scholarly journals The Breakaway Boss: Semiperipheral Innovations and the Rise of Mahmoud Ahmadinezhad

2015 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 417-447
Author(s):  
Kevan Harris

Within a year of becoming president of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Mahmoud Ahmadinezhad had already confused much of the world. Explanations of his political ascent in a semi-peripheral country rely largely on the concept of charismatic authority. This is a non-explanation, however, as the charismatic historical figure who seemingly holds creative command over the social world also has to be created. Instead, I argue that Ahmadinezhad’s trajectory from an Islamist engineering student to the presidency of a post-revolutionary state highlights three mechanisms of social-political innovation that are bounded by space and time: the situated overlap of social capital, the paradox of vertical clientage, and the breakaway of the machine boss. These mechanisms are usually misread as timeless signifiers of national backwardness or as charismatic dei ex machina. By showing these mechanisms at work through biography, we can challenge scholarly and popular explanations of social change that implicitly rehash modernization theory.

Film Studies ◽  
2004 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 39-57
Author(s):  
Ora Gelley

Although Europa 51 (1952) was the most commercially successful of the films Roberto Rossellini made with the Hollywood star, Ingrid Bergman, the reception by the Italian press was largely negative. Many critics focussed on what they saw to be the ‘unreal’ or abstract quality of the films portrayal of the postwar urban milieu and on the Bergman character‘s isolation from the social world. This article looks at how certain structures of seeing that are associated in the classical style with the woman as star or spectacle - e.g., the repetitious return to her fixed image, the resistance to pulling back from the figure of the woman in order to situate her within a determinate location and set of relationships between characters and objects - are no longer restricted to her image but in fact bleed into or “contaminate” the depiction of the world she inhabits. In other words, whereas the compulsive return to the fixed image of the woman tends to be contained or neutralised by the narrative economy and editing patterns (ordered by sexual difference) of the classical style, in Rossellini‘s work this ‘insistent’ even aberrant framing in relation to the woman becomes a part of the (female) characters and the cameras vision of the ‘pathology’ of the urban landscape in the aftermath of the war.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 382-384
Author(s):  
Rumyana Pantaleeva ◽  

The process of socialisation and integration represents unity, and at the same time – a continuous controversy between two aspects: socialisation and individuality. Due to this, the process is a single upside stream – the entry of a child into the world of adults, in the social world. Every child is a unique personality with its individual qualities, interests, abilities and educational needs. Every child with special educational needs has the right to be taught on an individual schedule with content, matching its own necessities and capacity. The general education kindergarten, in which the authors work and teach pupils with special educational needs has established a tolerant community and guarantees schooling, tutoring and mentorship for everybody.


Author(s):  
Bogdana Todorova

The geographical position of Iran as a transit country between the Middle East, Central Asia and Caucasus, makes the Islamic Republic of Iran a new geostrategic factor with main influence to the future of the Islamic world and international world system. The Welayat-e-Faqih imposes serious changes in the government and society. Renovation of Islamic dogmas and their adaptation to changing conditions of the social-political life is the challenge to the Shiite clergy, who firmly follow the practices established by Imam Khomeini. His revolution carries not only the spirit of the Iranian modernization but also the pathos of social democracy. The “Theo-democratic” government is based on both the Islamic and democratic principles, and it can be said that due to the ideas of Ayatollah Khomeini, a unique new project – the national-Iranian project is arguably developed. There are the three aims of this project: the territorial integrity, national sovereignty and national prosperity of the country, intended to protect Muslims and establish Islamic government based on the Shi’ite principles. The Islamic revolution is an important event worldwide. It makes us rethink the current relation religion – politics, giving the first serious notice of taking political power by Islam.


Author(s):  
Marina Kameneva ◽  
Elena Paymakova

The article notes that the theme of culture and cultural policy for modern Iran is not a marginal issue. Culture is seen by the country’s leadership as an important component of its state political and ideological doctrine. There is analyzed the role of the Islamic factor and cultural heritage in the cultural policy of the Islamic Republic of Iran over four decades of its existence. Particular attention is paid to the role of the theory of the dialogue of civilizations proposed by M. Khatami as well as to the changing attitude towards it in the public consciousness of Iranian society. It is emphasized that the theme of “Iran and the West” is becoming particularly acute in the country today, contributing to its politicization. An attempt is being made to show that Iranian culture is increasingly becoming an important factor in the foreign policy activities of the leadership of the Islamic Republic of Iran, contributing to the strengthening of the country’s position in the world arena as a whole and the country’s leading role in the region, the realization of the idea of exporting the Islamic Revolution and implementing Iranian cultural expansion outside the country.


2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 159
Author(s):  
Nelmaya Nelmaya

<p><em>Indonesia is one of the largest Muslim populations in the world, with a total of 182,083,594 Muslims out of a total population of 224 million. As the largest population, Muslims have an essential role in building a civilized Indonesian identity. The problem now is, the civilized nation's identity has not been realized as expected, this can be seen from a variety of indicators, including indicators of Indonesian poverty still believing at least 37.17 million people are poor, crime is again ballooning, harmonization has not materialized because everywhere happens conflicts, including religious conflicts, Indonesia's achievements, and well-being are still far compared to other countries and so on. However, from the various indicators put forward, one thing which is superficial to form as a builder of civilization in Indonesia is social capital. The social capital of this nation is still ripped apart because it is not built with clear mass communication and has a paradigm that can dialogue textuality and contextuality. In this connection, Islam has a tradition of da'wah and is still developing today. This da'wah tradition is a potential asset that can build social capital to improve the nation's identity, which is still within the framework of this massive and anomie civilization. For da'wah to be used as a basis in this direction, da'wah must also develop normative methods and strategies that are appropriate to the present context. This paper offers transformative da'wah as a builder of social capital to realize a civilized nation's identity.</em></p>


Author(s):  
Wes Furlotte

Chapter ten, therefore, examines the opening section of Hegel’s Rechtphilosophie, “Abstract Right,” in order develop a ‘preliminary sketch’ of the concepts of right and juridical personhood. The chapter historically contextualizes Hegel in relation to the mechanical deterministic conception of the individual (Hobbes) and abstract, though free, conceptions (Rousseau, Kant, Fichte). The chapter then moves to point out Hegel’s uniqueness in this context. Synthesizing Hobbesian and Fichtean standpoints, Hegel argues that the natural dimension of the individual (impulse, drive, and whim) is crucial to the genesis of actual freedom in the social world. Reconstructing Hegel’s analysis, the chapter shows that freedom is not undermined by acting out on one’s desires, impulses etc. but is brought into the world by these very drives. Although these drives are historically and socially conditioned they are, nevertheless, immediate and therefore constitutive of the basal level of juridical personhood. Thereby the chapter argues that a new sense of nature arises within Hegel’s political philosophy. The task, then, is to pursue what nature must mean within the fields constituting the socio-political.


Author(s):  
Brian L. Keeley

Where does entertaining (or promoting) conspiracy theories stand with respect to rational inquiry? According to one view, conspiracy theorists are open-minded skeptics, being careful not to accept uncritically common wisdom, exploring alternative explanations of events no matter how unlikely they might seem at first glance. Seen this way, they are akin to scientists attempting to explain the social world. On the other hand, they are also sometimes seen as overly credulous, believing everything they read on the Internet, say. In addition to conspiracy theorists and scientists, another significant form of explanation of the events of the world can be found in religious contexts, such as when a disaster is explained as being an “act of God.” By comparing conspiratorial thinking with scientific and religious forms of explanation, features of all three are brought into clearer focus. For example, anomalies and a commitment to naturalist explanation are seen as important elements of scientific explanation, although the details are less clear. This paper uses conspiracy theories as a lens through which to investigate rational or scientific inquiry. In addition, a better understanding of the scientific method as it might be applied in the study of events of interest to conspiracy theorists can help understand their epistemic virtues and vices.


2022 ◽  
pp. 118-123
Author(s):  
Humera Waseem Khan ◽  
Arti Jain

While digitalization undoubtedly has improved the access to information and communication with the world, increased cases of cyberbullying, harassment, cyber abuse, and suicide numbers have also surfaced among teens. The hype of the online world, the celebrity culture, and their high status seldom generate the fear of inadequacy, dissatisfaction, and isolation which ultimately aggravate the feeling of anxiety and depression. This chapter will underline the causes of the digital stress and technology-related anxiety among adolescents, their deteriorating psychophysical behavior, factors disintegrating their mental fitness and physical well-being, and most importantly, the answer to the problem. Various small steps can be taken to avoid serious problems such as talking with your family and friends. Some other approaches include cutting off from the negative digital surroundings, limiting the watch time, etc. With the growing online world, there is an urgent need to control the exposure one gives to the social world.


Author(s):  
JORGE FLORES

AbstractThis article seeks to trace the profile of the governors (mutasaddis) of the main port-cities (especially Surat and, to a lesser extent, Cambay) of the Mughal province of Gujarat in the first half of the seventeenth century. My research on the careers of individual mutasaddis – based mainly (but not exclusively) on existent Portuguese materials – allows us to better understand the social world of those occupying key positions in the ‘waterfront’ of the Mughal Empire and its dealings extensively with the European powers (Portuguese, Dutch and English). Hence, the analysis of the professional and personal trajectories of the Indian Muslim doctor Muqarrab Khan and the Persian Mir Musa Mu'izzul Mulk presented here demonstrate how far business, politics and cultural patronage were often entangled in the career of a Mughal mutasaddi of Gujarat.


Author(s):  
Christian Welzel ◽  
Ronald Inglehart

This chapter examines the role that the concept of political culture plays in comparative politics. In particular, it considers how the political culture field increases our understanding of the social roots of democracy and how these roots are transforming through cultural change. In analysing the inspirational forces of democracy, key propositions of the political culture approach are compared with those of the political economy approach. The chapter first provides and overview of cultural differences around the world before tracing the historical roots of the political culture concept. It then tackles the question of citizens' democratic maturity and describes the allegiance model of the democratic citizen. It also explores party–voter dealignment, the assertive model of the democratic citizen, and political culture in non-democracies. It concludes with an assessment of how trust, confidence, and social capital increase a society's capacity for collective action.


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