID-19, much of this literature concerns the history of former colonial powers rather than the history of formerly colonized states. This review finds that the French colonial regime frequently used disease as a means to exert increased political power over the people of the Senegal.  Primary sources, analyses of colonialism and disease in Senegal, and current popular media reveal that post-colonial successes in managing epidemic disease, when contrasted with colonial-era racialization of rampant disease, is likely shaping the Senegalese government’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic.


Author(s):  
Christian Gilliam

Christian Gilliam argues that a philosophy of ‘pure’ immanence is integral to the development of an alternative understanding of ‘the political’; one that re-orients our understanding of the self toward the concept of an unconscious or ‘micropolitical’ life of desire. He argues that here, in this ‘life’, is where the power relations integral to the continuation of post-industrial capitalism are most present and most at stake. Through proving its philosophical context, lineage and political import, Gilliam ultimately justifies the conceptual necessity of immanence in understanding politics and resistance, thereby challenging the claim that ontologies of ‘pure’ immanence are either apolitical or politically incoherent.


2003 ◽  
Vol 47 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Christian Zeller

Elements of a geography of capitalism. Despite the variety of new approaches economic geography developed rather one-sided in the past decade. The regional and the firm lenses hardly enabled to recognize how economic processes and political power relations interact on different scales. These empirical deficits also express a restricted theoretical base. The approaches of the new “regional orthodoxy” claim to explain conditions of an improved competitiveness of firms and of regions. However, many socially relevant and spatially differentiated problems are ignored. In contrast, this paper argues for an integrative understanding of the capitalist economy in its historical dynamics and with its reciprocal effects for actors on various scales. In the course of neoliberal deregulation policies and globalization processes, a finance-dominated accumulation regime emerged in the USA which shapes the economy on a global scale. Institutional investors gained decisive control over investments. The political power relations and hierarchies between states remain important. Therefore, the paper suggests a shift of economic geographical research. In the perspective of an integrative geography of capitalism the paper outlines a research agenda of a geography of accumulation, a geography of production as well as a geography of power


Author(s):  
Yuriy Kyrychenko ◽  
Hanna Davlyetova

The article examines the role of political parties in modern state-building processes in Ukraine. The place of political parties in the political and legal system of society is determined. The general directions of overcoming problematic situations of activity of political parties in Ukraine are offered. It is noted that political parties play an important role in the organization and exercise of political power, act as a kind of mediator between civil society and public authorities, influence the formation of public opinion and the position of citizens directly involved in elections to public authorities and local governments. It is determined that in a modern democratic society, political parties carry out their activities in the following areas: the work of representatives of political parties in public authorities and local governments; participation in elections of state authorities and local self-government bodies; promoting the formation and expression of political will of citizens, which involves promoting the formation and development of their political legal consciousness. These areas of political parties determine their role and importance in a modern democratic society, which determines the practical need to improve their activities and improve the national legislation of Ukraine in the field of political parties. Political parties are one of the basic institutions of modern society, they actively influence the ac-tivities of public authorities, economic and social processes taking place in the state and so on. It is through political parties that the people participate in the management of public affairs. Expressing the interest of different social communities, they become a link between the state and civil society. The people have the opportunity to delegate their powers to political parties, which achieves the ability of the people to control political power in several ways, which at the same time through competition of state political institutions and political parties contributes to increasing their responsibility to the people. It is noted that the political science literature has more than 200 definitions of political parties. And approaches to the definition of this term significantly depend on the general context in which this issue was studied by the researcher. It was emphasized that today in Ukraine there are important issues related to the activities of political parties. First of all, it is a significant number of registered political parties that are incapable, ie their political activity is conducted formally or not at all. According to official data from the Department of State Registration and Notary of the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine, 352 political parties are registered, of which 48 political parties do not actually function. The reason for the liquidation of such parties is not to nominate their candidates for the election of the President of Ukraine and People's Deputies of Ukraine for 10 years. According to this indicator, Ukraine ranks first among other European countries. Thus, 73 political parties are officially registered in Latvia, 38 in Lithuania, 45 in Moldova, 124 in Romania, and 56 in Slovakia. However, despite the large number of officially registered political parties in Ukraine, public confidence in their activities is low. It is concluded that political parties occupy a special place in the political and legal system of society and play an important role in the organization and exercise of political power, as well as a kind of mediator between civil society and public authorities. The general directions of overcoming problematic situations of activity of political parties in Ukraine are offered, namely: introduction of effective and impartial control over activity of political parties; creating conditions for reducing the number of political parties, encouraging their unification; establishment of effective and efficient sanctions for violation of the requirements of the current legislation of Ukraine by political parties.


Author(s):  
Mary Stella Ran B. ◽  
Poli Reddy R.

The novel “The Slave Girl” by Buchi Emecheta exposes the plights of African women and portrayal of their struggle as slaves and ultimately how they come up the problem and becomes a self-awakened.  In this paper, one can see Ojebeta starting her life as a slave and finally becomes an owner of a house by passing so many phases of life as a slave. In the beginning, she is sold into domestic slavery by her own brother.  She has become the victim to her brother’s traits.  She has become a scapegoat to the plans of African patriarchy.  The intention of Buchi Emecheta is to recreate the image of women through feminism.   Emecheta’s fiction is blended with reality representing socio historical elements of the prevailing society and its environment besides questioning the pathetic conditions of the people in general and women in particular. One can observe the narration of innocence of childhood grown into adulthood by attaining certain amount of freedom with the Christian education which she has received with which she has attained a small degree of self-awareness.


1984 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 245-275 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark J. Osiel

A new and curious species of public figure emerged on the international scene after the Second World War, gaining in prominence and conspicuousness in the years that followed. His daily experience is often a trying one, marked by recurrent tension between conflicting commitments. Enjoying from bhth the comforts of the advanced industrial world, he seeks to speak onbehalf of the hungry and impoverished. Educated in the best universities, he lives among countrymen who are predominantly illiterate. He is regarded as an impertinent upstart by the diplomats of wealthier and more powerful nations. At the same time, he is suspected by his own people of compromising himself with the reigning powers of the international arena. He is well-versed and highly articulate in the political vocabulary of the West. Yet he is acutely sensitive to perceived slights against the political traditions of his native land. He is bitter about what the Western presence did to his native society. But the very categories in which he couches his criticisms of that presence—the rights to sovereignty, distributive justice, and national self-determination —are themselves the inheritance of the West. He follows with enthusiasm the latest currents of intellectual life in Europe and America. Yet he is deeply committed, simultaneously, to defending the dignity of his own people's cultural achievements. As a result of his modern education, he cannot help but feel somewhat estranged from the traditional beliefs and practices of his fellow citizens. Yet neither can he feel very comfortable as the mere bearer to them of the colonizer's culture, a culture he rarely regards entirely as his own. Such is the predicament of that loquacious and troublesome child of the post-colonial age, the Third World intellectual.


2014 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-51
Author(s):  
Boris Ivanovich Kolonitskii

The article treats one of A. F. Kerenskii’s most important speeches, the speech of 29 April 1917, known to historians for its reference to ‘rebellious slaves.’ It examines the speech’s political significance by reconstructing its reception and political currency and by analyzing its effect on the revolution’s political culture. The article compares variants of the speech as reported in the political press, resolutions and collective letters printed in the press, and also Kerenskii’s personal documents bearing on the speech. The article demonstrates that Kerenskii’s speech was a part of his tactical effort to create a coalition government on conditions favorable to him. The speech had a major impact on the political rhetoric of the revolutionary epoch, with various participants in the political arena manipulating Kerenskii’s reference to ‘rebellious slaves’ for their own purposes. The address contributed to the formation of a personality cult, built on Kerenskii’s image as ‘leader of the people.’


2018 ◽  
pp. 60-68
Author(s):  
Mykola Obushnyi

The article is devoted to the disclosure of the place and role of ideology as a factor in the consolidation of Ukrainians in the post-colonial era. It is proved that in the Ukrainian state-building process the problem of consolidation of Ukrainians is relevant and complex, and still remains one of the most important. As Ukrainian progress, which opens up new opportunities for the socio-economic, political and spiritual development of Ukrainian society, depends on its solution. It is emphasized that effective work of subjects of consolidation of Ukrainians depends on a complex of socio-economic, political and spiritual factors. One of the determining factors in the spiritual sphere is ideology, which should be national in its essence, since it is intended to unite all representatives of ethnic and national minorities of Ukrainian society, based on the ideas of spirituality, social justice and national patriotism, taking into account historical traditions and existing realities of the modern world. Exactly this kind of unifying ideology should determine the main direction of the Ukrainian policy of the unity of society, the system of its ideals and values. Therefore, the search for such an ideology is an important factor in the consolidation of Ukrainians, especially in today post-colonial era. World experience clearly shows that those societies that have an ideological consolidation core, which is understandable and supported by every citizen, are developing more dynamically. According to its status, this consolidation core is one of the ideological foundations of state ideology, the discussion on its development is still ongoing. Its acuteness intensifies the existing confrontation of the various, though not formed party ideologies, which somehow still claim to state status, trying to revise the legislative norm, according to which the most important carrier of state ideology is the Constitution. And other bearers of state ideology have the right, within their powers and ideological directions, to use the fundamental principles of state ideology, such as: to defend state independence and sovereignty, democratic social order, civil society, human rights, etc., but they shoyd not revise these fundamental basics of statehood. A special protection needs a consolidation aspect of state ideology, since it is a kind of manifestation of civic education and the core of person politicization. In each state, ideology is called differently - Americanism, Russianism, Polonism, Zionism, and so on. In Ukraine, due to the kind of scientific ostracism that appeared (and quite well-grounded) after the proclamation of independence in connection with the contemporary ideology and mono-ideology that was in the Soviet Union, it is difficult to name the ideology. Nowadays, a number of scholars and party ideologists are inclined to think that the term "solidarism", based on the ideas of the consolidation of the ideology of Ukrainians, could be used, based on the ideas that only solidarity of just cooperation and mutual assistance of all members of society is the basis of social, economic and political progress. It is noteworthy that some Ukrainian political parties in their updated (after the Revolution of Dignity) programs use the term "solidarism" to consolidate Ukrainians. In particular, the political party, the People's Front, defines its programmatic task to restore the territorial integrity of Ukraine, liberate it from terrorists, foreign troops, mercenaries, and to conduct reforms. The PF ideologists associate these tasks with the consolidation of Ukrainians. Ideologists of the Ukrainian Democratic Alliance for Reform (UDAR) political party proceed from the assumption that only a consolidated country can be effective and competitive in the world. "We must realize, - stated in the UDAR program, that the goals that unite us are more important than the historical myths and ideologies that can separate us." A lot of attention is paid to the problem of consolidation of Ukrainians through the disclosure of the idea of solidarity in the program of the political party "Petro Poroshenko Bloc Solidarity "(new edition). In this program it is declared for the first time that the party puts the idea of solidarity at the basis of its ideology. The idea of solidarity in the «Batkivshchyna» Party, whose program was adopted in 1999, has its own story, but as long as this solidarity spirit is officially not reflected as an ideology in its program. The article contains a recommendation for Ukrainian political forces to study more thoroughly the ideological grounds of solidarity ideas with a view to their possible use in their political and ideological activities.


2015 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 41-70
Author(s):  
Khamami Zada

The application of Islamic rules in Aceh and Kelantan is also related to the political power. There is a significant difference about political treatment on the application of Islamic law in Aceh and Kelantan. In Aceh, the central government (Indonesia) thinks that it is needed to apply jinâyah law in Aceh as a strategy to solve conflicts. This political rule has been applied in the republic of Indonesia since the leadership of Habibie, Abdurrahman Wahid, Megawati Soekarno Putri to Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. The main factor that influences the Indonesian political government rule is the central conflict with the Acehnese in the leadership of Soeharto presidential to the Helsinski Agreement 2005. Some vertical conflicts happened between the central government and the Acehnese were solved by giving special autonomy in applying the Islamic rules. Not only family law and economic law which are given autonomy to be applied in Aceh, but also the autonomy to apply jinâyah Law. In Kelantan, Federal government (Malaysia) did not have political wish to apply Jinayah Law in Kelantan since the leadership of Mahathir Muhammad, Abdullah Badawi to Najib Razak. Moreover the federal government made the issue of the application of jinâyah law as the political commodity to get the political sympathy from the people, who are the partner of non Moslem voters in the national ranks and some Moslem voters who are not affiliated with PAS. This political needs factor is kept by the Federal Government to respond the Kelantan’s government wish to apply Islamic rules.Copyright (c) 2015 by Al-Ihkam. All right reserved DOI : 10.19105/al-ihkam.v10i1.588 


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