The legal notion of nationality in the Turkish Republic: from Ottoman legacy to modern aberrations

Shortly after its emergence, the Turkish Republic adopted legislation inspired by European legal systems and traditions, including a law on nationality. The implementation of this law was affected by the staunchly nationalistic early republican policies which were not immune from the influence of the concept of ‘race’, as well as by the Ottoman legal conceptions on nationality based on religion, both of which guided the application of the new laws by the judiciary and the administration. This article proposes a critical legal approach to the issue of Turkish nationality, based on historical reflections. After a survey on the laws on nationality since the foundation of the Republic, it addresses the major confusions in connection with the concept of nationality in the light of textbooks from the relevant period, in order to observe, in conclusion, inherent and insolvable inconsistencies within the law, and a tenacious survival of Ottoman conceptions within the current law on nationality, especially with regard to religious minorities, which are assimilated to dhimmis in the legal subconscious and often equated to foreigners in practice.     

On the front and at home: women in the modern Ottoman epic

Changes in gender roles are related to larger developments in the spheres of social modernization and discipline. As Ottoman society evolved into a nation through the nineteenth century, women's roles in contemporary epic literature were reassigned to domestic life, showing them protecting the hinterland and nurturing younger generations in order to satisfy the state's growing need for manpower. Gradually, Ottoman women lost whatever autonomy they may have had over their bodies, and their status vis-à-vis the state was redefined. This article examines the female characters in modern Ottoman epic literature so as to explore the reflections in this literature of the social and political transformations that occurred during the last quarter of the nineteenth century. It aims to reveal the ways in which heroic female figures created before or at the beginning of the autocratic reign of Abdülhamid II (r. 1876–1909) changed into domestic characters as the social skeleton of the regime became apparent.     

Cultural mobilization in post-Soviet Kazakhstan: views from the state and from non-titular nationalities compared

This article examines the way the cultural revival in post-Soviet Kazakhstan is perceived by both the state and militants from non-titular nationalities. Based on ethnographic material, the author analyses state engineering of cultural diversity and the strategies elaborated by militants of Tatar cultural associations to manage the status quo, as well as the preservation of ‘cultural intimacy’. The study points to convergences between the state discourse about inter-ethnic concord and the practices of cultural national militants. It also shows that behind this apparent status quo, the cultural sphere has become the arena where the issue of the recognition of full-fledged citizenship and the legitimacy to reside in Kazakhstan is raised and disputed by non-Kazakh groups, albeit implicitly.     

Population changes in the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region (1949-1984)

Population developments in the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region of China from 1948 to 1984 are analyzed. Comparisons are made with China as a whole to illustrate the region's unique demographic characteristics. Large-scale migration from elsewhere in China has affected the region's spatial distribution, ethnic composition, and urbanization levels. The author also notes differences in demographic trends among the region's minority nationalities.     

Ethnic relations in the People’s Republic of China: Images and social distance between Han Chinese and minority and foreign nationalities

Han people make up 93 percent of the Chinese population, but little is known in a systematic way about how they view Chinese minority nationalities or foreign peoples. This is a social scientific study of the images that Han Chinese have of nine Chinese ethnic groups and eight foreign nationalities, as well as the social distance they feel from those groups. Based on a survey of 169 Tianjin university students, it employs the Bogardus Social Distance Scale and an adjectival test. It finds that Han Chinese feel affinity for some groups, such as Overseas Chinese, Uygurs, and Americans, while they feel extreme distance from and repulsion toward others, such as Tibetans and Africans. Her book,China’s Only Child: The Family and the School, is forthcoming from the University of Wisconsin Press.     

Ideas and ideals of modern Islam

With Partition and the rise of various different nationalisms there came the need to find a new name for what used to be called “British India”. A framework for co-operation between the new countries was also needed. Initially regionalism was fashionable. But the regional organisation, SAARC, embodied cooperation between all the nation-states of the region, a veritable lowest common denominator rather than an additional layer of an inclusive regional identity for all the citizenry. The increasing use of “Southasia” is based on a recognition that even though India looms large, the region contains other countries with sizeable populations in a global context. But flesh must be put on the bones of the concept. The key is sub-regional commercial cooperation between viable units. There are many opportunities for cross-border economic activity, but what is needed is a porous border like the India/Nepal border, not a militarised border like the India /Pakistan border. Connectivity and bilateral free trade agreements will bring results and the Indian state of Punjab and the Pakistani province of Punjab are perhaps best placed to give an example of cooperation.     

The petition in the Court of Session in early modern Scotland

ABSTRACT

Petitions to Scotland’s central civil court, the Court of Session, contained common features of style despite being presented for a wide range of purposes. As well as being employed in the course of procedure in a number of litigated cases, the petition was used to obtain entry to an office, or in seeking an equitable remedy which might relieve imminent suffering. In many cases they offer detailed narratives about everyday life, commerce, politics and religion which preserve a great deal that may be of value to the legal and social historian. Some petitioners, such as the poor and vulnerable, enjoyed a privileged status entitling them to have their claims heard summarily. A number of petitions, written by lawyers in order to persuade, contain ideas about liberty, justice and reason reflecting the fact that they were addressed to a court of both law and equity. This contribution identifies the features of such petitions, attempts to classify them, and considers their wider historical significance.