scholarly journals Dengbêjs on borderlands: Borders and the state as seen through the eyes of Kurdish singer-poets

2014 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 34-60 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wendelmoet Hamelink ◽  
Hanifi Barış
Keyword(s):  
Political Geography ◽  
The State ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
The Political ◽  
Nation State ◽  
State Structure ◽  
Political Structure ◽  
Local Structures ◽  
Political Reality ◽  
Cultural Expressions

This article investigates how the Kurdish home, borders and the state are depicted in one of the most important Kurdish cultural expressions in Turkey until 1980: the dengbêj art. The recital songs of the dengbêjs form a fascinating source to investigate how Kurds experienced life on the margins of the (nation-)state. We argue that the songs demonstrate that many Kurds perceived the political geography of the state they officially belonged to as foreign and not as a legitimate part of Kurdish socio-political reality. The Kurdish political geography created in the songs exists in small-scale local structures and alliances, and there is mostly no reference to a common Kurdish cause. Borders are presented as foreign interference in the Kurdish landscape. In the conclusion we suggest that Kurdish fragmented political structure should be understood as a deliberate means to avoid being incorporated in a state structure. This speaks against a (self-)Orientalist interpretation of Kurdish history that defines a lack of Kurdish unity as primitive. Dengbêj li ser sînoran: Dîtina sînor û dewletê bi çavên dengbêjan  Ev gotar vedikolê bê welatê Kurdan, sînor û dewlet çawan hatine şayesandin di yek ji girîngtirîn derbirînên çanda Kurdî da li Tirkiyeyê, heta 1980yê: anku dengbêjiyê. Kilamên resîtal ên dengbêjan çavkaniyeka hijmetkar pêk dihînin bo vekolîna serboriyên Kurdan ku mane li qeraxên netewe-dewletan. Em angaşt dikin ku, herçend Kurd bi xwe bi rengekî fermî parçeyek ji erdnîgara fermî ne, kilam destnîşan dikin ku gelek Kurd vê erdnîgara siyasî ya dewletê wekî diyardeyekî biyanî dibînin, ne ku wekî parçeyek rewa ji rastiya sosyo-polîtîk a Kurdîtiye. Erdnîgara polîtîk ya Kurdîtiyê ku di kilaman da hatiye afirandin pile-biçûk e û, bi piranî bêyî dozeka Kurdî ya hevbeş, ji hevalbediyên deverî pêk hatiye. Di kilaman da sînor wekî destwerdanên biyaniyan li welatê Kurdan hatine berpêş kirin. Di dawiyê de em pêşniyar dikin ku a rast Kurd bi zanebûn vê siyaseta parçebûyî meşandine da ku xwe vebidizin ji bişaftinê di avahiya dewletê da. Ev nêrîn di derbarê dîroka Kurdan da li dijî şîroveyên (oto)-oryantalîst e, çikû ew nebûna yekîtiya Kurdan wekî diyardeyekî prîmîtîv dibînin. دەنگبێژانی سەرسنوور. سنوور و وڵات لە ڕوانگە ی شاعیر و گۆرانیبێژی کوردەوە. ئەم وتارە باس لەوە دەکا کە وڵاتی کوردان، سنوورەکان و دەوڵەت چۆن لە یەكێ لە گرنگترین چەمکی کولتوری کوردی لە تورکیا تا ساڵی ١٩٨٠ نیشان دراون: هۆنەری دەنگبێژی. گۆرانییەکانی دەنگبێژەکان سەرچاوەیەکی چڕ و پڕن بۆ لێکۆڵینەوە لەسەر چۆنیەتی ژیانی کوردان لەسەر سنووری دەوڵەتان. ئێمە دەمانەوێ بڵێین کە گۆرانییەکان باس لەوە دەکەن کە زۆرینەی کوردەکان ئەم جۆگرافیا سیاسی فەرمییەی دەوڵەتی تورکیایە وەکوو وڵاتێکی بیانی سەیری دەکەن، نەک وەک بەشێکی یاسایی لە چوارچێوەی کۆمەڵایەتی سیاسی کوردی. جۆگرافیای سیاسی کوردی ناو گۆرانییەکان لە کۆمەڵێک ناوچەی چکۆلە پێک هاتووە و تەنانەت شتێک بە ناوی کێشە و مەسەلەی کورد ئاماژەی پێناکرێ. سنوورەکان وەکوو دەستدرێژی بیانی سەر خاکی کوردان سەیر دەکردێن. لە کۆتاییشدا، چوارچێوەی سیاسی دابەشبووی کوردی دەبێ وەکوو کەرەسەیەکی ڕاستەوخۆ سەیر بکرێ کە پێش بە سازبوونی دەوڵەتێکی کوردی دەگرێ. ئەوەش دژ بە شیکردنەوەی باوەڕی سێلف ـ ئۆریێنتالیستە لە سەر مێژووی کورد کە باس لە نەبوونی یەکگرتوویی کوردی لە بنەڕەتدا دەکا. 

scholarly journals The political structure of the Empire of Brazil according to the Constitution of 1824

2020 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
pp. 77-84
Author(s):  
N. I. Koloskova ◽  
E. А. Аlentsov ◽  
E. А. Nedostup ◽  
O. S. Ostapovich
Keyword(s):  
The State ◽  
The Political ◽  
State Structure ◽  
Political Structure ◽  
Brazilian Society ◽  
Basic Law ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Creation ◽  
The Law

The article is devoted to the Constitution of Brazil of 1824, the first in the history of this country. The political structure of the Brazilian Empire described in the article was based on this Constitution, which was in force from its adoption until the proclamation of the First Brazilian Republic (1889). The article analyzes the tasks that stood at the creation of the Constitution and the main changes made to the state structure of Brazil after the law was initiated. It is emphasized that, although the Imperial Constitution did not solve all the problems in Brazilian society, it was the first to identify the issues to be resolved, and that the monarchy lasted longer in Brazil than successive Republican and dictatorial regimes, including thanks to the basic law of the country in the edition of 1824.

Untimely Development, Ugly History:A Drama in Muslinand the Rejection of National-Historical Time

2013 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 161-183
Author(s):  
Mary L. Mullen
Keyword(s):  
Everyday Life ◽  
The State ◽  
The Political ◽  
Nation State ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Historical Time ◽  
Political Processes ◽  
The Core

This article considers the politics and aesthetics of the colonial Bildungsroman by reading George Moore's often-overlooked novel A Drama in Muslin (1886). It argues that the colonial Bildungsroman does not simply register difference from the metropolitan novel of development or express tension between the core and periphery, as Jed Esty suggests, but rather can imagine a heterogeneous historical time that does not find its end in the nation-state. A Drama in Muslin combines naturalist and realist modes, and moves between Ireland and England to construct a form of untimely development that emphasises political processes (dissent, negotiation) rather than political forms (the state, the nation). Ultimately, the messy, discordant history represented in the novel shows the political potential of anachronism as it celebrates the untimeliness of everyday life.

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 Crisis of Minorities in Ethnic States: The Case of Palestinian Citizens in Israel

1998 ◽  
Vol 30 (3) ◽  
pp. 321-346 ◽  
Author(s):  
Naditn Rouhana ◽  
Asʿad Ghanem
Keyword(s):  
Equal Opportunity ◽  
International System ◽  
The State ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Structure ◽  
Ongoing Debate ◽  
Group Rights ◽  
Liberal Democratic ◽  
Ethnic Affiliation ◽  
Democratic State

The vast majority of states in the international system, democratic and non-democratic, are multi-ethnic (Gurr 1993). A liberal-democratic multi-ethnic state serves the collective needs of all its citizens regardless of their ethnic affiliation, and citizenship—legally recognized membership in the political structure called a state—is the single criterion for belonging to the state and for granting equal opportunity to all members of the system. Whether a multi-ethnic democratic state should provide group rights above and beyond individual legal equality is an ongoing debate (Gurr & Harff 1994).

scholarly journals Subsidiarity and Federalism: An Old Concept with Contemporary Relevance for Political Society

1969 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark Friesen
Keyword(s):  
National Level ◽  
The State ◽  
Political Organization ◽  
The Political ◽  
Nation State ◽  
Political Society ◽  
Global Level ◽  
Regional Power ◽  
Single Model ◽  
Human Organization

Historically human societies have never collectively organized, politically or socially, in any singular, standardized and/or universal way. Beginning with the Peace of Westphalia in 1647 the nation-state gradually proliferated as a legitimate manifestation of collective human organization at a global level. This proliferation has culminated in the standardization of a singular means of mobilizing and organizing human societies. The statist age that began in the 16th and 17th centuries consolidated and centralized the political power of the state. Divergent factions and regional power blocks within European states were discouraged, as politics became centralized at the national level. The proliferation of the nation-state represented the standardization of human political organization according to a single model. Given that there are, and have been, a variety of means by which humans identify and organize politically, this suggests that this universal acceptance and entrenchment of one model may be somewhat inappropriate.

Rural Dibao: The Countryside and Fragmentation

2019 ◽  
pp. 89-105
Author(s):  
Daniel R. Hammond
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Local Government ◽  
The State ◽  
The Political ◽  
Common Source ◽  
Chinese Government ◽  
Social Stability ◽  
Political Structure ◽  
Programme Implementation ◽  
Administrative Capacity

In 2007 the Chinese government nationally implemented the rural dibao programme. The chapter argues that while the circumstances of rural dibao’s implementation were different from its urban predecessor there are three striking similarities. First, in terms of values, it is argued that the rural dibao programme did fit comfortably with the agenda under Hu Jintao and Wen Jiabao to address China’s unequal development and in particular the san nong wenti of the countryside. However, the process surrounding implementation of the rural programme also carried appeals to social stability. Second, the political structure had a significant impact on the implementation of the rural MLG. As with the urban programme implementation faced local intransigence. This was overcome by not only using similar means as with the urban programme; but also through explicitly dealing with one common source of problems, funding. Finally, there is the problem of administrative capacity in running the rural MLG programme. This appears as a classic outcome of the fragmented political and decision making structure in China where local government, often struggling to meet mandates passed down from above, prioritises the resources it has. What this all shows is that the challenges facing social assistance in China are not specific to the urban or the rural programme; but are a consequence of the structure of the state.

The (Re)production of Vulnerability

The Rohingya ◽  
2020 ◽  
pp. 110-134
Author(s):  
Nasir Uddin
Keyword(s):  
The State ◽  
Nation State ◽  
Bare Life ◽  
State Structure ◽  
Everyday Lives ◽  
The Law ◽  
Modern Nation State

Chapter 5 focuses on the vulnerable conditions of stateless people because the state regulates their everyday lives in various forms, committing severe injustices and producing various inequalities by yielding illegibility in the state structure. The modern nation-state has produced the concept of citizenship rendering some stateless. Since the state of statelessness sanctions that some people do not belong to any state, they cannot claim any rights from any state and therefore easily become subject to injustice, inequality, and discrimination and are even subjected to death. The treatment of stateless people as illegal human bodies and as animals can be termed as ‘bare life’, as Agamben would argue. A life is ‘bare’ because it can be taken by anyone without any legal intercession, as this life does not exist ‘before the law’. This chapter depicts a vivid picture of the Rohingyas, where the state intervenes in their everyday lives amid the reproduction of vulnerabilities in order to reconfirm their statelessness.

The Political-Geographic Bases of the Austrian Nationality Problem

1967 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 121-146 ◽  
Author(s):  
George W. Hoffman
Keyword(s):  
Political Geography ◽  
Critical Evaluation ◽  
The State ◽  
The Political ◽  
Habsburg Empire ◽  
Habsburg Monarchy ◽  
Geographic Structure ◽  
External Forces ◽  
And Function ◽  
Different Characteristics

The breakup of the Habsburg monarchy was perhaps the most exceptional change made in the political geography of the European world of our times. It would be too much to say that the shot fired at Sarajevo destroyed the Austro-Hungarian empire. But it is hardly an exaggeration to suggest that the young assassin was a living embodiment of the principle of nationalism in the South Slavic lands and that the shot which he fired was a deliberate blow at the political-geographic structure of the Habsburg monarchy. Those competent to discuss the question are almost unanimous in their verdict: the dissolution of the empire was brought on by a combination of external forces and an internal disintegration. The internal disintegration actually impelled the state to expose itself to the external forces. The works of scholars from many countries and disciplines2who have carefullyanalyzed the structure and function of the Habsburg empire have been scrutinized with the view of studying the regions which formed this empire, their different characteristics and associations, and their connections with each other and to the state in order to ascertain to what extent the area of the empire constituted a state in the modern sense and to note any weaknesses in its morphology and physiology that helped to account for its collapse. The contribution of political geography to this critical evaluation of nationalism as a disintegrating force of the Habsburg empire lies in an analysis of the major problems of the internal situation of that empire.

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.

scholarly journals Plurilingual literary spaces

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 185-203
Author(s):  
Tristan Leperlier
Keyword(s):  
Field Theory ◽  
Language Barriers ◽  
Balance Of Power ◽  
The State ◽  
The Political ◽  
Official Language ◽  
Language Policies ◽  
Political Structure ◽  
French Case ◽  
Linguistic Groups

In this article, I define the notion of a plurilingual literary space. While drawing from Pierre Bourdieu’s field theory, I adopt a critical stance towards the highly autonomous, territorialized, and monolingual French case that he studied. Even though language is the material that the writers work with, the legitimate representation of the nation remains the major issue for non-central literary spaces, among which are plurilingual spaces. I elaborate on a typology of plurilingual literary spaces, which are heavily related to the political structure and language policies of the state. Then I concentrate on one of the types, that of plurilingual literary fields, where the language issue is the most significant. I argue that tensions or collaborations between the different linguistic groups depend on the symbolic balance of power between them as well as on official language policies. The most autonomous writers do not always desire to build bridges across language barriers, and they would sometimes rather create identity walls. I distinguish between unitarian policies that lead some linguistically dominated writers to reject collaborations and monolingual policies which lead the autonomous writers to reject the linguistic divisions.

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