A Tale of Two E Groups

Author(s):  
James A. Doyle

E Groups represent the first monumental gathering spaces in the Maya lowlands, and their distribution represents a social map of the landscape shared by distinct, autonomous communities. This chapter examines the biographies of the E Groups in two such neighboring communities, El Palmar and Tikal, Guatemala. Residents of both communities experimented with scale and aesthetics in analogous ways as they cooperated to build the monumental cores of each center. The patterns of social engagement in the E Groups at El Palmar and Tikal; however, radically diverged. Environmental change and shifts in the political landscape contributed to the abandonment of El Palmar’s E Group, while the inhabitants of Tikal continued to invest in construction in the Mundo Perdido E Group complex. The focused case study of these two communities suggests possibilities for why some people migrated away from certain E Group centers in the Early Classic (250-600 CE) while their neighbors did not.

2019 ◽  
Vol 23 (3) ◽  
pp. 317-333
Author(s):  
Alena Pfoser ◽  
Sara de Jong

Artist–academic collaborations are fuelled by increasing institutional pressures to show the impact of academic research. This article departs from the celebratory accounts of collaborative work and pragmatic toolkits for successful partnerships, which are dominant in existing scholarship, arguing for the need to critically interrogate the structural conditions under which collaborations take place. Based on a reflexive case study of a project developed in the context of Tate Exchange, one of the UK’s highest-profile platforms for knowledge exchange, we reveal three sets of (unequal) pressures, which mark artist–academic collaborations in the contemporary neoliberal academy: asymmetric funding and remuneration structures; uneven pressures of audit cultures; acceleration and temporal asymmetries. Innovations at the level of individual projects or partners can only mitigate the negative effects to a limited extent. Instead this article offers a systemic critique of the political economy of artist–academic collaborations and shifts the research agenda to developing a collective response.


2003 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 179-191 ◽  
Author(s):  
Armando Anaya Hernández ◽  
Stanley P. Guenter ◽  
Marc U. Zender

AbstractThe ancient Maya hieroglyphic inscriptions of the upper Usumacinta region record an intensive interaction that took place among its regional capitals. The precise geographic locations of some of these sites are presently unknown. Through the application of the Gravity Model within the framework of Geographic Information Systems (GIS), we present the probable locations and possible territorial extents of a few of these: Sak Tz’i’, Hix-Witz, and the “Knot-Site.” On this occasion, however, we concentrate our discussion on the role that the kingdom of Sak Tz’i’ played in the geopolitical scenario of the region. It is our belief that this case study constitutes a good example of how, through a conjunctive approach that integrates the archaeological with the epigraphic data, GIS can represent an excellent analytical tool to approach archaeological issues such as the political organization of the Maya Lowlands during the Late Classic period.


2020 ◽  
Vol 39 (4) ◽  
pp. 430-443 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bernard Cova

Corporations are becoming increasingly active in the political landscape, with some claiming to support social causes aimed at influencing the regulatory agenda. Beyond the effects of such activities on consumers, the effects on the original advocates of a cause are unknown. Therefore, this research examines how the advocates of a cause respond to corporate approaches that integrate marketing and political activities. The present study analyzes the Marché Interdit campaign that French retailer Carrefour carried out in 2017–18 (promoting the farmer seeds liberalization cause) by examining the position of the initial advocate of the cause: Réseau Semences Paysannes. The findings reveal that such marketing activities resemble co-optation of the initial advocate of the cause and hijacking of the cause they advocate for. The case study also highlights the different tactics put into play by the initial advocate to resist co-optation and hijacking. The article concludes with the implications for organizations whose causes are being co-opted and for those seeking to promote a prosocial outcome.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joseph W Ward

Abstract Despite the outpouring of scholarship on the motivations behind the 2016 EU referendum result and the preliminary impact of Brexit on British politics, comparatively little time has been spent analysing the government(s) entrusted with implementation. This article aims to address this gap in the literature, examining government management of the Brexit process as a case study through which to illustrate the continued relevance of the British Political Tradition in British politics. It argues that through Brexit implementation, the May government initiated a process of centralisation of both policy-making influence and administrative resources within Whitehall. This process was shielded externally by appeals to the referendum result as an imperative mandate parliament was obliged to implement. Although the political landscape of May’s premiership was characterised by flux, these internal shifts towards centralisation in the executive are proposed to have had a more sustained impact through the reassertion of aspects of Britain’s ‘power-hoarding’ constitutional settlement.


1999 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 37-54 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ezekiel Kalipeni ◽  
Deborah Feder

This article examines deforestation-induced environmental change in the Southern Region of Malawi. The political ecology approach is used to critique this change, assessing how colonial and postcolonial forestry policies affected the landscape. It is argued that non-participatory, “top-down” government programs disempowered Malawi's peoples and allowed the environment to degrade. The Blantyre Fuelwood Project shows how the politics of land use predicate environmental change. It is argued that government implemented, “top-down” approaches failed because they did not integrate local communities. The result has been local opposition to government programs, passive resistance, and deteriorating environmental conditions. The article critiques Malawi's forestry policies since colonial times, analyzes the political ecology of the Blantyre Fuelwood Project, and concludes with the hope that newly implemented “bottom-up” programs that incorporate local communities will make Malawi's environment more sustainable.


2017 ◽  
Vol 3 (4) ◽  
pp. 311-335 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kristie Drucza

This article is a qualitative case study on the political dimensions of social protection reforms in post-conflict Nepal. The article examines vertical versus horizontal party structures and the political economy of support for different parties, and how this relates to their social protection policies to help unpack gaps in the literature and provide a deeper understanding of both the constraints and opportunities for reform. Drawing on key informant interviews conducted in Nepal between 2012 and 2014, the article describes the attitudes of members of the main Nepalese political parties towards social protection, and analyses the proposals on social protection within party manifestos. It discusses the role of social protection in democratisation as well as limitations towards constructing a democratic welfare state grounded in the kind of clientelistic and patronage party politics that continue to dominate the political landscape in Nepal today. The article is relevant to those in the ‘thinking and working politically’ aid movement and those working towards social protection reforms in clientelist states.


Author(s):  
Marcello A. Canuto ◽  
Tomás Barrientos Q.

Chapter 9 explores the political landscape of the Late Classic Kaanul kingdom. Marcello A. Canuto and Tomás Barrientos Q. consider the role of secondary centers in the geopolitical landscape of the lowlands during the Late Classic period, using La Corona, Guatemala as a case study. In Chapter 9, Canuto and Barrientos Q. demonstrate that the relationship between the Kaanul hegemony and La Corona was much more complicated than simple political alliance. Kaanul’s complex interaction with its secondary center reveals some of the tools it used to create a monumental political landscape, including, in the case of La Corona, manipulating the local power structure, the community’s social organization, and even its sacred history.


Author(s):  
Robert J. Myles

AbstractThis article examines the charismatic New Zealand politician Winston Peters’ sparse use of the Bible as a case study in the propagation of the “Cultural” and “Liberal” Bibles across the relatively irreligious landscape of New Zealand’s political landscape. It considers why politicians continue to employ biblical rhetoric despite increasing indifference towards Christianity and the Bible, by situating such moves within the context of global capitalism. It also identifies some peculiarities of the political use of the Bible unique to the New Zealand situation and explores how these have aided the construction of distinctive political identities.


Author(s):  
Kristina Dietz

The article explores the political effects of popular consultations as a means of direct democracy in struggles over mining. Building on concepts from participatory and materialist democracy theory, it shows the transformative potentials of processes of direct democracy towards democratization and emancipation under, and beyond, capitalist and liberal democratic conditions. Empirically the analysis is based on a case study on the protests against the La Colosa gold mining project in Colombia. The analysis reveals that although processes of direct democracy in conflicts over mining cannot transform existing class inequalities and social power relations fundamentally, they can nevertheless alter elements thereof. These are for example the relationship between local and national governments, changes of the political agenda of mining and the opening of new spaces for political participation, where previously there were none. It is here where it’s emancipatory potential can be found.


2020 ◽  
Vol 40 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Haruo Nakagawa

Akin to the previous, 2014 event, with no data on voter ethnicity, no exit polls, and few post-election analyses, the 2018 Fiji election results remain something of a mystery despite the fact that there had been a significant swing in voting in favour of Opposition political parties. There have been several studies about the election results, but most of them have been done without much quantitative analyses. This study examines voting patterns of Fiji’s 2018 election by provinces, and rural-urban localities, as well as by candidates, and also compares the 2018 and 2014 elections by spending a substantial time classifying officially released data by polling stations and individual candidates. Some of the data are then further aggregated according to the political parties to which those candidates belonged. The current electoral system in Fiji is a version of a proportional system, but its use is rare and this study will provide an interesting case study of the Open List Proportional System. At the end of the analyses, this study considers possible reasons for the swing in favour of the Opposition.


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