Shari’a and ‘traditional Tatar Islam’

2018 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 105-108 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rozaliya Garipova
Keyword(s):  
The State ◽  
Political Elite ◽  
The Political ◽  
State Structure ◽  
Muslim Population ◽  
Muslim Countries ◽  
Islamic Identity ◽  
Traditional Islam

Like all the elites of post-Soviet Muslim countries, the political elite and religious officials in Russia have been in the search of a moderate and strictly national Islamic identity, to keep the Muslim population of Russia separate from Arab or Turkish versions of Islam that could be politicised and thus had the potential to undermine the state structure. ‘Tatar traditional Islam’ emerged through this framework.

Afars of Ethiopia in the system of ethnic federalism

2018 ◽  
pp. 126-146
Author(s):  
Roza Ismagilova
Keyword(s):  
Ethnic Identity ◽  
Ethnic Groups ◽  
Fundamental Principle ◽  
Ethnic Relations ◽  
The State ◽  
Political Crisis ◽  
The Political ◽  
Horn Of Africa ◽  
State Structure ◽  
Ethnic Federalism

The article pioneers the analyses of the results of ethnic federalism introduced in Ethiopia in 1991 – and its influence on Afar. Ethnicity was proclaimed the fundamental principle of the state structure. The idea of ethnicity has become the basis of official ideology. The ethnic groups and ethnic identity have acquired fundamentally importance on the political and social levels . The country has been divided into nine ethnically-based regions. The article exposes the complex ethno-political and economic situation in the Afar State, roots and causes of inter- and intra-ethnic relations and conflicts with Amhara, Oromo, Tigray and Somali-Issa, competition of ethnic elites for power and recourses. Alive is the idea of “The Greater Afar”which would unite all Afar of the Horn of Africa. The protests in Oromia and Amhara Regions in 2015–2017 influenced the Afar state as welll. The situation in Ethiopia nowadays is extremely tense. Ethiopia is plunging into serious political crisis. Some observers call it “the beginning of Ethiopian spring”, the others – “Color revolution”

The Final Stage of the Minority Revolution in the United States. Upward Mobility of Minorities to the Corridors of Power

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (2-1) ◽  
pp. 62-91
Author(s):  
Irina Zhezhko-Braun ◽  
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Social Institutions ◽  
Electoral System ◽  
The United States ◽  
The State ◽  
Political Elite ◽  
The Political ◽  
Protest Movements ◽  
Electoral Laws ◽  
The Government

This article is the third and final in a series dealing with the birth of a new political elite in the United States, the minority elite. In previous articles, the mechanism of its appearance was analyzed, as well as its ideology, goals, program and values. The black movement, as the most co-organized of all protest movements, is entering the final phase of its development, being engaged in the placement of its representatives in state and federal governments, political parties and other social institutions. The women’s movement has recently been taken over by ethnic movements, primarily blacks, and has become their vanguard. This article describes new social elevators for the promotion of minority representatives into the corridors of power. The logic of promoting people of their own race, gender and nationality to the highest branches of power began to prevail over other criteria for recruiting personnel. During the 2020 election campaign, a new mechanism for promoting minorities in all branches of government was formed. It is based on numerous violations of local and federal electoral legislation. The mechanism of pressure on the US electoral system is analyzed using the example of the state of Georgia and the activities of politician Stacey Abrams. The article describes Abrams’ strategy to create a network of NGOs that are focused on one mission - to arrange for the political shift of the state in the elections. These organizations circumvented existing laws, making the state of Georgia the record holder for electoral irregularities and lawsuits. The article shows that Abrams’ struggle with the electoral laws of her state is based on the political myth of the voter suppression of minorities. The author identifies a number of common characteristics of the new elite. The minority elite does not show any interest in social reconciliation and overcoming racial conflict, but rather makes efforts to incite the latter, to attract the government to its side and increase its role in establishing “social justice” through racial quotas and infringement of the rights of those social strata that it has appointed bearers of systematic racism in society. As the colored elite increases and the government’s role in resolving racial conflicts grows, the minority movement is gradually condemned, it ceases to be a true grassroots movement and turns into astroturfing.

Somali National Reconciliation

2019 ◽  
pp. 215-226
Author(s):  
Abdurahman Abdullahi “Baadiyow”
Keyword(s):  
Good Governance ◽  
Participatory Approach ◽  
The State ◽  
Political Elite ◽  
The Political ◽  
Power Struggle ◽  
Governance Practices ◽  
National Reconciliation

This chapter redefines the Somali conflict by refuting Somali exceptionalism and the approach based solely on clan. Instead, it argues that the genesis of hostilities is the state–society conflict that, as a consequence, has generated a violent power struggle among the political elite. In turn, this political elite power struggle has provoked political clannism and Islamism: the two indigenous ideologies. These conflicts have been generated sequentially as a result of state–society conflict, and must be addressed as part of a four-part process of reconciliation. The chapter also recommends a ten-point programme of reconciliation, which gradually realizes good governance practices and comprehensive elite and clan reconciliation. Moreover, it proposes a participatory approach and prudent synthesis of modernity and tradition.

Business and Politics

2019 ◽  
pp. 234-259 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Harriss ◽  
Andrew Wyatt
Keyword(s):  
Tamil Nadu ◽  
The State ◽  
Political Elite ◽  
Financial Resources ◽  
The Political ◽  
Big Business ◽  
Social Democratic ◽  
Democratic State ◽  
Illegal Activities ◽  
The Relationship

The political economy of Tamil Nadu presents a puzzle: in spite of politics that are generally considered to be unhelpful to development, the state does relatively well in terms both of economic growth and of human development. The chapter argues that Tamil Nadu is neither a developmental nor a social democratic state, while having some of the features of both. It is, rather, characterized by Bonapartism. While the state has generally been supportive of big business, the relationship between the corporate sector and the political elite is distinctly “arm’s-length.” The power and influence of business groups has not “grown enormously,” as has been claimed elsewhere. Tamil politicians do not rely for financial resources on big business but have their own sources of finance, some of them in semilegal or illegal activities such as sand mining and granite quarrying.

scholarly journals Multifaceted Islam: Malaysia

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 68-87
Author(s):  
Ju. V. Roknifard
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
Political Elite ◽  
Three Dimensions ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Struggle ◽  
Political Arena ◽  
Muslim Majority ◽  
Islamic Identity ◽  
The Moment ◽  
Malaysian Politics

This paper analyzes the Islam’s impact on the Malaysian politics. Islam as an instrument of Malaysia’s foreign policy has been used by the political elite of the state for decades. Observers note the Islamization of the country’s foreign policy, especially during the premiership of Najib Razak (2008– 2018). However, the trend towards Islamization can be traced back to the moment Malaysia gained independence from Great Britain in 1957 and especially during the premiership of Mahathir Mohamad (1981–2003). The formation of such a foreign policy of Malaysia took place against the background of the Islamization of the political and social environment within the country, which, in turn, was the result of an internal political struggle. Thus, the projection of Malaysia’s identity into the outside world and the foreign policy corresponding to this identity was often motivated by the need to retain or attract the support of the malay-muslim majority in the domestic political arena. Since many of the issues raised in the article relate to identity both at the national and global level, a constructivist paradigm is used to conceptualize Malaysia’s foreign policy with a special emphasis on the identity of states. Particularly important in this process is the formation of domestic and foreign policy discourse. Malaysia’s Islamic identity is viewed externally in three dimensions: the Sunni state, the activist state in the Islamic world and the standard of moderate Islam. Consideration of these dimensions reveals quite obvious contradictions between them, as well as between rhetoric and real politics.

scholarly journals Ecological trends of political and electoral programs in Ukraine

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 465-470
Author(s):  
A. Popovych ◽  
A. Sabovchyk
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Policy ◽  
Political Parties ◽  
The State ◽  
Political Elite ◽  
The Political ◽  
Environmental Consciousness ◽  
Management Decisions ◽  
Parliamentary Elections ◽  
Presidential Candidates ◽  
Strategic Goals

Changing the political elite in Ukraine as a result of the 2019 presidential and parliamentary elections raises interest in what will be the state's policy in various fields, including the environment. After all, the effectiveness of state environmental policy has not been achieved in previous years. Therefore, the purpose of the article is to determine the environmental trends of election (presidential, parliamentary) programs. In terms of research tasks, an attempt has been made to find out which of the types of environmental consciousness are the preferences of election programs; to trace the relationship between the environmental components of the programs of Presidential candidates and the political parties they represent; to find out whether the objectives of the state environmental policy of Ukraine for the period up to 2030 are taken into account in the election programs. The study was based on the environmental components of the election programs of the top 5 presidential candidates and the top 5 political parties that entered the parliament. The results of the analysis revealed that they were not filled enough: some did not contain such information or were formulated as a slogan of a single sentence. It is revealed that the content of election programs legitimizes the postmodern (harmonious) type of environmental consciousness. Only one program combines characteristics of all three types, including traditionalist and modernist (technocentric). It has been found that the environmental provisions of the programs of the presidential candidates and their political parties in the parliamentary elections are only partially correlated. The authors' special attention is focused on the consistency of election program provisions with the strategic goals of the state environmental policy. This aspect of the study shows that greening the worldview of the society as one of the five strategic goals of Ukraine's state environmental policy is not mentioned in the documents analyzed. Good environmental governance is only declared during a presidential campaign in one program regarding responsibility for environmental damage. The other two goals (sustainable development of natural resource potential, reduction of environmental risks and a safe environment) are fragmented. In both campaigns, greening of management decisions on socio-economic development is the most significant. The authors conclude about old trends of formal, ideologically unformed attitude of the political elite towards the environment in the election programs, the emergence of a business component as a relatively new trend in one of the election programs, and also express the opinion about the debate over the complex environmental policy and the new power of the new authorities management decisions in this area.

scholarly journals Oposisi dan Koalisi: Potret Kultur Demokrasi Indonesia

2019 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Political Parties ◽  
The State ◽  
Political Elite ◽  
The Political ◽  
Equal Rights ◽  
Governance System ◽  
Cultural Attitudes ◽  
The People ◽  
Power Holder ◽  
The Government

Democracy allows the people to have equal rights in decision-making that can change their lives. Consequently, opposition and coalition exist in this political system. While the opposition aims to correct and evaluate various government decisions, the coalition is the power holder or supporter of the government. Because Indonesia is a country that uphold legal formal consisting of many political parties, a coalition government party must be formed. This is done by gathering other parties until the government can run effectively so that it has the basis of a combination and effective legitimacy. In the second period of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's cabinet, the emergence of political parties that were powerless and did not dare to become the government's opposition became evidence of the need for democratization. The emergence of elitism, centralization, and anti-public, as well as the freezing of political structures and the backwardness of the cultural attitudes of the Indonesian people caused the opposition to stand on the word of democratization. Therefore coalitions and opposition are two important parts in building a democratic governance system in Indonesia. This article underlines that democracy in the political elite tends to produce a pseudo and half-hearted democracy. Therefor, the portrait of democratization is needed as a reinforcement of all elements of civil society and thus is not seen as a "devout movement of the state", but an urgent movement to change the attitude of the state through changes in the political composition within it.

scholarly journals Genealogical Links in Samogitian Nobility Heraldry Sources in the Second Half of the 16th–18th Centuries

2019 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
pp. 148-166
Author(s):  
Gabrielė Jasiūnienė
Keyword(s):  
Focus Of Attention ◽  
The State ◽  
Political Elite ◽  
The Political ◽  
Long Time ◽  
Specific Individual ◽  
Grand Duchy Of Lithuania ◽  
Coats Of Arms ◽  
Grand Duchy

Heraldry and its research have deep traditions in Europe, making it a certain focus of attention among researchers. The interest in this field in Lithuania is a more recent phenomenon. The late beginning of heraldry research was partly influenced by Lithuania’s loss of independence. At present, researchers’ attention is focused mainly on the periods of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, also looking at Lithuanian heraldry from the 20th–21st centuries, and conducting thorough research of the coats of arms of the state, cities, and towns. Research of the heraldry of the nobility is also being conducted, such as the heraldry of the political elite in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania – the Goštautas, Pacas, Radvila, Sapiega families, etc. The heraldry of representatives of the lower gentry, especially among the Samogitian families, has received less attention. Many unanswered questions and undeveloped themes remain in the field of the Samogitian nobility’s heraldry, overlooked in research for a long time. This article analyzes how genealogical links were reflected in Samogitian nobility heraldry sources in the second half of the 16th–18th centuries. Having analyzed the heraldic sources of the Samogitian nobility, it was found that these reflected not only information about a specific individual, but also their broader origins, family and marital lines. The coats of arms of the Samogitian nobility in time became a unique means of representation. The coats of arms of the Samogitian nobility were depicted in seals, literature, portraits, architecture, and elsewhere.

scholarly journals Religious myths and legitimation of Power

2018 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 339-349
Author(s):  
Vyacheslav S. Polosin
Keyword(s):  
The State ◽  
Political Elite ◽  
Political Regime ◽  
The Political ◽  
Popular Opinion ◽  
Religious Thinking ◽  
Geopolitical Context

The article deals with the superstitions and biased opinion regarding the State and its structre. The superstitions are usually used by the society both to legitimize the political regime and to represent politicians as heroes in the popular opinion. In the article are analyzed methods which enable the religious thinking to shape popular ideas about the state and its government. The author also enlightens the role of political elite in creating the rulers’ image. The article also comprises an analysis of Islamic influence in the geopolitical context.

scholarly journals Democratic Transition in Malaysia: Prerequisites and Obstacles

ICR Journal ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 92-104
Author(s):  
Syed Farid Alatas
Keyword(s):  
Political Culture ◽  
Transition To Democracy ◽  
The State ◽  
Colonial Period ◽  
Political Elite ◽  
The Political ◽  
Resistance Movements ◽  
Postcolonial State ◽  
Humanist Tradition ◽  
Religious Establishment

This paper discusses three factors accounting for the transition to democracy, namely the absence of mass or armed resistance to democracy, the internal strength of the state, and the cohesion of the political elite. In the case of Malaysia, the structural conditions that emerged in the late colonial period, that is the absence of mass resistance movements, allowed for the rise of a relatively democratic postcolonial state. Conditions had been relatively conducive to the development of democratic political culture. However, recent years have seen the development and exertion of a more authoritarian trend among the political and religious elite that has accompanied a process of Islamisation of governance. These developments resonate with a more feudal, hierarchical and authoritarian culture that can be traced to the pre-colonial past and which has an affinity with a more authoritarian interpretation of Islam so typical of the contemporary state religious establishment. The future of democracy in Malaysia depends on the ability of democratic tendencies within the state as well as civil society to work against these authoritarian forces. This future would require drawing upon the more egalitarian and humanist tradition of precolonial Islam and the modernist movement of the colonial Malay world.

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