Challenging gender norms: women’s leadership, political authority, and autonomy

Purpose In patriarchal settings, cultural barriers continue to influence women’s participation in positions of leadership and political authority. This paper aims to explore these findings in light of the theoretical concepts of “hegemonic masculinity” and “patriarchy,” which explain gender disparities in the occupancy of political power and leadership positions in Qatar. Design/methodology/approach Data from original face-to-face national surveys conducted among subjects in Qatar were used, including 1,611 completed household interviews. Findings The findings were consistent with the prevailing patriarchal beliefs present in Qatari society and Arab Gulf States. The analysis showed that there was greater significant support for men holding key leadership and authority positions than women. Individual-level factors were found to have a significant association with attitudes favoring women. Compared to respondents who had never attended school, those who had completed secondary school and those who had partaken in higher education favored having women in leadership roles. Practical implications As a means to fix the gender imbalance within the occupancy of positions of political power in Qatar, this study recommends putting substantial efforts into increasing the number of interventions underpinning gender equality through social awareness programs that may improve the public’s perceptions. Furthermore, gender-equitable affirmative actions are needed to promote the inclusion of women in power and increase their presence in leadership roles. Originality/value This study is among the very few that have theoretically and empirically addressed the issue of women’s authority and involvement in key leadership roles in the context of Qatar.

Stefan Uroš II Milutin Nemanjić (1282–1321)

King Stefan Uroš II Milutin Nemanjić (1282—Donje Nerodimlje, October 29, 1321) was a Serbian medieval king, the seventh ruler of the Serbian Nemanide dynasty, the son of King Stefan Uroš I (r. 1243–1276) and Queen Helen Nemanjić (see), the brother of the King Stefan Dragutin (r. 1276–1282) and the father of King Stefan Dečanski (r. 1322–1331). Together with his great grandfather Stefan Nemanja, the founder of the Nemanide dynasty, and his grandson, Emperor Stefan Uroš IV Dušan, King Milutin is considered the most powerful ruler of the Nemanide dynasty. The long and successful military breach of King Milutin, down the Vardar River Valley and deep into the Byzantine territories, represents the beginning of Serbian expansion into southeastern Europe, making it the dominant political power in the Balkan region in the 14th century. During that period, Serbian economic power grew rapidly, mostly because of the development of trading and mining. King Milutin founded Novo Brdo, an internationally important silver mining site. He started minting his own money, producing imitations of Venetian coins (grosso), which gradually diminished in value. This led to the ban of these coins by the Republic of Venice and provided King Milutin a place in Dante’s Divina Commedia. King Milutin had a specific philoktesia fervor: He built or renovated over three dozen Serbian Orthodox churches and monasteries not only in Serbia but also in Thessaloniki, Mt. Athos, Constantinople and The Holy Land. Over fifteen of his portraits can be found in the monumental painting ensembles of Serbian medieval monasteries as well as on two icons.

Are knowledgeable voters better voters?

It is widely believed that democracies require knowledgeable citizens to function well. But the most politically knowledgeable individuals tend to be the most partisan and the strength of partisan identity tends to corrupt political thinking. This creates a conundrum. On the one hand, an informed citizenry is allegedly necessary for a democracy to flourish. On the other hand, the most knowledgeable and passionate voters are also the most likely to think in corrupted, biased ways. What to do? This paper examines this tension and draws out several lessons. First, it is not obvious that more knowledgeable voters will make better political decisions. Second, attempts to remedy voter ignorance are problematic because partisans tend to become more polarized when they acquire more information. Third, solutions to citizen incompetence must focus on the intellectual virtue of objectivity. Fourth, some forms of epistocracy are troubling, in part, because they would increase the political power of the most dogmatic and biased individuals. Fifth, a highly restrictive form of epistocracy may escape the problem of political dogmatism, but epistocrats may face a steeper tradeoff between inclusivity and epistemic virtue than they would like.

Symbolic Unity in Post-Marxism

The paper examines the question of the symbolic dimension in the political. It is argued that both Ernesto Laclau’s and Claude Lefort’s Post-Marxist accounts understand this question as a problem of rethinking symbolic unity. I will trace arguments of these accounts and examine their relation to Carl Schmitt's notion of the political. To this end, both aesthetic and politico-juridical dimensions of the political are discussed by focusing on two questions: 1) How should it be understood that in Laclau’s idea of populism the symbolic construction of the people differs from the juridical construction of the people? 2) What does it mean to understand symbolic unity as political power as Lefort does?

Ikonographische Strategien Claudians

This article focuses on the particular ways in which Claudian portrays the epic hunting episode in his Stil. 3. In addition to the poetic models that he re-elaborates, he takes up an iconographic language with which his public, the Roman élite, was very well acquainted: it is the same iconography that can be observed in the hunting mosaics of Dermech and Hippona—and above all in the Grande Caccia of Piazza Armerina. In both Claud. Stil. 3 and the mosaics, we encounter a hunt, or rather a collection of animals which takes place mainly in North Africa in preparation for the games in the Roman harena. Both the hunting episode in Claudian’s poem and the scenes of hunting in the mosaics point to the liberalitas or economical-political power, or even virtus, which the owners of the villas, or Stilicho himself, claimed for themselves. This clearly builds on a ‘language’ that the contemporary élite (4th century CE) appreciated and that Claudian exploited with great success.

Biopolitics of COVID-19: Capitalist Continuities and Democratic Openings

"Biopolitics" has become a popular concept for interpreting the COVID-19 pandemic, yet the term is often used vaguely, as a buzzword, and therefore loses its specificity and relevance. This article systematically explains what the biopolitical lens offers for analyzing and normatively criticizing the politics of the coronavirus. I argue that biopolitics are politics of differentiated vulnerability that are intrinsic to capitalist modernity. The situation resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic is, therefore, less of a state of exception than it might appear; COVID-19 is a continuation and intensification of the capitalist biopolitics of differentiated vulnerability. In order to critically evaluate this situation, the article proposes the concept of "democratic biopolitics" and shows how it can be used, among others, for a queer critique of the differentiated vulnerabilities that are produced by the coronavirus and its capitalist governance. In contrast to widespread interpretations of democratic biopolitics that focus on collective care in communities, this article highlights the role of the state and of the redistribution of political power and economic resources as key for biopolitical democratization.

Unsustainability of Debt-Based Money

In addition to the problems caused by money being fiat, most modern money is moreover created not by governments but by the privately-owned banking systems as debt to themselves. This is not only grossly contrary to all traditions of natural justice, it is also unconstitutional. This problem has been understood and publicised by many politicians and writers over centuries, but it is still not widely known due to the financial and political power of the perpetrators. Since it is also the main cause of the continuing increase in inequality in all the rich countries, the “great reset” being advocated by those in charge of the present system is clearly not fit to become the new basis of the economic system.