The Italian ‘Taste’: The Far-Right and the Performance of Exclusionary Populism During the European Elections

This article examines populist leaders’ politicisation of food in their social media performances. More precisely, it analyses Matteo Salvini’s Instagram posts during the 2019 European elections, and the way food is mobilized for populist and nationalist purposes. The main argument is that food serves as a cultural trope that confers identity, reinforcing social divisions and the terms of national and class belonging. Drawing on Bourdieu’s (1984) social critique of taste, political leaders have traditionally placed themselves on the side of a distant gastronomic culture; that of a high-end elite. However, populist leaders perform a twofold role, attempting to present themselves as part of the common people and distancing themselves from the traditional elite. This change in social positioning is reflected in their social media accounts, often posting “authentic” glimpses of their cultural practices, such as cooking and eating. Methodologically, this paper uses a mixed-methods concurrent design, combining digital ethnography and visual rhetoric analysis for examining both the discursive and the aesthetic clues that construct Salvini’s social positioning towards taste. Through food, being Italian becomes a matter of constructing Italian authenticity against the national intellectual and political elite, but also against the European value-building project.

Investigating the Unintended Consequences of the High School Equalization Policy on the Housing Market

Owing to its potentially far-reaching impact on a large population, an educational policy may lead to unintended consequences beyond the educational area. The High School Equalization Policy (HSEP), introduced into South Korea in the mid-1970s, is representative of such a policy. HSEP prohibits high school entrance exams and randomly assigns students to a high school near their residence. Despite its aim of ensuring equal opportunities in education for all students regardless of socio-economic status, a frequent criticism was that HSEP could prompt students’ families to move to a region near traditional elite high schools, which, in turn, would widen the gap in house prices between different regions. Thus, we conducted an empirical study to examine the secondary influence of the HSEP on the housing market via a difference-in-differences (DD) analysis. We used house price data from the Gangwon province, as the partial introduction of HSEP into the province allowed for a quasi-experimental study on the effect of HSEP. The result revealed that, contrary to expectations, the HSEP in Gangwon had the opposite spillover effect of reducing the gap of the average house prices by 5%~9% across regions.

Austro-Węgrzy i paneuropeiści. Arystokratyczni krytycy Europy wersalskiej

Austro-Hungarians and PanEuropeans. Aristocratic Critics of Versailles Europe There are many books and articles on the nationalist and fascist critics of Europe at the Versailles Conference, whereas there are no works in contemporary literature about conservative and aristocratic critics of this political model. The purpose of this text is to present the critics of the conservative side from the point of view of the elite of the Habsburg Empire. We have three social groups that defend the old empire: the aristocratic and cosmopolitan elites of the Austrian land-holding gentry, the Hungarian nobility and the Jews. These three groups do not understand the ideas of nation, nation-state, and nationalism. After the fall of the empire in 1918, only the Hungarian aristocracy and nobility retained their political role, running the Hungarian nation-state. Austria's traditional elite is cosmopolitan and in radical opposition to the new republic. Their political, international, supranational point of view represents the Paneuropean movement. Jest wiele książek i artykułów na temat nacjonalistycznych i faszystowskich krytyków Europy podczas Konferencji w Wersalu. We współczesnej literaturze nie ma prac o konserwatywnych i arystokratycznych krytykach tego modelu politycznego. Celem tego tekstu jest przedstawienie krytyków strony konserwatywnej z punktu widzenia elit imperium Habsburgów. Mamy trzy grupy społeczne, które bronią starego imperium: arystokratyczne i kosmopolityczne elity austriackiej szlachty ziemskiej, węgierskiej szlachty i Żydów. Te trzy grupy nie rozumieją idei narodu, państw narodowych i nacjonalizmu. Po upadku imperium w 1918 r. tylko węgierska arystokracja i szlachta zachowują swoją rolę polityczną, kierując węgierskim państwem narodowym. Austriackie tradycyjne elity są kosmopolityczne i pozostają w radykalnej opozycji do nowej republiki. Ich polityczny międzynarodowy, ponadnarodowy punkt widzenia reprezentuje ruch paneurepański.

Informal Power Structures and Grassroots Politics in Sirmaur, Himachal Pradesh

The study, based on outputs obtained from villages of Shillai block in Sirmaur district of Himachal Pradesh, looks at the informal power structure found in the state’s rural areas. Both formal and the informal power structures have historically coexisted but we will study various factors that empower informal power structures and critically contrast them to the equality-based, constitutionally legalised formal power structures. This entails an understanding of the basis of mobilisation and relationships among different caste groups, the role and influence of local deity institutions, the traditional elitist strata as well as the nature of institutions like Khumlis and their subsequent relationship with formal political institutions. This purposive, investigative and participatory study was conducted in the villages of Shillai block where the process of modernisation has been very slow. This is probably why the historically privileged, traditional elite and informal institutions continue to dominate the entire social structure. The marginalised stratum of society has consequently received minimum participation and representation in formal institutions or the legislating, executing and adjudicating of policies and decisions.

Urban Space and Aristocratic Power in Late Antique Rome

This book analyses the physical, social, and cultural history of Rome in late antiquity. Between AD 270 and 535, the former capital of the Roman empire experienced a series of dramatic transformations in its size, appearance, political standing, and identity, as emperors moved to other cities and the Christian church slowly became its dominating institution. Urban Space and Aristocratic Power in Late Antique Rome provides a new picture of these developments, focusing on the extraordinary role played by members of the traditional elite, the senatorial aristocracy, in the redefinition of the city, its institutions, and spaces. During this period, Roman senators and their families became increasingly involved in the management of the city and its population, in building works, and in the performance of secular and religious ceremonies and rituals. As this study shows, for approximately three hundred years the houses of the Roman elite competed with imperial palaces and churches in shaping the political map and the social life of the city. Making use of modern theories of urban space, the book considers a vast array of archaeological, literary, and epigraphic documents to show how the former centre of the Mediterranean world was progressively redefined and controlled by its own elite.

ПолитическаяидентичностьСиро-Христианскогосоциума подвластью хулагуидских Ильханов(XIIIXIVвв.):некоторыенаблюдения

The article deals with a dramatically turbulent period in the history of Syriac Christianity, encompassing the late 13th and the early 14th centuries that coincided with the establishment, strengthening and collapse of the Mongol rule in Iran and Mesopotamia. The primary focus is on the two Syria communities the Western (Jacobite) and the Eastern (Assyrian) ones inhabiting the territories of modern North Iraq and South Turkey that were at the time one of the hotbeds of Christianity and homeland to numerous Arameic dialects. Unlike its neighbours, even though similar to them from the cultural an religious perspectives (especially the Armenians), the Syriac society showed an almost total absence of any clearcut traditional elite (to say nothing of aristocracy) that could have assumed administrative functions. Under these circumstances the Mongol invasion and the triumph of the Chinggisid rule in the Tigris Euphrates valley contributed to the formation, in the Eastern Syriac milieu, of a quasimonarchical form of administration that of the local princesgovernors (sing. malik, pl. muluk). For centuries to come the status of Malik passed through a long transformation in order to evolve from a bureaucratic figurehead (even notwithstanding the implied monarchial attributes) into a defacto local ruler of a highland community. The process of formation of the Malik rule and the peculiarities of Christian Malik rule in Mesopotamia is analysed through relevant data of the Syriac, Arab and Persian chroniclesСтатья посвящена драматически турбулентному периоду в история сирийского христианства, охватывающая конец 13го и начало 14 века, что совпало с установлением, усилением и крахом монгольского владычества в Иране и Месопотамия. Основное внимание уделяется двум сирийским общинам Западной (Якобитская) и Восточной (Ассирийская) населяющие территорию современного Северного Ирака и юга Турция, которая была в то время одним из очагов христианства и родиной многочисленных арамейских диалектов. В отличие от своих соседей, хотя подобно им с культурной и религиозной точек зрения (особенно армяне), сирийское общество показало почти полное отсутствие какихлибо четких традиционных элит (не говоря уже об аристократии), которые могли бы взять на себя административные функции. В этих условиях монгольское нашествие и триумф правления Чингизидов в долине ТиграЕвфрата способствовало формированию в Восточносирийской среде квазимонархической формы правления, администрация формировалась из местных князейнаместников (единсвт. Малик, множеств. Мулук). На протяжении веков статус Малика проходил через длительную трансформацию чтобы эволюционировать от бюрократического номинального руководителя (даже несмотря на подразумеваемые монархические атрибуты) в дефакто местного правителя. Процесс формирования правила Малика и особенности правление христианина Малика в Месопотамии анализируется с помощью соответствующих данных, взятых из сирийских, арабских и персидских хроник.

Negotiating a Better Life: Emerging Trends in the Politics of Ordinary and Poor Muslims in Kolkata

Since Independence, Muslim politics in India has mainly been framed through the idiom of identity. While political engagements calling for democratization and increased participation in public life have occasionally occurred, scholarly interest in the ongoing shifts in Muslim political demands is recent and new. Simultaneously, the emerging literature on the politics of patronage and post-patronage networks in democracies of the Global South present anthropologists with new tools for studying the changing contours of the political mobilization of the urban poor. Using ethnographic narratives collected during fieldwork in Park Circus—one of Kolkata’s many Muslim-dominated neighbourhoods—which remains stigmatized and socially and spatially set apart, this article highlights the emerging modes of political engagement among poor and lower middle-class Muslims. I carefully document their efforts to negotiate a perceived ‘better’ life within a fast-changing neoliberal urban landscape that is prejudiced against them. For many ordinary Muslims, this has involved a movement away from the traditional elite-led politics of identity towards more plebeian forms of assertion and activism aimed at eking out a respectable living by working through extant structures of the local administration and networks of power in the neighbourhood.

The Descendants of Former Aristocratic Families in Hungary at the Turn of the 21st Century

Historical and social historical researches have extensively explored the social role and history of the Hungarian nobility and aristocracy, but the present situation of the descendants of the former traditional élite has been overlooked by contemporary sociological studies. The aim of this paper is to fill this gap by providing a comprehensive picture concerning the young descendants of the Hungarian aristocratic families living in Hungary at the turn of the 21st century. The results confirm that the examined group has a very good chance of reaching a higher status within the society despite all the disadvantages their parents and grandparents suffered during the communist era. In other words, they possess all socio-demographic factors which make a higher position likely. This advantageous socio-demographic position is interacting with the values and goals transmitted in family upbringing, namely acquiring a diploma and the knowledge of foreign languages. The religious, Christian, and family-centric values also played a considerable role in their education. Among the young descendants of the former aristocratic families, we can distinguish a group which creates a strong informal network and has preserved its special aristocratic identity and filled it with a renewed content.

Elit Tradisional dalam Onder Afdeling Rawas Masa Kekuasaan Belanda Tahun 1901-1942

Traditional elites are nobles who have a very important role in society. They are highly respected in social life. These traditional elites usually have better knowledge and have better education than ordinary people. In addition, traditional elites are also very vital in land ownership. Some of the land in the Surulangun area belongs to local nobles and indigenous people as managers. Life in Surulangun was also very promising because of the life of activities around the Rawas river which became the meeting point of other traders around the Rawas river. In addition to having the Rawas river which is the lifeblood of trade in Surulangun, this area is also very strategic because it borders the Jambi area. For crops, the Surulangun area is also very large, this is the spirit of the Dutch nation along the Musi and Rawas rivers to get to Surulangun. After taking power in Surulangun, the Netherlands made this area an area of the capital of Onder Afdeling Rawas. The Dutch colonial nation held many friendships with traditional elites to support its government. In the form of Dutch cooperation with these traditional elites by promising better assets and positions, many traditional elites were interested in cooperating. On the other hand, the Netherlands wants a traditional elite as a liaison between the Netherlands and the indigenous people to manage mining and plantations in Surulangun. So that the Dutch Colonial nation became very advanced and developed rapidly after making Surulangun as one of the contributors of wealth to Dutch Colonial.

O Intelectual como Dirigente e como Educador

Analisa a concepção de Anísio Teixeira, ao longo dos anos 30, sobre o papel do intelectual no processo de reconstrução da sociedade brasileira. Para Anísio, seria urgente, à época, formar adequadamente o quadro intelectual da nação para que pudesse assumir, plenamente, a função diretiva que lhe competia nesse processo. Esta função era concebida com um caráter essencialmente educativo, na perspectiva atribuída por Dewey à noção de direção social, o que suporia formar um novo tipo de intelectual, distinto das tradicionais elites brasileiras e cuja marca característica seria a mentalidade científica no seu duplo significado de espírito experimentalista e de espírito democrático. Foi esta concepção do papel do intelectual como dirigente, que não só presidiu à organização da Universidade criada por Anísio em 1935, no Rio de Janeiro (a UDF), como também informou a própria atuação político-administrativa deste educador à frente da Secretaria de Educação do Distrito Federal, de 1932 a 1935. Abstract The aim of this paper is to analyze Anísio Teixeira 's conception of the role of intellectuals in the process of reconstruction of the Brazilian Society during the 30 's. According to Anísio, it would be important to prepare a nation's intellectual personnel capable of assuming its directive role. This role was considered as being essentially educative, according to the conception attributed by Dewey to the notion of social directiveness. This would presuppose a new kind of intellectual, different from the Brazilian traditional elite and characterized by a scientific mentality - composed by a experimental spirit and a democratic spirit. The above mentioned conception of the role of intellectual as a conductor shaped both the organization of the University created by Anísio at Rio de Janeiro (the UDF) and his own behavior as the head of the Educational Authority of Rio de Janeiro during the period 1932-1935. Résumé Le but de notre travail est d'analyser la conception d 'Anísio Teixeira, tout au long des années 30, sur le rôle de l'intellectuel au cours du procès de reconstruction nationale de la société brésilienne. Pour Anísio, il était urgent, à cette époque-là, déformer adéquament le cadre intellectuel de la nation pour qu 'il puisse exercer pleinement la fonction directive qui lui appartennait. Cette fonction était conçue comme une fonction essentiellement éducative, dans le sens de ce que Dewey appelait la direction sociale. Cela supposait former un nouveau type d'intellectuel, qui se distinguait des élites traditionnelles brésiliennes dont la marque serait la mentalité scientifique, dans le double sens d esprit d'expérimentation et d'esprit démocratique. Cette conception du role de l'intellectuel, autant que dirigeant, est à l'origine non seulement de l 'organization de l 'Université créée par Anísio en 1935, au Rio de Janeiro (l'UDF), mais aussi de l'action politique et administrative de cet éducateur à la tête du Bureau de l 'Education du Distrito Fédéral, de 1932 à 1935. Resumen Nuestro trabajo tiene por objetivo analisar la concepción de Anísio Teixeira, a Io largo de los años 30, acerca del papel del intelectual en el proceso de reconstrucción nacional de Ia sociedad brasileña. Para Anísio, era urgente, por aquél entonces, formar adecuadamente a los cuadros intelectuales de la Nación para que ellos pudieran ejercer plenamente la función directiva que les competia. Esta función era concebida con un carácter fundamentalmente educativo, en el sentido que le atribuyó Dewey, de dirección social, lo que supondría formar un nuevo tipo de intelectual distinto de Ias elites tradicionales brasileñas, y cuya característica sería la mentalidad científica, en su doble significado de espíritu experimentalista y de espíritu democrático. Fue esta concepción del papel del intelectual como dirigente, que no sólo presidió a la organización de la Universidad creada por Anísio en 1935, en Rio de Janeiro (UDF), como también informó la propia actuación político-administrativa de este educador al frente de la Secretaría de Educación del Distrito Federal, de 1932 a 1935.