The He-Women Come

This chapter discusses the earliest instances of women voting in the U. S., including Kentucky's 1838 school suffrage provision. It also traces the origins of the national woman's rights movement. It details sporadic attempts by Kentuckians to raise the issue in places like Glendale and Dayton, Kentucky. It paints a picture of the dire consequences opponents believed would follow if woman's rights activists had their way. Henry Watterson's Courier-Journal, a key opinion maker in the state, actively opposed woman suffrage.

From Respected Religion Scholar Expert to Cartoon Character: Reflections in the Wake of the Danish Muhammad Cartoon Crisis and Three Decades as Expert to the Media

Respected scholar, expert, public opinion maker, oracle, under-cover politician, charlatan, cartoon character – all roles “out there” waiting for scholars sharing knowledge with a wider public. Scholars of religion trying to carve out more room in the public arena for a nonreligious, scientific approach to religion always risk digging their graves as (respected) scholars. What’s worse, they also risk digging the grave for a valuable and respectable, as well as publicly valued and respected academic, scientific study of religion. The scholar popularizing scientifically based knowledge, not least via the mass media (daily newspapers or public television), may “become” political and controversial to such a degree that s/he becomes a problem for the scientific study of religion, the community of scholars of religion, and the university with which s/he is affiliated. The otherwise valuable engagement threatens the reputation of science as being something valuable, “pure” and “neutral,” elevated above the dirty business of politics and power. In spite of the risks, the engaged scholar, it is, however, also argued, actually can help to strengthen the position, inside and outside the academy, of scientifically based knowledge and of the critical, analytical, scientific study of religion.

Islam Nusantara, ulemas, and social media: understanding the pros and cons of Islam Nusantara among ulemas of West Sumatera

The concept of Islam Nusantara, which is defined as Islam that accommodates the customs and culture of the (Indonesian) Archipelago, has been rejected by the West Sumatera branch of Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI). Meanwhile, other groups in West Sumatera support the Islam Nusantara concept. This article explains the pros and cons of Islam Nusantara among religious leaders in West Sumatera in the context of social media activities. Ulemas rejected Islam Nusantara in West Sumatera based on the perspective that Islam as a religion has reached peak perfection, adding the word Nusantara is, thus, unnecessary. Other religious leaders in West Sumatera have embraced Islam Nusantara based on the view that in terms of customs in Minangkabau, the principle of Adaik Bersandi Syarak, Syarak Bersandi Kitabullah is followed. This is a field study employing the qualitative method of approach. Data were obtained via in-depth interviews with four West Sumatran religious figures (ulemas) and subsequently analyzed in an interpretative and descriptive manner. The findings in this study show that the ulemas’ rejection of Islam Nusantara via Facebook indicates a shift in the definition of ulemas as religious leaders to that of opinion makers. This is a new finding that has never been studied before as it places the pros and cons of Islam Nusantara within the context of virtual culture. Consequently, this study has implications on the definition of ulemas as religious leaders overlapping with their part as opinion makers and opinion leaders in the current era of new media.Gagasan Islam Nusantara sebagai Islam yang mengakomodir adat dan budaya Nusantara ditolak kehadirannya oleh Majelis Ulama Indonesia wilayah Sumatera Barat. Sementara itu terdapat kelompok lain yang mendukung gagasan Islam Nusantara di Sumatera Barat. Artikel ini menjelaskan pro dan kontra di antara pemuka agama tentang Islam Nusantara di Sumatera Barat dalam konteks aktivitas di media sosial. Islam Nusantara di tolak oleh Ulama di Sumatera Barat didasari oleh pandangan umum bahwa Islam sebagai agama telah mencapai sempurna, sehingga tidak diperlukan penambahan kata Nusantara. Sedangkan pemuka agama lainnya menerima Islam Nusantara di Sumatera Barat karena didasari oleh pandangan umum bahwa adat di Minangkabau Sumatera Barat berpegang pada prinsip Adaik Bersandi Syarak, Syarak Bersandi Kitabullah. Data penelitian dikumpulkan melalui wawancara mendalam terhadap empat pemuka agama (ulama) di Sumatera Barat. Temuan penelitian ini menunjukkan bahwa aktivitas ulama yang menolak Islam Nusantara melalui facebook menggambarkan pergeseran makna Ulama dari religius leader ke opinion maker. Namun pergeseran tersebut justru mengokohkan ulama sebagai pemilik otoritas keagamaan. Temuan ini dapat berimplikasi pada terminologi ulama sebagai religius leader pada era media baru akan berhimpitan dengan terminologi opinion maker dan opinion leader sebagai terminologi baru pada era media baru.

Thuiskomen in het Vlaams-nationalisme. 'De Schelde' en Pol De Monts engagement na de Eerste Wereldoorlog

De dichter Pol De Mont, voor WO I decennialang één van de Vlaamse boegbeelden, zag zich na die oorlog, vanwege vermeende Duitsvriendelijkheid, gedwongen om ontslag te nemen als leraar aan de Antwerpse Academie voor Schone Kunsten en als conservator van het Koninklijk Museum voor Schone kunsten in dezelfde stad. Frustratie was zijn deel en zijn rol leek uitgespeeld.Een half jaar na de Wapenstilstand wordt hij echter onverwacht hoofdredacteur van het dagblad De Schelde en staat hij weer midden de Vlaamse strijd. Anders dan voor de oorlog zijn zijn standpunten nu radicaal Vlaams-nationalistisch. Hij gaat voor een ongebonden en objectieve journalistiek, ziet zich als spreekbuis van het Vlaamsche Front en hecht veel belang aan de Godsvrede waarbij over de traditionele partijgrenzen heen de Vlaamse eisen prioriteit krijgen, en aan de nooit-meer-oorloggedachte, die hem met vuur de Volkenbond doet verdedigen. Verder komen in dit artikel aan bod: zijn berichtgeving over nationale en internationale politiek, mogelijke wijzigingen aan het verdrag van Versailles, Duitsland, nationalisme, democratie, militarisme, ethische kwesties, folklore, kunst en literatuur.De laatste fase in De Monts leven maakt duidelijk dat wat hij ook deed, met welke groepen en personen hij ook samenwerkte, de basis van zijn levenslange streven altijd zijn Vlaamse overtuiging was, aanvankelijk misschien eerder impliciet, later zeer uitdrukkelijk. Als het Vlaams-nationalisme pas in deze laatste levensfase zo overduidelijk de toon zet in al wat hij doet, schrijft of zegt, is dat niet meer dan de ultieme erkenning van zijn wereldbeschouwing.__________ Coming home in Flemish nationalism.Pol De Mont’s commitment after the First World War The poet Pol De Mont was one of the leaders of the Flemish Movement before the First World War. Due to alleged sympathies for the German enemy he was, after the war, forced to resign from his functions as a teacher at the Antwerp Academy of Fine Arts and as curator of the Royal Museum of Fine Arts in that city. De Mont was considered finished as an opinion-maker, and in his isolation he ventilated his frustration in two allegorical pamphlets.Half a year after the Armistice however, he unexpectedly becomes editor in chief of the daily newspaper De Schelde and his Flemish fight starts all over again. Unlike before the war his commitment is now radical and Flemish nationalist. He engages in free and objective journalism, sees himself as the spokesman for the Vlaamsche Front and focuses on its Flemish empowerment movement exceeding traditional political parties, and on its no more war-ideas that make him support the League of Nations. This essay also studies his articles on national and international politics, possible changes in the terms of the Versailles treaty, Germany, nationalism, militarism, democracy, ethical issues, folklore, art and literature.The last phase in De Mont’s life clearly illustrates that whatever he did during his lifetime, whatever persons or groups he associated with, always did his Flemish conviction trigger him, implicitly maybe at first, more outspoken when he got older. When Flemish nationalism so clearly sets the tone in his last years in everything he did or commented upon, it is no more than an eventually coming to terms with his own views.

Modelos de Espaço Público em contraste: Imprensa e Modernidade Seletiva nas Províncias da Paraíba e Pernambuco (1870-1880)

Este artigo procura elucidar o debate que se constituiu pela imprensa ao longo das décadas de 1870 e 1880 nas províncias brasileiras da Paraíba e de Pernambuco em torno do modelo francês de monarquia parlamentar que contrastava com o federalismo republicano dos EUA. Assumindo o lugar de formadora da opinião pública a imprensa procurou trazer destaque para a questão do Espaço Público na medida em que modos distintos de se lidar com ele estavam em jogo em cada um daqueles modelos políticos internacionais idealizados. Também foram mapeadas algumas relações que os jornais analisados indiciaram entre os debates sobre o Espaço Público e as retóricas de modernidade que os acompanhavam. Com frequência a questão da ciência e da técnica pareceu eclipsar a dimensão do conflito que é próprio do universo político e da esfera pública, unificando os olhares em torno de um deslumbramento com as benfeitorias materiais que o século prometia.Palavras chave: Espaço Público, Formação, Imprensa. AbstractThis article seeks to elucidate the debate that was constituted by the press throughout the 1870s and 1880s in the Brazilian provinces of Paraíba and Pernambuco around the French model of parliamentary monarchy that contrasted with the republicanism of the USA. Taking over the role of public opinion maker, the press sought to highlight the issue of the Public Space since that distinct ways of dealing with it was considered in each of those idealized international political models. This article also mapped some relations that the newspapers analyzed betrayed between the debates on the Public Space and the rhetoric of modernity that accompanied them. Often the question of science and technique seemed to eclipse the dimension of conflict that is proper to the political universe and the public sphere, unifying the glances around a dazzle with the material improvements that the century promised.Keywords: Public Space, Formation, Press. ResumenEste artículo busca esclarecer el debate que se constituyó por la prensa a lo largo de las décadas de 1870 y 1880 en las provincias brasileñas de Paraíba y de Pernambuco en torno al modelo francés de monarquía parlamentaria que contrastaba con el federalismo republicano de EUA. Asumiendo el lugar de formadora de la opinión pública la prensa trató de destacar la cuestión del Espacio Público en la medida en que modos distintos de lidiar con él estaban en juego en cada uno de aquellos modelos políticos internacionales idealizados. También se han mapeado algunas relaciones que los periódicos analizados indiciaron entre los debates sobre el espacio público y las retóricas de modernidad que los acompañaban. Con frecuencia la cuestión de la ciencia y de la técnica parecía eclipsar la dimensión del conflicto que es propio del universo político y de la esfera pública, unificando las miradas en torno a un deslumbramiento con las mejoras materiales que el siglo prometía.Palabras clave: Espacio Público, Formación, Prensa.

Printing and the Book

Until the 1980s, when periodization fell out of favor among historians, the development of printing was used as one of the markers for the onset of the Renaissance. Thus the significance of printing has long been recognized. In the late 20th and early 21st centuries, however, its impact on social and intellectual history moved to the center of research in early modern history. This interest may be explained by the fact that the last decades of the 20th century experienced a media shift that equals the importance of the shift in the 15th century. Elizabeth L. Eisenstein’s seminal 1979 book The Printing Press as an Agent of Change (see Eisenstein 1979 cited under General Overviews) was in the vanguard of this wave of research. Criticism of Eisenstein for placing too much emphasis on the revolutionary character of printing and its singular impact on the Reformation has prompted some modification in the approach to the history of printing, but the recognition of its significance for the dissemination of information and learning and as an opinion maker has remained unchanged.