A Fateful Rite of Passage

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-40
Author(s):  
Zachary M. Howlett
Keyword(s):  
Social Mobility ◽  
Rite Of Passage ◽  
Ordinary People ◽  
Ruling Elite ◽  
High Stakes ◽  
Fair Competition

This chapter explores the high-stakes of the Gaokao as test takers must cope with tremendous pressure since the exam is their only opportunity to achieve social mobility to change their fate or transform their destiny. It contextualizes the Gaokao culturally and historically and explains why it forms a fateful rite of passage. It also analyzes a parent's view of the Gaokao, which is seen as a chance for ordinary people to fight back against a corrupt and unequal world. The chapter explores the shared sentiment for the Gaokao as the only relatively fair competition in China, considering it as the cornerstone of meritocracy. It point out that meritocracy in relation to the Gaokao talks about society in which the ruling elite are selected on the basis of merit through open competition.

Panaetius (c.185–c.110 BC)

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen A. White
Keyword(s):  
Early Modern ◽  
Public Service ◽  
Political Thought ◽  
Ethical Theory ◽  
Second Century ◽  
Ordinary People ◽  
Ruling Elite ◽  
Roman Imperialism ◽  
Greek Philosopher ◽  
Lasting Influence

Panaetius, a Greek philosopher from Rhodes, brought new vitality to Stoicism in the second century bc by shifting the focus of its ethical theory from the idealized sage to the practical problems of ordinary people. Working a century after Chrysippus had systematized Stoicism, Panaetius is often labelled the founder of ‘Middle Stoicism’ for defending new and generally more moderate positions on several issues. Because none of his writings survive, his influence is hard to gauge precisely and easily underrated. But his impact, especially in Rome where he was closely associated with many in the ruling elite, was profound. His emphasis on public service and the obligations imposed by power and high station probably helped shape the ideology of Roman imperialism. Through Cicero, whose writings preserve many of his ideas, he had lasting influence, especially on early modern moral and political thought.

Public Spectating and Political Undertones in Durbar The Emirate Court Art of Northern Nigeria as Instrument of Governance

Matatu ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 40 (1) ◽  
pp. 373-399 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohammed Inuwa Umar–Buratai
Keyword(s):  
Western World ◽  
The Political ◽  
Ordinary People ◽  
Ruling Elite ◽  
The Public ◽  
Performance Artists ◽  
The People ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
The Many ◽  
Public Exhibition

The discourses of nationhood and nation-building in the developed Western world have been facilitated by the prevalent cultures of writing and documentation. The situation in the developing world has remained largely fragmented because of the absence of such coherent, broadcast, and comprehensive forums for a discourse on 'nationhood'. Different societies articulate their perception of the priorities of nationhood in a range of forms – manifest in ritual visual displays, entertainment and formal rhetoric such as poetry, religious sayings and quotations – which were not dependent on literacy, including the ceremony of durbar. The ordinary people construe the durbar as a spectacle, perhaps because it encompasses a wide range of performance artists drawn from the many groupings within society. However, durbar functions, through its display of martial strength, to reinforce the political and religious power of the ruling elite: durbar within society. The focus in this essay is to examine political undertones of durbar, specifically the ways in which localized participation in the reinforcing ritual of relationships of power provides the people with an opportunity for the public exhibition of individual skills and for the elites an avenue for containing any nascent – or potential – articulation of resistance in society.

Two Concepts of State in the Tanzimat Period: the Hatt-ı Şerif of Gülhane and the Hatt-ı Hümayun

2015 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 117-137
Author(s):  
Butrus Abu-Manneh
Keyword(s):  
Social Mobility ◽  
The State ◽  
Ruling Class ◽  
Crimean War ◽  
Ruling Elite ◽  
The Sublime ◽  
The Government ◽  
Two Phases ◽  
Turkish Society

This article suggests dividing the Tanzimat period into two phases each run by a different elite. Phase one extended from 1839 to 1854 and phase two between 1855 and 1871 after which the Sublime Porte entered a few years of instability. The traditional ruling class left over from the period of Sultan Mahmud Ii controlled the state after him. Its major contribution was the promulgation of the Hatt-ı Şerif of Gülhane, the aim of which was to end absolute rule and restore justice in the government system. However failing to check the drift into the Crimean War this traditional ruling class lost power in favour of a new ruling elite whose members belonged to a lower-middle or lower classes, and who as such represented social mobility within Ottoman Turkish society.

Curse Tablets

2021 ◽  
pp. 341-350
Author(s):  
Alexander Hollmann
Keyword(s):  
Ruling Elite ◽  
High Stakes ◽  
Intense Competition ◽  
Greco Roman ◽  
Imperial Period ◽  
Chariot Racing ◽  
Roman Antiquity ◽  
Fierce Competition

In Greco-Roman antiquity the intense competition (agōn) between opponents in the sporting arena was echoed by an equally fierce competition of magical materials inside and outside the venue. Curse tablets (Gr. katadesmoi, L. defixiones), phylacteries, protective magical texts worn on or near the person, and other magical materials, symbols, and rituals all competed with each other to advance or retard the performance of the competitors in the event. Extant tablets come from the early imperial period to the 6th century ce, but their use in the classical and Hellenistic periods is likely. The extant sport-related tablets contain curses relating to wrestling and running, beast-hunting in the arena (venatio), and chariot-racing in the circus, with tablets relating to the latter predominating. As chariot-racing in the empire became an increasingly high-stakes event and connected with competition among the factions, their supporters, and the ruling elite, the practice of magic to influence outcomes of the races is increasingly mentioned in sources of the period as a source of concern.

Guanxi and Gospel: Conversion to Seventh-day Adventism in Contemporary China

2013 ◽  
Vol 26 (2-3) ◽  
pp. 167-198 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christie Chui-Shan Chow
Keyword(s):  
Social Mobility ◽  
Healthy Lifestyle ◽  
Conversion Process ◽  
Ordinary People ◽  
Contemporary China ◽  
Daily Lives ◽  
Human Relationships ◽  
The Family ◽  
Relational Resources ◽  
Secular Institutions

This article studies the symbiotic relationship between social networks and Christian conversion among some Seventh-day Adventists in contemporary China. Drawing on the Chinese Adventist testimonies, I argue that the longstanding kinship, friendship, and discipleship networks (guanxi 關係) are fundamental to the Adventist conversion process. This extensive web of human relationships helps sustain potential converts’ interest in Christianity, nurture their understanding of Adventism, and reinforce their efforts to cultivate a distinctive Christian selfhood and identity in Adventist terms. These relationships also give meaning to the Adventist congregational practices such as Sabbath observance and healthy lifestyle, insofar as the converts rely on the relational resources of the family and church for support. In addition to the positive connection between social mobility and conversion, these stories reveal the challenge of downward social mobility when the converts are confronted with the tension between adhering to Adventist doctrinal practices and pursuing higher education in secular institutions. Lastly, this study addresses the function of Christian publication in the conversion process. Through the publication of their conversion testimonies, the converts seek to make Adventism easily accessible to ordinary people by showing the relation between Adventist theology and the daily lives of Christians.

Democrazy—Dem Go Craze, O: Monitoring the 1999 Nigerian Elections

1999 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 29-33
Author(s):  
Darren Kew
Keyword(s):  
Transition Program ◽  
The Political ◽  
High Stakes ◽  
Political Class ◽  
Soccer Match ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Military

In many respects, the least important part of the 1999 elections were the elections themselves. From the beginning of General Abdusalam Abubakar’s transition program in mid-1998, most Nigerians who were not part of the wealthy “political class” of elites—which is to say, most Nigerians— adopted their usual politically savvy perspective of siddon look (sit and look). They waited with cautious optimism to see what sort of new arrangement the military would allow the civilian politicians to struggle over, and what in turn the civilians would offer the public. No one had any illusions that anything but high-stakes bargaining within the military and the political class would determine the structures of power in the civilian government. Elections would influence this process to the extent that the crowd influences a soccer match.

Social Mobility and Education in Britain

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Erzsébet Bukodi ◽  
John H. Goldthorpe
Keyword(s):  
Social Mobility

School Success and School Engagement of Immigrant Children and Adolescents

2013 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 126-135 ◽  
Author(s):  
Frosso Motti-Stefanidi ◽  
Ann S. Masten
Keyword(s):  
Academic Achievement ◽  
Academic Success ◽  
Children And Adolescents ◽  
School Engagement ◽  
School Success ◽  
Immigrant Children ◽  
Integrative Model ◽  
High Stakes ◽  
The Individual

Academic achievement in immigrant children and adolescents is an indicator of current and future adaptive success. Since the future of immigrant youths is inextricably linked to that of the receiving society, the success of their trajectory through school becomes a high stakes issue both for the individual and society. The present article focuses on school success in immigrant children and adolescents, and the role of school engagement in accounting for individual and group differences in academic achievement from the perspective of a multilevel integrative model of immigrant youths’ adaptation ( Motti-Stefanidi, Berry, Chryssochoou, Sam, & Phinney, 2012 ). Drawing on this conceptual framework, school success is examined in developmental and acculturative context, taking into account multiple levels of analysis. Findings suggest that for both immigrant and nonimmigrant youths the relationship between school engagement and school success is bidirectional, each influencing over time the other. Evidence regarding potential moderating and mediating roles of school engagement for the academic success of immigrant youths also is evaluated.

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