scholarly journals Diversity in a multicultural and polyethnic world: challenges and responses

2004 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 442-459 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cornel Du Toit
Keyword(s):  
Ethnic Groups ◽  
Ethnic Diversity ◽  
The State ◽  
Coping Mechanism ◽  
World Peace ◽  
African Unity ◽  
Instrumental Reason ◽  
Economic Globalisation ◽  
The Way

Today’s world is characterised by multiculturalism. The diversity of cultures  and conflicting ethnic groups sharing the same territory pose a threat to both local and world peace. We have come to the end of the ‘nation’ and the end of the ‘state’, two homogenous entities which are increasingly being emasculated by an instrumental reason in the form of techno-science and  economic globalisation. Ethnic diversity is simultaneously a source of wealth and  a threat  to African societies. African unity in the form of an ubuntu-ethic offers a model for dealing with polyethnicity. Ethnocentrism is biologically rooted and operates through prejudice. As a coping mechanism  for  dealing with  diversity, prejudice has its value and its limitations. It must be contained where it leads  to  xenophobia, ethnophobia and war. Polyethnic coexistence is a prerequisite if Africa is to attain  its developmental ideals as expressed in the NEPAD programme. In this paper, I look at the way in which ethno-philosophy and ethno-theology can help this process.

Diversity in a Multicultural and Poly-Ethnic World: Challenges and Responses

2004 ◽  
Vol 11 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 239-255 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cornél W. Du Tott
Keyword(s):  
Ethnic Groups ◽  
Ethnic Diversity ◽  
Coping Mechanism ◽  
World Peace ◽  
African Unity ◽  
Instrumental Reason ◽  
Economic Globalisation ◽  
The Way

AbstractMulticulturalism characterises today's world. The diversity of cultures and conflicting ethnic groups sharing the same territory pose a threat to local and world peace. We have come to the end of the nation' as well as the end of the 'state'homogeneous entities that are increasingly emasculated by instrumental reason qua techno-science and economic globalisation. Ethnic diversity is simultaneously a wealth and threat to African societies. African unity in the form of an ubuntu ethic offers a model to deal, with polyethnicity. Ethnocentrism is biologically rooted and operates through prejudice. Prejudice as a coping mechanism to deal with diversity has its value and limitations. It must be contained where it issues in xenophobia, ethnophobia and war. Polyethnic co-existence is a prerequisite for Africa to attain its developmental ideals as expressed in the NEPAD programme. The way in which ethno-philosophy and ethno-theology can aid this process is looked at.

The Foreigners of Assam

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rizwana Shamshad
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
Ethnic Groups ◽  
Ethnic Diversity ◽  
The State ◽  
Complex Nature ◽  
Ethnic Communities ◽  
Muslim Community ◽  
Senior Leader ◽  
Recent Developments ◽  
Bangladeshi Migrants

This chapter examines the current nationalist thought in Assam and discourse on Bangladeshi migrants in the state. Assam which is known as a miniature of India, due to its ethnic diversity, has ongoing conflicts between the Bengali Muslims and various other ethnic groups. The formation of the All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF), the Bengali Muslims’ party in Assam has increased the tension between Bengali Muslims, ethnic communities, and the Hindu nationalists in Assam. This chapter examines the consequences of these recent developments. The interviews with the AIUDF senior leader, representative from the Bengali Muslim community and Assam’s separatist group ULFA, the Hindu and ethnic nationalists, Congress MLA and the civil society members reveal the complex nature of migration from Bangladesh into Assam.

Challenging the State: Exegetical Translation in Opposition to the Official Religious Discourse of the Indonesian State

2015 ◽  
Vol 17 (3) ◽  
pp. 157-121
Author(s):  
Munirul Ikhwan
Keyword(s):  
Ethnic Diversity ◽  
General Public ◽  
Religious Discourse ◽  
The State ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Struggle ◽  
Economic Crises ◽  
Islamic Movements ◽  
Cultural Activities ◽  
The Way

The democratic climate following the fall of the Soharto regime in 1998 paved the way for the various elements of Indonesian society to re-evaluate the best way forwards for the country, which is characterised by cultural and ethnic diversity. New groups and Islamic movements came into being and made public calls for the official implementation of Sharīʿa law as the only solution to the political and economic crises gripping the country. Because these Islamists were not successful in amending the constitution through political struggle, many of them turned to social and cultural activities. This article will discuss the attempts of Muhammad Thalib, the leader of the Majelis Mujahidin and author of al-Qurʾan tarjama tafisiriyah, to critique the official government translation of the Qur'an, al-Qur'an dan terjemahnya. This article will discuss how Muhammad Thalib's translation aimed to de-legitimise the official religious discourse of the state, so that his own al-Qur'an tarjama tafsiriyah might become the most influential religious discourse in the opinion of the general public, and be perceived as the authentic call to Islam.

“I'd make thee eat the mischief thou hast vented”: Discourse of Law in Ben Jonson's Catiline His Conspiracy

2017 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 22-45
Author(s):  
Akihiko Shimizu
Keyword(s):  
Early Modern ◽  
Political Discourse ◽  
Legal Discourse ◽  
The State ◽  
The Political ◽  
State Of Emergency ◽  
Gunpowder Plot ◽  
Effective Use ◽  
Legal Procedures ◽  
The Way

This essay explores the discourse of law that constitutes the controversial apprehension of Cicero's issuing of the ultimate decree of the Senate (senatus consultum ultimum) in Catiline. The play juxtaposes the struggle of Cicero, whose moral character and legitimacy are at stake in regards to the extra-legal uses of espionage, with the supposedly mischievous Catilinarians who appear to observe legal procedures more carefully throughout their plot. To mitigate this ambivalence, the play defends Cicero's actions by depicting the way in which Cicero establishes the rhetoric of public counsel to convince the citizens of his legitimacy in his unprecedented dealing with Catiline. To understand the contemporaneousness of Catiline, I will explore the way the play integrates the early modern discourses of counsel and the legal maxim of ‘better to suffer an inconvenience than mischief,’ suggesting Jonson's subtle sensibility towards King James's legal reformation which aimed to establish and deploy monarchical authority in the state of emergency (such as the Gunpowder Plot of 1605). The play's climactic trial scene highlights the display of the collected evidence, such as hand-written letters and the testimonies obtained through Cicero's spies, the Allbroges, as proof of Catiline's mischievous character. I argue that the tactical negotiating skills of the virtuous and vicious characters rely heavily on the effective use of rhetoric exemplified by both the political discourse of classical Rome and the legal discourse of Tudor and Jacobean England.

Of Nils and Nation: Selma Lagerlöf'sThe Wonderful Adventures of Nils

2008 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 168-186 ◽  
Author(s):  
BJÖRN SUNDMARK
Keyword(s):  
Natural Resources ◽  
Ethnic Groups ◽  
School System ◽  
The State ◽  
Social Classes ◽  
State School ◽  
Linguistic Differences ◽  
Vested Interests ◽  
National Ideology ◽  
Selma Lagerlof

Recently past its centenary, The Wonderful Adventures of Nils (1906–7), by Selma Lagerlöf, has remained an international children's classic, famous for its charm and magical elements. This article returns to read the book in its original contexts, and sets out to demonstrate that it was also published as a work of instruction, a work of geography, calculated to build character and nation. Arguing that it represents the vested interests of the state school system, and the national ideology of modern Sweden, the article analyses Nils's journey as the production of a Swedish ‘space’. With a focus on representations of power and nationhood in the text, it points to the way Lagerlöf takes stock of the nation's natural resources, characterises its inhabitants, draws upon legends and history, and ultimately constructs a ‘folkhem’, where social classes, ethnic groups and linguistic differences are all made to contribute to a sense of Swedish belonging and destiny.

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 Developmental Trading State

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alex J. Bellamy
Keyword(s):  
Economic Growth ◽  
East Asia ◽  
National Economy ◽  
East Asian ◽  
The State ◽  
State Model ◽  
Principal Function ◽  
Mass Violence ◽  
The Way

This chapter demonstrates that the downwards pressure that state consolidation placed on mass violence was amplified by the type of state that emerged. Across East Asia, governments came to define themselves as “developmental” or “trading” states whose principal purpose was to grow the national economy and thereby improve the economic wellbeing of their citizens. Governments with different ideologies came to embrace economic growth and growing the prosperity of their populations as the principal function of the state and its core source of legitimacy. Despite some significant glitches along the way the adoption of the developmental trading state model has proven successful. Not only have East Asian governments succeeded in lifting hundreds of millions of people out of poverty, the practices and policy orientations dictated by this model helped shift governments and societies away from belligerent practices towards postures that prioritized peace and stability. This reinforced the trend towards greater peacefulness.

The Trafficking Panic in Late Imperial Austria

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nancy M. Wingfield
Keyword(s):  
The State ◽  
Turn Of The Century ◽  
Late Imperial ◽  
Anti Semitism ◽  
Mass Migration ◽  
Women And Girls ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Reform Organizations ◽  
The Way

This chapter explores a variety of issues central to the turn-of-the-century Austrian panic over trafficking. They include anti-Semitism, Jews as protagonists and victims, and mass migration in an urbanizing world, as well as why particular Austrian cities were associated with the trade in women. The chapter analyzes the government’s domestic and international efforts to combat trafficking, as well as the role bourgeois reform organizations played. It explores the relationship between the trafficker and the trafficked, arguing that these women and girls were not simply victims, but sometimes willing participants, or something in between, in order to sketch a more nuanced picture of turn-of-the-century “white slaving.” The term “trafficker” is employed to reflect the way sources (the state, journalists, reform groups) viewed the issue, not because it can be proved that the problem was as widespread as they claimed.

Introduction to the Tirap Area

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Meenaxi Barkataki-Ruscheweyh
Keyword(s):  
Ethnic Groups ◽  
Ethnic Diversity ◽  
Final Section ◽  
General Introduction ◽  
National Socialist

The second chapter is a general introduction, both geographical as well as historical, to the ‘Tirap’ area where the Tangsa live in Assam. It also contains a description of the ethnic diversity of the area, where tribal groups such as the Tangsa, the Singpho, the Sema Naga and the Tai Phake live together with other communities such as the Nepali, the Ahoms and the Tea-tribes; Also discussed are the problems that the older tribal groups face as a result of the large number of new settlers coming to the area, the consequent gradual polarisation that is taking place there, and the state’s reaction to the prevailing situation, which finds expression in two events—first in the organization of the annual state-sponsored multi-ethnic Dihing-Patkai Festival in that area and secondly in the recent formation of a Development Council for eight ethnic groups (including the Tangsa). The coming of Baptist Christianity amongst the Tangsa and a brief summary of militant activities of the two insurgent organizations, the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN) and the United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA), active in the region, are also discussed. The final section introduces the problems that arise due to the Assamese hegemonic attitudes towards the smaller ethnic groups living in Assam.

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