Going transnational? Candidates' transnational linkages on Twitter during the 2019 European Parliament elections

How transnational are European Parliament (EP) campaigns? Building on research on the Euro-pean public sphere and the politicisation of the EU, this study investigates to what extent the 2019 EP campaign was transnational and which factors were associated with ‘going transna-tional’. It conceptualises Twitter linkages of EP candidates as constitutive elements of a transna-tional campaign arena distinguishing interactions with EP candidates from other countries (hori-zontal transnationalisation) and interactions with the supranational European party families and lead candidates (vertical transnationalisation). The analysis of tweets sent by EP candidates from all 28 member states reveals that most linkages remain national. Despite this evidence for the second-order logic, there are still relevant variations contingent on EU positions of parties, the adoption of the Spitzenkandidaten system and socialisation in the EP. The findings have impli-cations for debates on the European public sphere and institutional reform proposals such as transnational party lists that might mitigate the EU’s democratic deficit.

Revival of Islamic Civilization: Strategies for the Development of Muslim Society in the Thought of Abul Hasan Ali Nadwi (Kebangkitan Tamadun Islam: Strategi Pembangunan Masyarakat Islam dalam Pemikiran Abul Hasan Ali Nadwi)

This study attempts at analysing Abul Hasan Ali Nadwi’s suggestions towards a revival of Islamic civilization as an alternative to the Western civilization. It is based on library research and is qualitative in nature as it basically focuses on textual analysis. Moreover, the major approaches are descriptive, analytical and evaluative. This study found that Nadwi believed in the capacities of Islamic civilization to be revived if the existing challenges are overcome. For him, despite its tremendous breakthroughs in the fields of science and technology, Western civilization is bound to fail due to its moral decline. Therefore, it is only an Islamic civilization which is overtaken by the Western civilization should lead the humanity. In light of his argument, this study explores the strategies provided by Nadwi for the development of Muslim society as a revival of Islamic civilization. It focuses on three basic domains, namely, intellectual, political, and institutional aspects of reform. Keywords: Western civilization, Muslim leadership, Ijtihad, Jihad, Intellectual reform, Political reform, Institutional reform. Abstrak Kajian ini cuba menganalisis cadangan Abul Hasan Ali Nadwi ke arah kebangkitan tamadun Islam sebagai alternatif kepada tamadun Barat. Ia berdasarkan penyelidikan perpustakaan dan sifat kualitatif di mana ia pada dasarnya memberi tumpuan kepada analisis tekstual. Selain itu, pendekatan utama adalah deskriptif, analisis dan penilaian. Kajian ini mendapati bahawa Nadwi percaya kepada keupayaan tamadun Islam untuk dihidupkan semula jika cabaran sedia ada dapat diatasi. Baginya, walaupun kejayaannya yang luar biasa dalam bidang sains dan teknologi, tamadun Barat sebenarnnya gagal kerana kemerosotan moralnya. Oleh itu, Nadwi menegaskan bahawa hanyalah tamadun Islam yang harus memimpin manusia. Kajian ini meneroka hujah Nadwi tentang strategi untuk pembangunan masyarakat Islam sebagai usaha ke arah kebangkitan semula tamadun Islam. Ia memberi tumpuan kepada tiga domain asas, iaitu, intelektual, politik, dan aspek institusi pembaharuan. Kata Kunci: Tamadun Barat, Kepimpinan Islam, Ijtihad, Jihad, Pembaharuan Intelektual, Pembaharuan Politik, Pembaharuan Institusi.

Mapping and countermapping shifting borders

Ayelet Shachar's The Shifting Border deploys a powerful map metaphor to support rethinking of borders and their functions. I interrogate this metaphor, developing some of the representational, constructive, and normative functions of maps, along with their connections to legal mechanisms for decoupling migration from territory. I survey three responses to the extra-territorialization of migration: a cynical response that rejects the possibility of migration justice, an abolitionist response connected to open borders, and a revisionist response that advocates for widescale institutional reform. The revisionist response illuminates how Shachar's essay challenges us to reflect on what sorts of maps and accompanying social and political organizations would best support migrant justice.

The Interconnectedness between Institutional Quality, Civil War and Institutional Reform: A Case Study of Nepalese Maoist Civil War

Various factors trigger civil war, depending on the society and stages of political development. But analyzing it through the quality of an institution or some provisions of institutions may lead to a possible cause of a civil war. Thus, the primary objective of this article is to investigate institutional quality and its role in triggering a civil war. This paper argues that there is interconnectedness between institutional quality, civil war, and institutional reforms, which occurs as a series of events. Although the article provides many examples, in the second section, the case study of Nepalese decade-long civil war and post-civil war institutional reform has been presented to back the argument made in the paper. By discussing various dynamics of historical institutionalism, the paper mainly analyzes the primary and secondary sources.

Welfare State Romance

Forster’s works responded to the heated reformist debates surrounding the passing of the 1911 Insurance Act, and they engaged with the question whether a new social ethos of responsibility and care would need to precede, or whether it would flow from, institutional reform. What Howards End calls ‘preparedness’—i.e. the attempt to protect the most vulnerable members of society against the risk of unemployment—is central to the generic instabilities of Forster’s novel. These instabilities are further heightened in Forster’s novel fragment Arctic Summer, which fails in championing the excitements of ‘romance’ over the perceived boredom of a life guarded against risk. We need to read with rather than against the grain of these texts by taking seriously both their progressive aspirations and their reparative attention to subject positions that are excluded from the period’s projects of reform.