On the Lives of Modern State Law

Modern state law is an expansive force that permeates life and politics. Law's histories—colonial, revolutionary, and postcolonial—tell of its constitutive centrality to the making of colonies and modern states. Its powers intertwine with life itself; they attempt to direct it, shape its most intimate spheres, decide on the constitutive line dividing public from private, and take over the space and time in which life unfolds. These powers settle in the present, eliminate past authorities, and dictate futures. Gendering and constitutive of sexual difference, law's powers endeavor to mold subjects and alter how they orient themselves to others and to the world. But these powers are neither coherent nor finite. They are ripe with contradictions and conflicting desires. They are also incapable of eliminating other authorities, paths, and horizons of living; these do not vanish but remain not only thinkable and articulable but also a resource for the living. Such are some of the overlapping and accumulative interventions of the two books under review: Sara Pursley's Familiar Futures and Judith Surkis's Sex, Law, and Sovereignty in French Algeria. What follows is an attempt to further develop these interventions by thinking with some of the books’ underlying arguments. Familiar Futures is a history of Iraq, beginning with the British colonial-mandate period and concluding with the 1958 Revolution and its immediate aftermath. Sex, Law, and Sovereignty is a history of “French Algeria” that covers a century of French colonization from 1830 to 1930. The books converge on key questions concerning how modern law and the modern state—colonial and postcolonial—articulated sexual difference and governed social and intimate life, including through the rise of personal-status law as a separate domain of law constitutive of the conjugal family. Both books are consequently also preoccupied with the relationship between sex, gender, and sovereignty. And both contain resources for living along paths not charted by the modern state and its juridical apparatus.

Stressor Appraisal on a Pathway to Health: The Role of the Sense of Coherence

In this chapter, the focus is on how the sense of coherence (SOC) influences stressor appraisal, positively as well as negatively. The processes of stimulus appraisal have a central place in salutogenic theory, even if they have received relatively little theoretical and empirical attention since Aaron Antonovsky’s extensive treatment of stimulus appraisal in Unraveling the mystery of health: How people manage stress and stay well. The chapter aims to elevate researchers’ appreciation of stimulus appraisal as Antonovsky’s little-tested answer to three key questions: How does the SOC concept link to coping behaviour, what is the mechanism that makes the connection and what is the black box in between?

Where does theory go in military history?

This article presents a critique of Whiggish approaches to military history. It begins with this quotation from Dennis Showalter – ‘military history is arguably the last stronghold of what historiographers call the “Whig interpretation”’ – and notes that Showalter’s assessment was a reflection on both the general absence of theory and the linked poverty of the fallback theoretical basket of the subject, with such staples as War and Society, Face of Battle, and Military Revolutions. Recognizing the shortcomings of numerous approaches to military history, the author identifies the challenge – writing military history that incorporates multiple regions and takes a global approach. As the author concludes, the problem for the historian remains how best to address the complex interactions of, in particular, change and continuity, structure and conjuncture, the West and the wider world, and to do so to produce an account that is able to identify and probe crucial issues and key questions.

Federalism Practice in Nepal: Does it Move in the Expected Course?

This study examines how far Nepal's current practice of federalism has progressed toward people's aspirations, based on power separation, public trust, power equalization, and intergovernmental relationships. Primary data was collected on purposively 72 key informant interviews, which were then triangulated by the KII response. Finding demonstrates that functions and authorities were devolved in accordance with the principle of separation of powers at all three levels of government. However, the constitutional provisions were completely disregarded, and power was centralized by an unholy alliance of political leadership and bureaucracy. Second, people expected the democratic government to take a welfare approach to ensure greater pluralism and alliances, but special interests of politicians for their election constituencies, as well as identity-based issues, caused havoc in the effective operation of federalism. Third, the provision of three tiers of power-sharing mechanisms was based on coexistence, cooperation, and coordination. However, the federal government appears hesitant to support sub-national governments due to the centralized mindset of bureaucrats and politicians. Fourth, the constitution has focused on intergovernmental relations, but such relationships fail due to imbalances in vertical and horizontal relationships, fiscal dependency, and the bureaucracy's power-seeking attitude. In the end, two key questions for the discussions are raised. First, the institutionalization of accountability at the local level is it a true commitment, or is it merely an ivory tower? Second, the provision of autonomy has been used as a means of transformation or simply as a bargaining tool at the local level?

Translanguaging Knowledge Remotely: the Analysis of an Academic Webinar

This paper explores how academic webinars are translanguaged by drawing on the sort of linguistic strategies and techniques implicated in these webinars. The research, therefore, poses two key questions relevant to how knowledge is communicated and what strategies are used in this communication. The main hypothesis of the research maintains that academic webinars communicate knowledge from a single professional presenter to many knowledge-receiving attendees, based on a presupposed view that presenters and moderators in webinars adhere to certain linguistic and conversational moves. To explore how academic webinars proceed and what they imply, a single academic webinar is randomly sampled for analysis. First, academic webinars are analyzed, key terms defined, and some previous literature on the topic overviewed. Then, the sampled webinar is administered for analysis (gathering, transcription, analysis), and a discourse-conversational model of analysis is applied. The author concludes that webinars are knowledge-specific and highly professional in their character, and they manifest certain linguistic and discourse strategies. The research also reveals that webinars feature such strategies as reformulation, mono-versation, on-screen sharing, speaker invisibility, indirect engagement, inactive moderation, and graphic interaction. Further recommendations suggest a more linguistic investigation into online learning, whether in webinars, online workshops, massive open online courses, or in any virtual learning practices.

Japan and Foreign Territory Strike: Debate, Deterrence, and Defense Strength

The increased frequency of debate in Japan over foreign territory strike points to it being officially affirmed as a Japanese Self-Defense Force (SDF) mission in the near future. This article explores the foreign territory strike debate through the lens of the four key questions that have structured the post-war debate on all new overseas SDF operations: is it constitutional?; is it (militarily) plausible?; is it (strategically) wise?; and, is it (politically) acceptable? After discussing the contours of the Japanese post-war legal and policy debate on the use of force in foreign territory, the article describes contemporary doubts over the tactical effectiveness and strategic opportunity cost of configuring the SDF to conduct overseas strike operations—especially for missile defense purposes. Foreign territory strike would divert scarce fiscal resources and political attention from adaptations that enhance the US-Japan alliance’s posture resilience and enable it to sustainably generate force even after an initial attack, thereby augmenting regional deterrence. The article concludes by noting that political barriers could also still prevent the mission from being substantively and credibly implemented. Acrimonious domestic debate on foreign territory strike could also hamstring government attempts to attract public buy-in for future defense transformation in areas of greater priority and that add more to deterrence than the acquisition of modest strike capabilities.

Justification and Doubt (1919)

This chapter addresses the first of the book’s key questions concerning the justification of the doubter: How did Tillich land theologically after the war? This chapter therefore creates a point of reference against which Tillich’s development can be measured. There is a detailed account of Rechtfertigung und Zweifel from 1919, occasionally drawing out contrasts and continuity with the publication of the same title from 1924. Tillich frames the theme as a quest to overcome the division between religious and cultural life, finding unity in one theological principle derived from the doctrine of justification: The principle takes up doubt into itself in believing affirmation of the absolute paradox, i.e. to affirm that doubt does not preclude standing in the truth. In long excursions on certainty and the critique of apologetics as ‘intellectual work’ analogous to works-righteousness, Tillich contrasts his position with Karl Heim (1874–1958) in particular. Against Heim, Tillich insists the doubter should be left with his good truth-conscience since we relate truly to God ‘through unending doubt’.

Introduction

This introductory chapter lays out the key questions of the book. It explains the background assumptions at play and the key philosophical commitments supporting the different arguments in the book. This chapter also explains the key arguments of the following chapters and how they come together to support a partial theory of immigrations that avoids both open borders and complete control of immigration on the part of states. It also explains how the theoretical framework defended in the first part of the book affects the applied questions pursued in the second part of the book, such as the ethics of asylum, family migration schemes, the brain drain, and immigration enforcement.

Conclusions

This chapter summarizes the empirical findings presented in the book, revisiting the theoretical framework developed throughout the book for understanding democracy’s contemporary crisis by focusing on popular conceptions of democracy. The chapter highlights the book’s theoretical and empirical contributions to pertinent literature regarding the key questions: Why is it that democracy, despite its documented popularity in societies around the world and supremacy in contemporary political discourse, appears to be in trouble. After reviewing the research findings presented in the book, the chapter draws some conclusions and presents some suggestions for future research.