Introduction to Faith in State Legislatures

This chapter introduces the complex history of the founding of America. Colonization of the United States was fueled by European upheaval unleashed by the Protestant Reformation. Religion in part gave birth to the United States. However, keeping religion out of government is a central question inherent in the history and culture of the U.S. The relationship among faith, politics, and culture is explored and contributes to either the support of or opposition to social change in state legislatures.

Prolegomena do „wielkiej samotności”. Z listów Kazimierza Wierzyńskiego i Romana Palestra

The correspondence between Kazimierz Wierzyński and Roman Palester includes more than a hundred letters covering the years 1946–1969, referring to the uncomfortable position of Wierzyński as an emigrant and Palester intent on political emigration, hoping for the help of Poles based in European and American cultural institutions. The correspondence also precedes the personal meeting of the two creators, and its content concerns a wide range of vital problems related to staying outside Poland as well as writing about, composing, experiencing loneliness and personal experiences of intimate nature. The letters under discussion contain opinions on the artistic environment at home and in the world as well as interesting and significant remarks on politics and culture.

A NEW FRENCH LINGUO-POLITICAL STOCK

В статье анализируются последние тенденции в области политико-социальной лексики французскойго языка. The paper explores new French lexical tendencies in the field of politics and culture.

Articulating Difference: Self, Identity and Representation

The Adivasis are often presented as they exist in a timeless, historical space, untouched and unperturbed by complex changes in society, politics and culture though the reality is the other way round. The self-esteem and the identity of the Adivasis are not just distraught and distorted by the non-Adivasi writers but is a fraught with misconceptions. In such a scenario, the writings of the Adivasi writers on Adivasi become more significant with all due respect since it reflects the insiders’ perspective. The paper therefore examines the voices and concerns of the Adivasi through Adivasi writings and attempts to substantiate assertively on how and why any non-Adivasi writers could not escape from representing the Adivasi without distortion. It further explores that the non-Adivasi writer, an outsider is more than fascinated to write more of the fetish, exotic and criminalization of the Adivasi on one hand and on the other hand stereotyping them rather understanding the Adivasi life. It also focuses on and discusses the broader concerns of the Adivasi life and experience that ensure the subject happens to occur from the locational similarity.

The 1990s, Fulcrum of Change: Politics and Culture

In his campaign for president in 1992, Bill Clinton did something surprising: he advocated for gay rights. After winning the presidency, however, he was unable to integrate gay soldiers into the military as he had promised to do. Congress instead created a program known as Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, which forced gay soldiers back into the closet. Congress also passed, and President Clinton signed, the Defense of Marriage Act, which prevented the federal government from recognizing same-sex marriages and allowed states to continue to deny marriage rights to same-sex couples. In 1997 television star Ellen DeGeneres came out as a lesbian both in person and in character on her TV show Ellen, becoming one of the most prominent out-of-the-closet gay people in the US.

The Shifting Terms of Religious Authority in North Atlantic Politics and Culture

Religion continues to evolve on both sides of the North Atlantic. In both contexts, traditional ways of understanding religion are confronted by new realities. The emerging and growing influence of modern media and media institutions are important causes of these changes. It is no longer possible to think of ‘religion’ and ‘secular’ as separate categories when ‘secular’ media increasingly define and deploy religious images, interests, and networks, displacing the influence of traditional authorities. The role of media in these trends is especially obvious in relation the emerging politics of populism, nationalism, and retrenchment. The media operate in a number of registers in these relations, including their textual, institutional, and practical dimensions.

Poetic resistance: Karen long-distance nationalism, rap music, and YouTube

This article investigates a concern among encamped elder Karen refugees (an ethnic minority from Myanmar) living along the Thai–Myanmar border that the youth are disconnected politically and culturally. I argue that Karen youth are creative, active participants, reimagining and revitalising Karen politics and culture in their image. I explore how displaced youths have found a voice in Karen rap and how they express this voice in the digitally mediated lived space of YouTube. I consider YouTube as a lived space where citizenship is reimagined and long-distance nationalism is articulated. Finally, I contend that YouTube is transforming Karen youths’ political experiences and mobility and that they are actively political – just not in the way the elders expect.