AUSTRIAN POLITICAL SCANDALS: «KURTZ AFFAIR»

The article focuses on the political biography of Sebastian Kurz, who held the post of Federal Chancellor of Austria till autumn of 2021. He is being accused of abuse of power in order to achieve political goals. In Europe Kurz was considered to be one of the most promising politics, who came all the way to the top over the decade – a stellar career path, which would require entire political lifetimes for others to cross. Without higher education degree he over the few years rose from the position of a mere activist of youth movement of Austrian’s People’s Party to the role of the party leader. At the age of 27 he took up the post of Foreign Minister, and aged 31 he reached the top of the national politic as the Federal Austrian Chancellor. During the second decade of the XXI century Kurz used to be one of the interlocutors of the European and world leaders and one of the main officials in EU.

Deception and Reception in the Commemorative Landscape of Newcastle, Australia, 1970 to 2020

Contemporary reception of colonial monuments in Australia is informed by global debate on race, memory and representation in public space, typified in the decolonial and anti-racist movements Rhodes Must Fall and Black Lives Matter. While art historians and anti-colonial iconoclasts alike easily conceive of statues as objects for critique, non-figurative sculpture is no less effective when deployed as an ideological tool. Given the typically progressive politics of twentieth-century abstractionists, this study asks how comfortable these artists are with the nation-building function often ascribed to their work by political elites. Through a thematic survey of the commemorative landscape of Newcastle, NSW, this article describes a city punctuated by patriotic references to war, colonialism, and Indigenous absence, exemplified in modernist sculptor Margel Hinder’s (1906–1995) *Civic Park Fountain* (1966). Recounting its relaunch in 1970 as a memorial to Captain James Cook and its vandalism in 2020, the article examines changes in public reception of the fountain, from hostility towards abstract art and government spending to outrage at colonial symbols. Archival reconstruction of Hinder’s responses to local government demonstrates her silence on the fountain’s assimilation to colonial celebration. When contrasted with Hinder’s activities as a lobbyist and camouflage designer, this finding reveals a complex political biography. Without ignoring Hinder’s concern for Aboriginal rights, her attitude towards the instrumentalisation of her work is at best ambivalent. Beyond challenging the apolitical readings of Hinder’s work in existing scholarship, this study provides a key example of the ideological malleability of abstract public art. By producing “empty” signifiers to then “fill” with meaning, abstract sculptors and administrators together help to shape the semiotic and racial topography of urban space.

ARON FRENKEL. THE FATE OF THE ROSTOV REVOLUTIONARY: FROM THE REVOLUTION AND THE CIVIL WAR ON THE DON TO THE CHINESE REVOLUTION AND STALIN'S TERROR

The article highlights the political biography of the Don Bolshevik, the Bolshevik figure of the second plan A.A. Frenkel, who played a significant role during the civil war on the Don. Special attention is paid to Fren-kel's activities as part of the tragic expedition of F.G. Podtelkov, his work as a secretary of the Donburo of the RCP(b) - a special Bolshevik body for organizing underground work in the rear of Denikin's troops. Attention is drawn to the mediating influence of the extraordinary nature of the struggle of the Donburo of the RCP(b) with the Denikin regime on the implementation of an extremist policy of terrorist storytelling in fundamentally new conditions after the liberation of the region from the white troops. An attempt to explain his rejection of the cruel anti-Cossack policy and the subsequent conflict with the majority of the Donburo is made. His party work after the Civil War is covered. Contributing to the strengthening of the Stalinist-Bolshevik regime, Fren-kel became its zealot and immanent victim during the period of personnel repression of the 1930s. Frenkel, as a typical Bolshevik leader at the regional level, reflected in his biography the characteristic features of Bolshevism as a unique phenomenon.

Gurutta Junaid Sulaeman’s Political Hijrah: From Fundamental to Moderate Islam

Albeit the research into Junaid Sulaeman as the most famous Islamic Cleric in South Sulawesi was extensively undertaken, little empirical research addressed his political biography. This research aimed to explore his political Hijrah from Islamic fundamentalism to Islamic moderate. This research adopted a biography study design. To collect data, a documentary analysis based on Junaid Sulaeman’s diary and in-depth interview were conducted. The data analysis was carried out thematically using Azra’s and Al-Jauhari’s concept of fundamental and moderate Islam. The research revealed three findings. First, Junaid Sulaeman’s political Hijrah was conducted from Darul Islam toward Golongan Karya party. Second, the factors that drove Junaid Sulaeman’s participation in the political movement included the changing of socio-political context, the breadth and depth of his religious knowledge, the need to get Allah's guidance, and the consideration of dawah. Third, the implications of Junaid Sulaeman's political movement were known from the expansion of his local and national network, as well as the development of socio-religious institutions in Bone. The research concluded that a good cooperation between the ulama and the government could provide more benefits and blessings to the community.

Karl Barth

From the beginning of his career, Swiss theologian Karl Barth (1886-1968) was often in conflict with the spirit of his times. While during the First World War German poets and philosophers became intoxicated by the experience of community and transcendence, Barth fought against all attempts to locate the divine in culture or individual sentiment. This freed him for a deep worldly engagement: he was known as “the red pastor,” was the primary author of the founding document of the Confessing Church, the Barmen Theological Declaration, and after 1945 protested the rearmament of the Federal Republic of Germany. Christiane Tietz compellingly explores the interactions between Barth's personal and political biography and his theology. Numerous newly-available documents offer insight into the lesser-known sides of Barth such as his long-term three-way relationship with his wife Nelly and his colleague Charlotte von Kirschbaum. This is an evocative portrait of a theologian who described himself as “God's cheerful partisan,” who was honored as a prophet and a genial spirit, was feared as a critic, and shaped the theology of an entire century as no other thinker.