Statecraft on cement:The politics of land-based accumulation inErdoğan’s Turkey

This article contributes to the literature on the role of the state in land-based accumulation by presenting an explanatory framework on the case of contemporary Turkey, a case marked by an unprecedented construction boom that carries the distinct mark of the ruling AKP (Adalet ve Kalkınma Partisi, or Justice and Development Party). Land-based accumulation has constituted a defining aspect of the political economic setting of the AKP era. An investigation of the motivations behind this strategy reveals that it has been instrumental for the ruling party’s political agendas. Through land-based accumulation, the AKP has been able to cultivate a new generation of firms in the construction industry with connections to the party, consolidate its power among domestic capital and develop new mechanisms to finance party politics. Furthermore, symbolic and material manifestations of land-based accumulation have been abundantly used in the party’s propaganda machinery to provide ideological legitimation. Overall, the AKP’s authoritarian grip on power has been forged through the political-ideological resources provided by land-based accumulation. Contrary to the widespread narratives of weakening, passive or merely facilitating states, the case of Turkey brings to the fore an instance of boosting state agendas through land-based accumulation. My findings underline the need to combine capital-switch arguments with a Gramscian political conjunctural analysis for a fuller understanding of the role of the state in land-based accumulation, and point to the urban roots of neoliberal authoritarianism.

Conclusion

News about the war and its outcome percolated into the surrounding world, with dramatic effect in the Far East and Arabia. Explanations for Persian success and Roman resilience in the first two phases are not hard to find (in the spheres of material and ideological resources), but the sudden reversal of fortunes in the 620s is more problematic. Persian overstretch and war-weariness, brought to a head when the Turks intervened in the north, were a key factor, but greater weight should probably be placed on the generalship of Heraclius and the military qualities of his highly trained troops. As for the effects of the war, neither of the great powers was so debilitated as to become easy prey for the rising power of Islam. Hard-fought set-piece battles were needed to bring about the destruction of the one and the amputation of the Levant and Egypt from the other.

Evropský národ vs. globalizovaný nacionalismus

The author recommends that any consideration of the issue of nation and nationalism should be preceded by a careful analysis of the terminology used. He points out that the key term ‚nation‘ itself should be used in the knowledge that it refers, on the one hand, to a specific large group of citizens – members of a nation, but also to an abstract value community of culture. He critically rejects the thoughtless use of the term ‚nationalism‘, which forgets that it is derived from the term ‚nation‘. This is a dangerous distortion, especially when applied to non-European realities. A nation is originally a specifically European phenomenon, that is to say, a community that grows out of the old cultural and ideological resources of European countries. If the globalised term nationalism is used retrospectively to analyse the history or present of European nations, there is a danger of distortion and misunderstanding. Just as distorting, however, can be the analysis of non-European ‚nations‘ in the coordinates of the European nation. In conclusion, the author points out that the humanistic and motivational values of the European nation from the time of its formation are largely an empty phrase for contemporary nations. The reason for this, however, lies not only in terminological confusion, but also in the great transformation of value norms as a result of the neoliberal questioning of national values and identities that is being promoted in the context of advancing globalisation.

Conversion of Social Capital in Ukraine: Contradictions, Principles and Prospects

The article is devoted to theoretical problems of social capital conversion in modern conditions based on modern ideas and taking into account the specifi cs of social capital formation in Ukraine in recent years as well as the latest achievements of social practices in European countries. The article is relevant due to the need to accelerate the processes of social capitalization and its conversion into open productive forms for social consensus, social development and economic growth. The novelty of the study lies in the formation of a system of views on the nature of social conversion, its contradictions, identifi ed on the basis of systematization of existing relationships and interdependencies in this area, as well as substantiation of models to minimize possible negative consequences for society. The positions of social capital in the structure of total capital, its connection with natural, physical, fi nancial and human capital are conceptually defi ned, and the leading role of open social capital in the formation of a democratic society is proved. The specifi cs of the conversion of social capital in comparison with other forms of capital are revealed. It is established that currently the contradiction between national and corporate social capital is gaining signs of stability. The basic principles and methods of conversion of social capital, adequate to the conditions of formation of a democratic society, are substantiated. Based on the assessment of real trends in socio-economic development and common social practices, three possible models of minimizing the contradictions that arise during the conversion of domestic social capital are proposed, each of which is subject to specifi c tasks and achieving certain development goals. The model of mobilization adaptation is based on the formation of new values in society, norms by public authorities using mostly ideological resources of infl uence on the basis of authority and trust in it by citizens. The model of modernization is focused on updating the statutory norms and rules through their approximation to real economic needs and social practices in accordance with the notion that any law is a normalized ingrained tradition. The model of compromise solutions involves achieving a balance between formal and informal norms in order to achieve a synergistic eff ect from the conversion of social capital.

Light through Time and Space

Chinese Confucianism, which emerged during the Axial Age, has had a profound influence on many intellectual and cultural movements in history, including the European Enlightenment. This article analyzes the influence of Confucianism on the European Enlightenment from four perspectives: human rights, a benevolent government, religion and nature. The humanist spirit propagated by Confucianism was similar to the views expressed by Enlightenment thinkers on reason and human rights and provided a powerful ideological weapon for Enlightenment thinkers to criticize religious theocracy and break through the darkness of the Middle Ages. During this process of learning and absorbing the humanist spirit of Confucianism, French Enlightenment thinkers developed the rational and critical spirit of the Enlightenment and paved the way for intellectual liberation. Today, the world is facing the new challenges of global climate change, artificial intelligence and genetic technology. In the context of these global problems, China and the West can learn from each other and join efforts to gather new ideological resources to carry out a new ideological enlightenment movement on a global scale and achieve sustainable development for all humanity.

Class Reimagined? Intersectionality and Industrial Action – the British Airways Dispute of 2009–2011

This article explores the inter-relationship of gender, sexuality, race and class among cabin crew, members of trade union BASSA, in the British Airways dispute of 2009–2011. It evaluates the utility of intersectional analysis in the context of industrial action, investigating the ways crew mobilised intersectional identities and class interests. In their narratives, crew evoked the 1984–1985 miners’ strike, but rejected a version of class and militancy based on a perceived historical legacy of class as white, heterosexual and male. Engaging with debates in Sociology on class, the article restores work as the key site of class formation and identifies BASSA as providing the organisational and ideological resources to legitimate an inclusive worker interest that transcended sectional identities and generated a reimagined and reconfigured class identity.

Grand Exhibitions of the 2010s in Russia: Affirming the National Project Through Realist Art

Since the early 2010s, large exhibitions of Russian realist art have enjoyed significant, nationwide success. This article explores the concept of Russian realism, relating it to the concept of culture as heritage, actively exploited in state rhetoric. The popularity of Russian realism is analyzed in the context of the conservative turn in Russian art. The analysis relies on curators’ texts, press-releases, comments and feedback of museum visitors, and articles written by art critics. The article sheds light on the ideological resources of art in its traditional formats and compares the three versions of realist discourse: critical realism of the nineteenth century, socialist realism of the mid-twentieth century and contemporary realism. This work demonstrates that the contemporary discourse of realism appropriates the symbolic capital of the Russian classical heritage by emphasizing the continuity of the realist tradition in contemporary art, which unreflectively uses traditional forms. Thus, realist art provides a way to conceal the clashes and ruptures in Russian national history and to maintain and to invigorate the illusion of national unity. Keywords: state cultural policy of the Russian Federation, critical realism, socialist realism, Russian art exhibitions in 2015

A Study on the Ideological Basis of the CPC's Leadership in Literary and Artistic Work during the New Democratic Revolution

The leadership of literary and artistic work is an important part of the revolutionary cause led by the Communist Party of China (hereinafter referred to as “the CPC”). During the new democratic revolution, the ideological basis for the CPC's leadership in literary and artistic work included the literary and artistic thoughts of Marx and Engels, Lenin and Stalin, as well as the traditional Chinese literary and artistic thoughts. These ideological resources provided theoretical guidance for the CPC to lead literary and artistic work in the period of the new democratic revolution, and also provided basic guidelines for the CPC to formulate policies on literary and artistic work. The study of the ideological basis of the CPC's leadership in literary and artistic work during the new democratic revolution is of great historical significance for promoting the development of Chinese literary and artistic undertakings in the new era.

Philip Jaisohn, the Political Evangelist, 1896–98

The objective of this article is twofold: first to argue that Philip Jaisohn, upon his return from the United States to Korea in 1896, sought to subvert, if not overthrow, the monarchical government, and second, to argue that Jaisohn drew on specifically Christian intellectual and ideological resources to articulate his arguments. The rhetoric of loyalty, love, lawful resistance, private property, and slavery are, as such, in need of analysis through the Protestant conceptual prism. Previous studies analyzing modern political thought have focused on the nature of translation from the West; this study focuses on the conceptual aspect of the political language Jaisohn introduced in order to effect revolutionary changes in the popular vernacular. His goal was not just to present resistance against the incumbent governing authority as morally defensible, but to frame it in terms of the right of individual property. Finally the article suggests avenues through which religious thinking affected the reception and dissemination of Western political thought in Korea, and concludes by reflecting on the relevance of religious thought in the analysis of modern Korean political thought.

Dilemmas of sexual citizenship: A critical social psychological analysis of Civil Union law representations in Greek Cypriot newspapers

In this article we bring a critical social-psychological approach to the study of sexual citizenship. This approach seeks to understand how citizenship is constructed through ideological resources and negotiated in local contexts. We do so by studying newspaper representations of the Civil Union (CU) law in the Cypriot context. This law represented a major legal development for a largely heteronormative, patriarchic social context and sparked debate around sexual rights in general. We analysed 82 opinion articles that appeared in four newspapers of different political orientations between 2011 and 2015, through thematic and critical discourse analysis. The analysis revealed that CU was debated in terms of two oppositional themes. The first theme debated whether CU protects universal rights or introduces special rights, which are either not deserved or create inequality. The second theme approached the CU law as a sign of a much-needed societal progress or as a sign of decline and national degeneration. We show how these themes draw upon two broader ideological dilemmas, that of universalism versus particularism and that of Occidentalism versus Orientalism, and discuss the implications of these ideological streams in constructing the boundaries of citizenship for LGBT+ in this context.