Traditions of Far Eastern jewelry in the costume of the peoples of Amur in the 19th – beginning of 20th centuries

Ювелирные украшения народов Амура — это важный элемент традиционной культуры, сформировавшийся под влиянием эстетических идеалов и являющийся отражением общности тунгусо-маньчжурского мира. Несмотря на обширность территорий и появление в XIX веке новых политических границ, семантика ювелирных украшений традиционного костюма была понятна и аборигенному населению Уссурийского края, и урбанизированному слою маньчжуров, освоивших города цинского Китая. Исследование базируется на предметах из фондовых коллекций Музея истории Дальнего Востока имени В.К. Арсеньева, часть которых ранее не представлялась широкому зрителю. Сегодня именно музейные собрания, сформированные в XIX – первой половине XX века, стали базой для изучения технологии и семантики ювелирных украшений народов Дальнего Востока. При производстве ювелирных изделий, бытовавших среди коренных малочисленных народов Дальнего Востока, использовались самые разнообразные технологии, и от их сложности зависело место производства. Это были или профессиональные ювелирные мануфактуры маньчжурского Китая, или нанайские и удэгейские мастера, работавшие в стойбищах. И в данном контексте можно говорить о широких торговых связях, существовавших благодаря обороту ювелирных изделий. Долговечность материалов, использовавшихся при создании произведений ювелирного искусства, стала важным фактором преемственности культурных парадигм при смене поколений. Комплекс украшений, сложившийся на Дальнем Востоке в Средние века, просуществовал несколько столетий, пережил череду государственных образований и сохранился до XX века, пока цивилизационный слом не вытеснил традиционный уклад жизни охотников и рыболовов вместе с костюмом из повседневного использования. Jewelry of the Amur peoples is an important element of traditional culture, formed under the influence of aesthetic ideals and reflecting the commonality of the Tungus-Manchurian world. Despite the vastness of the territories and the appearance of new political borders in the 19th century, the semantics of jewelry of traditional costume was understandable both to the aboriginal population of the Ussuri Region and to the urbanized stratum of the Manchus who mastered the cities of Qing China. The research is based on items from the stock collections of the Arsenyev Museum of the History of the Far East, some of which were not previously presented to the wide public. Today, it is the museum collections formed in the 19th – first half of the 20th centuries that have become the basis for studying the technology and semantics of jewelry of the peoples of the Far East. In the production of jewelry that existed among the indigenous peoples of the Far East, a wide variety of technologies were used, and the place of production depended on their complexity. Either they were professional jewelry manufactories of Manchurian China, or Nanai and Udege craftsmen who worked in the camps. And in this context, we can talk about broad trade relations that existed due to the turnover of jewelry. The durability of the materials used in the creation of works of jewelry art has become an important factor in the continuity of cultural paradigms with the change of generations. The jewelry complex that developed in the Far East in the Middle Ages lasted for several centuries, survived a series of state formations and survived until the 20th century, until the civilizational scrapping replaced the traditional way of life of hunters and fishermen, along with the costume, from everyday use.

Atlantic History

The field of Atlantic history analyzes the Atlantic Ocean and its four adjoining continents as a single unit of historical analysis. The field is a style of inquiry as much as it is a study of a geographic region. It is an approach that emphasizes connections and circulations, and its practitioners tend to de-emphasize political borders in their interest in exploring the experiences of people whose lives were transformed by their location within this large region. The field’s focus is the period from c. 1450 to 1900, but important debates about periodization reflect the challenges of writing a history that has no single geographic vantage point yet strives to be as inclusive as possible. The history of the United States intersects with Atlantic history in multiple ways, although the fields are neither parallel nor coterminous. Assessing the topics of slavery and citizenship, as they developed in the United States and around the Atlantic, demonstrate the potential advantages of this broader perspective on US history. Although the field emphasizes the early modern era, legacies of Atlantic history pervade the modern world, and individuals and institutions continue to struggle to understand all of the ways these legacies shape legal, social, economic, cultural, and political practices in the first decades of the 21st century.

Mapping the International Geopolitical Agenda: Still National Conceptions of the Emerging European Crisi

This study proposes a geopolitical analysis of opinion dynamics based on a statistical exploration of a press dataset covering 2014–2019. This exploration questions three case studies of geopolitical and international interest: international migration, political borders, and pandemics. Through the framework of geopolitical agenda, the aim of this study is to question the “crisis” status of changes in the media coverage of the three topics in a cross-analysis and multilingual analysis of 20 western European newspapers. It concludes that there is a prevalence of national agendas.

The ‘Tree of Life’ or Pohon-Budi: An International Exhibition Celebrates a Global Heritage

This article by a team of scholars, activists and a designer describes an effort to understand a heritage shared across many cultures—the Tree of Life is a symbol that appears in the myths, crafts and arts of civilizations on every continent—and to bring that heritage alive through exhibits featuring present-day artisans and artists. After overcoming major administrative barriers, an exhibition on this sacred theme premiered in Kuala Lumpur in 2015, curated by a Malaysian–Indian team. Expressions brought together from 35 countries blended natural and cultural ecologies with the sensitivity of each creator, working with a range of materials. After Malaysia, the exhibition travelled to India, the USA, Canada, Taiwan and Thailand. It is expected to move to Bhutan, China, the UK and elsewhere once the pandemic condition allows. Meanwhile, documentation and publication have helped share a breathtaking resource of knowledge and design. Described as ‘a thread that links the world’, this Tree of Life celebration demonstrates the importance of investing in research to build a foundation of scholarship upon which heritage can be brought to life for new generations. Here, the creativity and innovation of those who are repositories of ancient wisdom make tradition relevant to new times, revealing heritage as a timeless process that can be managed and shared by bringing old and contemporary disciplines together in new and uniting partnerships that extend far beyond political borders. New opportunities have opened for participants, inspiring other efforts. Here, heritage not only identifies the identity of each participating culture. These identities also combine as a shared heritage of all humankind, with the Tree of Life as a symbol of caring for the earth and for each other.

Mykhailo Hrushevskyi in the History of Ukrainian Journalism

Mykhailo Sergiiovych Hrushevskyi, an outstanding scientist, a man of broad erudition, extraordinary diligence, takes one of the honorary places in the history of Ukrainian science and culture of the late 19th – first third of 20th century. Possessing encyclopedic scientific knowledge, the ability to comprehensively analyze and reproduce historical processes in an artistic form, he clearly manifested himself in many fields of knowledge: history, archeography, literary studies, folklore, and others. But first of all, Mykhailo Hrushevskyi is a prominent historian and patriot of his people, who created the first most complete, generalizing study of the history of Ukraine from ancient times to the second half of the 17th century. The scientific concept of Mykhailo Hrushevskyi is based on the organic unity of high professionalism of materials presentation, deep knowledge of literature and sources, and originality of their interpretation. As a politician, he worked his way from the founder of the National Democratic Party of Galicia and the Society of Ukrainian Progressives in Kyiv to the creator of the foundations of an independent Ukrainian state. He was Chairman of the Central Rada, and later recognized the Soviet regime in Ukraine and expressed readiness to serve it. His views were changing; socio-political concepts and philosophical perceptions of life were evolving but love for his people and for the historical truth for him have always been the highest standard in scientific creativity and political activity. Mykhailo Hrushevskyi was the son of his time. As well as many other prominent figures of Ukraine, he presented the tragic historical fate of the Ukrainian lands dismembered by political borders, which were deprived of their own statehood, in his works. As a scientist and politician, Mykhailo Hrushevskyi was deeply saddened by the fate of his people. Mykhailo Hrushevskyi, prominent Ukrainian historian, politician, writer, publicist, editor, publisher, also made a significant contribution to the development of the native journalism. Work and studying of the bibliographic sources, important periods in the creative life and work of Mykhailo Hrushevskyi allowed to identify the main periodicals that he edited and published or acted as a leading publicist (reviewer, reader, literary critic, author of iconic and travel essays, notes, articles, etc.). The article enlights the organizational talent in the field of publishing and editorial skills in the newspaper and magazine area of Mykhailo Hrushevskyi in the late 19th – early 20th centuries. The purpose of this article is to trace the main milestones of the journalistic activity of the scientist and politician, to find out the essential issues reflected by Mykhailo Hrushevskyi in the pages of newspapers and magazines.

European experience of land resource potential development in the conditions of globalization

The article analyzes the use of land resources of countries in the context of globalization. Investment-attractive regions have been identified, the socio-economic and political conditions of which contribute to the seizure of land by foreign investors. Sources of food security of countries with developed economies are substantiated. Peculiarities of formation of land and resource space of European neo-colonial countries are determined. One of the most important historical events in the political and socio-economic dimensions of the world was colonialism, associated with the development of capitalism. In the book, Eric Wolfe, "Europe and People Without History", describes in detail the global expansion of the borders of European states in order to control both human and natural resources, as well as to expand global development and promote Christianity. European colonialism became an early form of globalization that shaped most of the world's current political borders. In this way, technologies, food and ideas based on the colonial countries - Britain, Spain, France, Portugal and the Netherlands, etc. were transported. The main goal is to use the limited resources of the colony country and make a profit. This approach is called neocolonialism (corporate colonialism), just as classical European colonialism aims at the comprehensive exploitation of natural resources, labor, and markets for superprofits.

Political Borders Are Not Natural Orders – The COVID-19 Pandemic in Frankfurt on the Main and Its Refugees

The overall aim of this paper will be to stick to the previous researchers to get valid and impartial data from the most international city of Germany: Frankfurt on the Main. However, this research paper will try to provide answers by comparing war situations (object) where curfews are at daily basis impact on lives of people, who become gradually refugees (subject). In the recent years many refugees found their way to the global city of Frankfurt and its region of Rhine-Main. In these days if talking about the situation of the visible shutdown, lockdown and the strictly forbidden laws for an overall betterment of life, refugees have a tendency to explain to the native people about their crisis-laden past: “Resilience for Survival”. Their recent past in the war-torn countries of Afghanistan, Syria, and Iraq in West-Asia, Libya in Africa or the many wars in the Balkans in the 1990s in Europe, are a case in point. Given that as a matter of fact, when individuals are leading conversations about the outbreak to the recent lockdown, especially, fugitives try to explain to the ordinary dweller of Frankfurt through what life-threatening circumstances they experienced. This described social encounter despite the imposed social distancing is the proof how our glocalized planet (global and local) effects the everyday life and every human being lives in each and every corner of the confined nation-states.

Divergence of Ethnobotanical Knowledge of Slovenians on the Edge of the Mediterranean as a Result of Historical, Geographical and Cultural Drivers

State boundaries limit human contacts in a homogenous context of a landscape and its natural features, including plants. After nine centuries of separation, finally the two territories in Slovenia share the same political history. In this paper we tried to answer the question to which extent the past political borders, geographical and cultural drivers affect today’s traditional knowledge on wild plants use of Slovenians, living unified in the same political entity. Data were collected using 60 in-depth semi-structured interviews, from March to August 2019, in two municipalities: Komen at Karst and Izola in Istria concerning food, medicinal, economic use, and local customs. The results indicate a quite large divergence in ethnobotanical and ecological knowledge between the two studied areas. In the Komen area, many people still use wild plants daily for various purposes (Taraxacum officinale, Melissa officinalis, Urtica dioica, Cornus mas, and Sambucus nigra). In contrast, this is limited to fewer people in the Izola area and mainly to seasonal use of specific plants (Asparagus acutifolius, Rosa canina, Salvia officinalis, Foeniculum vulgare and Rubus caesius). Unusual for the Mediterranean is the use of young shoots of Clematis vitalba, in the Izola area prepared as omelettes. We can assume that these differences are partly due to minor differences in climatic conditions and partly due to the influence of different cultures and cuisines. In the first place, the impact of Austro-Hungarian eating habits and cuisine can be seen on the area around Komen. Moreover, temporal “layers of knowledge” across the time scale are additionally mixed by the immigration of people from other parts of Slovenia or abroad, or with the influence of local herbal specialists. At last, we conclude Komen area knowledge is alive and homogeneous, and more connected to their local identity.

Britain's Levantine Empire, 1914-1923

Britain’s Levantine Empire, 1914-1923 explains the rise and decline and nature and extent of British military rule in the urban eastern Mediterranean during the course of the First World War and its aftermath. Combining novel case studies and theoretical approaches, the book reveals the extent of military control that Britain established and anticipated maintaining in the post-Ottoman world, before a series of confrontations with nationalist and socialist anti-imperialists forced a new division of the eastern Mediterranean, still visible in the political borders of the present day. It tells this story through the eyes and ears of the British servicemen who built this empire, analysing the testimony of over 100 such military personal sent to Alexandria, Thessaloniki, Istanbul and the towns and islands between them, as they voyaged, made camp, and explored and patrolled the city streets. Whereas histories examining soldiers’ experiences in the First World War have almost exclusively focused on their lives at the frontlines, this book provides a much needed in depth history of soldiers’ experience and impact on the urban hubs of the Eastern Mediterranean, where urban planning, nightlife and entertainment, policing and security were transformed by the presence of so many men at arms and the imperialist interventions that accompanied them.

SYMBOLIC VALUES AND IMPLICATIONS OF THE GRAND ETHIOPIAN RENAISSANCE DAM PROJECT IN ETHIOPIAN IDENTITY POLITICS

This paper attempts to show how the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) ’s economic and political gains could help develop a shared outlook to regulate Ethiopia’s opposing political trajectories, i.e., the ethnocentric and pan-Ethiopian nationalist camps. Presently, different ethnic-based “in-group and out-group” contrasting political discourses have dominated Ethiopian polity. The paper reviews and exposes relevant philosophical concepts, including “mirror identity,” primordial and instrumental conception of ethnicity. Notably, following Anderson’s (2006) line of thought, nationalism as a “cultural artefact” and expression of an “imagined community,” the paper argues that GERD could serve as a shared symbolic and developmental language to reshape Ethiopian national consciousness and imagination by improving the political and economic domains of the country. Accordingly, the GERD covertly or overtly helps reform the polity’s self-recognition mechanisms and circuitously re-approaches outstanding political differences by inspiring trust-based relations among major political actors. Ethnocentric motivations raise political questions such as secession, the right to linguistic and cultural recognition, economic equality, and political security and representation by using their respective ethnic lines as means of political mobilization. In current Ethiopia, political identities have been practically blended with ethnic identity. In this sense, as diverse ethnic groups exist, political borders sustain among the multiple ethnic-based nationalists and between pan-Ethiopian and ethnocentric actors. Thus, a comprehensive dialogue and constructive political cross-fertilization are required between various political actors, horizontally and vertically, among ethnocentric nationalists and the pan-Ethiopian advocates. In Ethiopia, the realization of internal political consensus requires an instantaneous remedial mechanism. Accordingly, the politically drawn antithetical ethnic demarcations and occasionally fabricated historical narratives have undeniably pushed politics into unfavourable conditions. That is why, as the paper maintains that developmental projects such as the GERD would have pertinent economic and political mechanisms to developing a national sentiment, which in turn symbolically facilitate national consensus among the major political actors. Hence, borrowing Fukuyama’s (2018) notion of “creedal national identity”, one could resonate that developmental projects can help realize symbolic worth by constructively enabling citizens to recognize their countries’ foundational ideals and elevating common factors. The present paper does not examine the GERD project’s external geopolitical and legal concerns concerning scope, although these topics are worth examining for further investigations.