The fall of a village in the 1948 war: a historical close-up of the conquest of Mi’ilya and its surrender

The present paper attempts to take a close look at the events surrounding the conquest of the Palestinian village of Mi’ilya in the 1948 war based on Hebrew-language documents in the Israel Defense Forces archive and interviews conducted in Arabic with elderly people living in Mi’ilya. Its aim is to explore how these two types of sources and the distinct cultures of remembrance which they represent may be combined to produce a new historical canvas, affording a broader and deeper picture than could be achieved based on the Israeli archive alone or on Palestinian memories alone. Our main concern has been to reconstruct the past, a task that has become particularly urgent as regards oral memories of the war. At the same time we seek to show how present-day cares weigh on our recollections of the past and affect their form.     

Russian politics in a time of uncertainty∗

It is not only the vitality of the incumbent political regime but the very basis of the democratic system in Russia that has been tested by the recent economic crisis, argues Sergei Smolnikov, Visiting Professor at the National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies, Tokyo. So far, the regime has reacted to the situation by recruiting the old nomenklatura to manage the country. Since it is forced to maneuver in a political and economic environment that is qualitatively different from the Soviet era, the nomenklatura might eventually attempt to reconstruct this environment. Smolnikov highlights a growing disparity between the major structural elements of the regime's foreign policy. If exacerbated, this trend could lead to a deterioration of Russia's relations with the West, and might eventually make Russia an international outcast. Strategically, this situation is dangerous not only for the future of democracy in Russia but also for international security. To ensure democracy in Russia remains vibrant, the West should not reduce its commitment to engage Russia by economic and political means.     

Allegories of Venice: Singapore’s Vague Concept of a Global City

This paper argues that although the state elites of Singapore use “Venice” as an image to legitimate the People’s Action Party’s continuous rule and unpopular immigration policies, the image has both empowered and constrained the state. To the state, Venice serves as a keyword that conjures up dynamism, progress, and continuity; to its critics, however, Venice signals the state’s willingness to focus on the intangible elements of nationhood, namely culture and the arts. These critics use the ambiguities of the Venice rhetoric to legitimate their own appeals for change, especially after discovering that the “shared vision” of Venice is mainly in economic terms. By so doing, detractors of the state contest the centrality of economics in the making of modern—and future—Singapore, rendering the use of “Venice” as an image to promote the concept of a Global City problematic.     

The ambivalent Apostle of 1953: a liminal reading of the centenary of José Martí

This article has common Cuban motifs at its core: the prevalent obsession with the notion of collective identity, the ideological and psychological importance of national anniversaries, and the omnipresence of the archetypal patriot José Martí. It approaches all from a particular theoretical perspective, however, and thus presents a new reading of the so-called ideario martiano and of the Cuban “national narrative” at a critical moment of the island’s historical trajectory: 1953, the centenary of Martí’s birth. Taking its lead from cultural anthropology (and particularly from the work of Victor Turner), this article presents the half-century since independence in 1902 as a post-colonial “rite of passage” punctuated by a series of turning points, or “limens,” within which the sense of national identity was exposed to sustained scrutiny by public intellectuals and activists. The article provides evidence of such intense collective introspection in 1953 when commemorations of Martí’s centenary stimulated a re-examination of the Republic in the light of his luminous example. Importantly, this turning point is also exposed as a battleground on which antagonistic interpretations of martiano heroism, Republican history, and national identity faced each other in exegetical strife.     

Europeanization as a Democratization Tool? The Case of Morocco

This paper applies the Europeanization ‘toolkit’ to EU democratization policies in Morocco within the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) framework. To this aim, the bottom-up and top-down dimensions of EU?Morocco relations are analysed diachronically both before and after the Arab Spring. The analysis shows that the Moroccan ruling elite has used the anchor to the EU as a survival strategy and that the EU has merely responded to Moroccan political liberalization rather than having influenced it. Therefore, the paper debates the extent to which the very notion of Europeanization might be used with respect to democratization policies in Morocco, and it shows an overturning of the sender?receiver relationship proving that Europeanization has been used instrumentally rather than having any autonomous supportive effect on democratization.     

Latin America in a time of global financial turmoil∗

Following the financial turmoil in Asia and Russia, Latin America has suffered dramatic setbacks, including major economic slowdown, threats to democratization, and worsening social conditions. For the medium term, neither prosperity nor political stability are assured, says Abraham F. Lowenthal, founding president of the Pacific Council on International Policy at the University of Southern California, Los Angeles. Lowenthal identifies three positive shifts that have occurred in the region over the past few years: a convergence among economic policymakers on the main tenets of sound policy; an even more widespread embrace of constitutional democracy as an ideal; and a growing disposition on the part of Latin American nations toward pragmatic cooperation with each other and with the industrialized countries, including the United States.     

“Seoul will become a sea of fire…”

Abstract

Seoul, 19 March 1994: People watching the evening news are terrified. The network stations repeatedly show Park Yong Soo, the North Korean representative at the eighth working-level meeting between North and South Korea at Panmunjom, retorting angrily to Song Yong Dae, his South Korean counterpart. “Seoul is not far from here,” he declares, “If there is a war, it will become a sea of fire.” The next day disturbing headlines splash across the morning and evening newspapers: “Seoul will become a sea of fire.”     

The de Bunsen Committee and a revision of the ‘conspiracy’ of Sykes–Picot

The Sykes–Picot The Sykes-Picot Agreement is often cited as evidence of a Western conspiracy to carve up the Middle East and subordinate the Arabs. It is a prevalent view across the region, and has been a refrain repeated by critics. Yet very little is known of the far more significant conclusions of a Committee, formed by Maurice de Bunsen on the orders of the British government, which ascertained the options open to the Allies in 1915. Far from a nefarious conspiracy, the Committee came down in favour of a decentralised, ultimately independent region. The First World War compelled some revision of the original intent, but the essence of the Committee's conclusions remained intact throughout the war, and after. Conversely, Sir Mark Sykes repudiated the ‘agreement’ he had made with the French diplomat Picot, and substantial revisions were made to that temporary scheme. Yet it seems that ‘conspiracy sells’, and generations have colluded with the theme of perfidy to reinforce particular narratives, including, most recently, the Da´esh movement's claim to have ‘ended Sykes-Picot’.     

Aid ‐ a seriously flawed concept: The case of Zimbabwe

From near self‐sufficiency at independence in 1980, Zimbabwe is now suffering from the repercussions of an addiction to aid that is leaving the country increasingly debilitated and dependent.     

Study Abroad Beyond the Usual ‘Imagineering’? The Benefits of a Pedagogy of Imaginaries

This paper problematizes the imagineering of study abroad, especially in terms of set objectives and learning outcomes. The authors propose a shift away from a ‘pure’ cultural and intercultural preparation of mobile students, which tends to ignore the fact that unrealistic expectations and preconceived ideas about study abroad can be as much of a hindrance as e.g. ‘culture shock’. The concept of imaginaries is used to prepare international students, some from Asian countries, to reflect on, discuss and ‘reform’ their perceptions of study abroad. Imaginaries, which are constitutive of human beings living in groups, are of course necessary components of the study abroad experience. The results show that the students are able to deconstruct critically their own as well as others’ doxic discourses on the characteristics of study abroad. Yet at the same time, as one should expect, the students develop new imaginaries on mobility. We argue that by allowing them to develop more counter-narratives about study abroad—and thus multiplying imaginaries—the students can feel more apt to face the complexities and contradictions of the study abroad experience.     

The delegations: Preliminary sketch of a semi‐parliamentary institution

Summary

The introduction of glasnost heralded a revival of interest in the last years of tsarism and the period of semi‐constitutional monarchy from 1905–1917. The October Manifesto of 1905 was the first time a Russian autocrat had devolved any part of his unlimited and autocratic powers to an elected assembly. The Duma, which met for the first time in April 1906, was a parliament, but it had limited powers and the Tsar still referred to himself as an autocrat.

During the period between the summer of 1905 and the Duma opening there was a considerable debate in Russian intellectual and political circles as to the form the new body should take and what its powers should be. This paper is primarily concerned to discuss this debate and the differing concepts of the role of the Duma. It examines the historical precedents in Russian history for the idea of such a body and looks at the ideas put forward as to the nature of the new parliament by different political groups. It concentrates on the various branches of the liberal movement but also considers briefly the attitudes taken by the socialists and within government circles.     

The Eurasian Economic Union: a case of reproductive integration?

The Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) appeared in January 2015 as the latest and most ambitious attempt at reconnecting the post-Soviet space. Building on the Customs Union between Belarus, Russia, and Kazakhstan (2010), and successfully extending membership to Armenia and Kyrgyzstan (2015), the EAEU not only connects a market of over 182 million people, but has the stated aim of utilizing European Union experience to achieve deep integration in a fraction of the time. Based on original fieldwork conducted in Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Russia, this article examines the kind of integration project currently under construction, as well as the EAEU’s ability to make a significant impact in the region. As argued, despite early achievements, the EAEU is very much limited to reproducing sovereignty rather than transforming it, marking a clear disconnect between rhetoric and reality. Moreover, when viewed from the perspective of the three “I”s – institutions, identity, and international context – even this modest reality faces significant barriers.     

Establishing a Social-Darwinist Mentality in Japan’s Paternalist State: The Potential of Resistance by a Counter-Public

ABSTRACT

From a historical perspective, the welfare net in Japan was established from above without democratic participation and expanded only slowly. This expansion in many cases was aimed at enhancing national cohesion, especially during war time. During the current neoliberal era, Japan’s paternalistic welfare state has been able to put into practice the dismantling of national pension and health-care systems without the need for any theoretical re-orientation. In response, counter-publics have engaged in protest and resistance. By doing so, the victims of modernization and those who are socially weak and disadvantaged in multiple ways are able to regain their self-esteem and personal integrity.     

‘Europeanization’ as a legitimation strategy of political parties: the cases of Ukraine and Georgia

This article’s objective is to critically assess the top-down rational choice and sociological approaches to Europeanization, while advocating the ‘usages of Europe’ approach. I argue that both classic top-down perspectives do not adequately grasp the nature of Europeanization of political parties beyond member and candidate countries. Empirically, the analysis focuses on transnational cooperation of political parties from Ukraine and Georgia and stresses agency of domestic partisan actors seeking international and domestic legitimacy. It is argued that European party federations and parliamentary cooperation formats should not only be seen as channels of top-down Europeanization, but they should rather be conceptualized as resources that are used strategically by domestic political parties. Thus the article deals with the following question: To what extent and how channels of Europeanization have been used by national political parties from outside the European Union as resources serving to attain partisan goals, both in terms of domestic positioning and international legitimacy? Patterns of strategic and legitimating usage of European partisan and parliamentary resources depend on whether parties in question are in power or in opposition and whether they are more pro-European or more pro-Russian.     

A proper study of the discourse on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict? Methodological implications of a large-scale study of the first Gaza war

Drawing on a large-scale study examining the British broadsheets’ coverage of the first Gaza war, this paper proposes some methodological considerations for analyzing the particularly emotive discourse on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, and suggests a reflective multi-methodological approach to account for both the complexities and the intensities of the conflict. The paper starts by arguing that, working with a large data-set, quantitative data are both required and required to be interpreted by acts of contextualisation. Two strategies of contextualization are then introduced: interpreting patterns and associations in the numerical data. Following this, the paper continues by examining the findings and dilemmas that have emerged from quantitative analysis, using qualitative analysis of editorial extracts. It therefore shows examples for how quantitative codes can be built into and built up by narratives and arguments. Doing this, it also demonstrates possible ways of connecting qualitative to quantitative research: explanation, extension, and transformation/subversion.     

The cordial maid: representations of servants in Brazilian adaptations of Eça de Queirós

ABSTRACT

This article considers the ways in which recent Brazilian film and television adaptations of the works of Eça de Queirós portray relationships between servants and their employers. I argue that the adaptations exaggerate certain connections and forge altogether new ones in order to create or emphasise a sense of kinship between people of different social strata.

This newfound familiarity between employer and employee, in relationships that recall Gilberto Freyre’s and Sérgio Buarque de Holanda’s theorisation on Brazilian society, breaks some of the fixed hierarchies presented in Eça’s work. Such a change, paradoxically, grants working-class characters much more air time than their original creator would have envisioned, while at the same time emptying the social commentary that derived from the rigid power structures found in the novels. In this context, this article argues that the blurring of class lines in these films and series is quintessentially Brazilian in its use of emotional connection to mask oppression and create a false sense of equality.     

Public councils in Kazakhstan: a case of emergent participative democracy?

As Kazakhstan aims to become one of the top 30 developed countries by 2050, it is increasingly turning to ways which will improve its governance, one of which is greater participation by its citizens in the decision-making processes of state agencies. A new initiative aimed at doing just that, the establishment of public councils, received legal backing in January 2016. The aim of public councils is to ‘strengthen democracy and the quality and responsiveness of public polices’ through the ‘public expression of matters of concern to Kazakh citizens’. This article offers a formative evaluation of the role performed by public councils and questions the extent to which they have achieved this aim. It draws on primary data from public officials, non-governmental organizations, ministries, and non-participant observation of public councils in Kazakhstan. It finds limited evidence of their effectiveness to date.     

Islamist radicalism in the provinces of Iran 1906–9: a stage in the development of Islamism

Islamist radicalism emerged in the Iranian Constitutional Revolution of 1906–9. This article examines the early stages of its emergence with particular reference to the provinces of Iran. It looks at the subject thematically and traces the development of an Islamist notion of the state, characterized by Islamic law, and the shaping of new views on nationalism, absolutism and the economy. Increasingly politicized ordinary people also influenced ideological change. The article begins by establishing the background and influence of individuals and groups who played a leading role in developing an Islamist radical political perspective and identity. It then discusses their vision for an alternative state in terms of the authority to govern, its institutions and its laws and considers their methods of organization and propagation to oppose the existing system, and their attempts to change it. Since the article is intended primarily for those interested in the history of Islamism, it ends by evaluating the stage it had reached in 1909.