scholarly journals Socio-economic and spiritual-religious specifics of the Syrian Kurds

Author(s):  
Vladimir S. Chukov

This study aims to present the socio-economic and spiritual-religious specifics of the Syrian Kurds. The dominant agrarian livelihood of the “foreign Kurds” stimulates the preservation of the tribal-clan profile of their social structure. This directly reflects on the stability and strong resistance of the specific conservative political culture in which the political center is differentiated, due to non-social parameters. If religion (in a nuanced degree, ethnicity) plays a major role in the formation of the nation-building and state-building process among neighbors, Arabs and Turks, then in the Kurds, especially the Syrians, a similar function is played by the family cell. The main points in the article are: The Syrian Kurds; Armenians and Christians – Assyrians; The specific religious institutions of the Kurds. In conclusion: The main conclusion that can be drawn is that the Kurds in Syria are failing to create a large urban agglomeration, which pushes them to be constantly associated with the agricultural way of life. Even the small towns that were formed did not get a real urban appearance, as their inhabitants had numerous relatives who remained to live in the countryside.

2006 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 23-43
Author(s):  
Alexander Kaufman

AbstractIn Political Liberalism, Rawls emphasizes the practical character and aims of his conception of justice. Justice as fairness is to provide the basis of a reasoned, informed and willing political agreement by locating grounds for consensus in the fundamental ideas and values of the political culture. Critics urge, however, that such a politically liberal conception of justice will be designed merely to ensure the stability of political institutions by appealing to the currently-held opinions of actual citizens. In order to evaluate this concern, I suggest, it is necessary to focus on the normative character of Rawls's analysis. Rawls argues that justice as fairness is the conception of justice that citizens of modern democratic cultures should choose in reflective equilibrium, after reflecting fully upon their considered judgments regarding justice. Since judgments in reflective equilibrium are grounded in considered judgment, rather than situated opinions, I argue that the criticism fails.


Author(s):  
Detlef Pollack

Political culture studies presuppose that the stability of political order considerably depends upon cultural support of the population. In the event of political and economic transformation political culture studies raise the question whether internalized value orientations can change as quickly as political and economic structures to be conducive for the stabilization of the new political order. In order to answer the question of how far political orders in the countries of East Central and Eastern Europe are culturally legitimized, this chapter draws a distinction between the evaluation of the performance of the political system (specific support) and the evaluation of democracy as an idea and value (diffuse support). As far as the idea of democracy is concerned, the majority of the populations in the countries in East and Central East Europe appreciate democracy; as far as its current performance is concerned, they are, however, dissatisfied with democracy.


Author(s):  
K. D. Bugrov ◽  
◽  
V. S. Ivshin ◽  

The article analyzes the transformation of the “Peter-Catherine imagery” in the panegyric literature of the late XVIII — first quarter of the XIX century. The paper demonstrates the evolution of this imagery against the background of the French Revolution of 1789, the formation of an adamant cult of Catherine at the end of the empress’s reign, the stability of this cult in the panegyric tradition during the reign of Paul I and the first years of Alexander’s reign. The use of the “Catherine imagery” in secular panegyrics dedicated to the accession of Alexander I was unique: it aimed at presenting the new monarch not only as the new Peter, but also as the new Catherine, while criticizing Paul’s “tyranny”. At the same time, the political theology of the “beautiful days of Alexander’s reign” lacked the historical analogy with the “Catherine imagery”, which allowed the authors to conclude that the cult of Catherine II began to gradually “die away” during the reign of Alexander I and the figure of the tsar himself as the savior of Russia and Europe against the background of the military fortune of 1812 was subsequently redefined.


2009 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 39-59
Author(s):  
Riccardo Bavaj

The student revolt of the late 1960s had far-reaching repercussions in large parts of West German academia. This article sheds light on the group of liberal scholars who enjoyed a relative cohesiveness prior to "1968" and split up in the wake of the student revolt. The case of Kurt Sontheimer (1928-2005) offers an instructive example of the multifaceted process of a "liberal critic" turning into a liberal-conservative. While he initially welcomed the politicization of students and the democratization of universities, he became increasingly concerned about the stability of West Germany's political order and placed more and more emphasis on preserving, rather than changing the status quo. Sontheimer was a prime example of a liberal critic shifting and being shifted to the center-Right within a political culture that became increasingly polarized during the 1970s.


Author(s):  
Nataliya M. Khoma

The problem of the quality of Latvia’s democracy during the period of EU membership (2004-2020) is studied. Latvia’s progress / regression in strengthening the stability of the principles and values of liberal democracy is assessed. The author’s estimation of the reasons of growth of defects of democracy in Latvia is offered. Attention is drawn to the extent to which the political culture of Latvians corresponds to the values of liberal democracy.


2021 ◽  
Vol 58 (1) ◽  
pp. 4451-4458
Author(s):  
Phramaha Wiset Sorphobdee Et al.

The objectives of this research were: 1) to study the students' opinions on Politicians' Buddhist morality; 2) to analyze personal factors affecting students' opinions on politicians' Buddhist morality; and 3) To study recommendations on politicians' Buddhist morality. The samples were 269 students at Mahamakut Buddhist University: Lanna campus, Chiang Mai, Thailand to whom questionnaires were distributed for collecting of data which were analyzed through frequency, percentage, mean, standard deviation, and 2-test by setting the statistical significance at 0.05. The research Results were found that: 1) The overall level of Buddhist morality of Thai politicians as perceived by students in all three aspects was low with a mean of 2.12 and a standard deviation of 1.216. The aspect with highest mean was the principles of building the righteousness, followed by the principles of building the unity, and the principles of building the solutions of conflicts.  2) The test of hypothesis revealed that the gender does not affect the students' opinions towards politicians' Buddhist morality, which does not meet the defined hypothesis, while the age and educational year affect the students' opinions towards politicians' Buddhist morality, which meets the defined hypothesis at 0.05, and 3) The students provided their recommendations on the political problems of Thai politicians in terms of the Buddhist morality that “Politicians always think of oneself, self-centered, do not listen to the opinions of others, one’s own ideas are dominant, different ideas and other aspects cause disturbance and dissatisfaction of money gained, political conflicts, and divided groups of citizens”. In addition, they provided their recommendations on the development of Buddhist morality for politicians that “Listen to each other, reliance on rightness rather than pleasure, adhesion to the teachings as main practices and way of life, recognition of causes and effects, do not listen to only one side, leaders should follow Buddhist concepts, no selflessness or hurting to others, politicians should have the precepts, meditation and wisdom, should more concentrate during talking, building of love to the family, and teaching of children for the future of nation”.


1970 ◽  
pp. 38-45
Author(s):  
May Abu Jaber

Violence against women (VAW) continues to exist as a pervasive, structural,systematic, and institutionalized violation of women’s basic human rights (UNDivision of Advancement for Women, 2006). It cuts across the boundaries of age, race, class, education, and religion which affect women of all ages and all backgrounds in every corner of the world. Such violence is used to control and subjugate women by instilling a sense of insecurity that keeps them “bound to the home, economically exploited and socially suppressed” (Mathu, 2008, p. 65). It is estimated that one out of every five women worldwide will be abused during her lifetime with rates reaching up to 70 percent in some countries (WHO, 2005). Whether this abuse is perpetrated by the state and its agents, by family members, or even by strangers, VAW is closely related to the regulation of sexuality in a gender specific (patriarchal) manner. This regulation is, on the one hand, maintained through the implementation of strict cultural, communal, and religious norms, and on the other hand, through particular legal measures that sustain these norms. Therefore, religious institutions, the media, the family/tribe, cultural networks, and the legal system continually disciplinewomen’s sexuality and punish those women (and in some instances men) who have transgressed or allegedly contravened the social boundaries of ‘appropriateness’ as delineated by each society. Such women/men may include lesbians/gays, women who appear ‘too masculine’ or men who appear ‘too feminine,’ women who try to exercise their rights freely or men who do not assert their rights as ‘real men’ should, women/men who have been sexually assaulted or raped, and women/men who challenge male/older male authority.


2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 45-69
Author(s):  
Benoit Challand ◽  
Joshua Rogers

This paper provides an historical exploration of local governance in Yemen across the past sixty years. It highlights the presence of a strong tradition of local self-rule, self-help, and participation “from below” as well as the presence of a rival, official, political culture upheld by central elites that celebrates centralization and the strong state. Shifts in the predominance of one or the other tendency have coincided with shifts in the political economy of the Yemeni state(s). When it favored the local, central rulers were compelled to give space to local initiatives and Yemen experienced moments of political participation and local development.


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