The British Empire in India,the Gulf pearl and the making of the Middle East

Abstract

Genealogies of the term ‘Middle East’ conventionally focus on a juncture around the 1890s, when it gained new geopolitical currency, promoted by various European and American officials with reference to a space centred around the Arabo-Persian Gulf. This article argues instead that the ‘Middle East’ label should be seen as the culmination of a longer process, led less from London than from India. Over the previous century, this consolidation of ‘British’ India as a distinct regional actor was accompanied by the conceptualisation of its borderlands, including that Gulf-centred space. This space become a theatre for economic and political monitoring strategised from India, seeking to transform what was represented as a pirate-infested margin into a pacified buffer zone. Control and exploitation of pearl fisheries, the main economic activity for Gulf populations, was central to these efforts. Imperial strategy around the Gulf pearl was a key tool in founding an informal Indian empire in the Gulf and its hinterlands, in that very space to which the name ‘Middle East’ would subsequently be given.     

Turkish secularism and Islam under the reign of Erdoğan

ABSTRACT

This article introduces a collection of articles that explore the role of religion (Sunni Islam) in the transformation of Turkey under the reign of President Recep Tayyip Erdo?an and his Justice and Development Party (Adalet ve Kalk?nma Partisi, AKP). This special issue argues that the Turkish understanding of secularism was also one of the building blocks or/and constitutive elements of Turkey’s modernisation until the rise of the AKP. Currently, however, it seems that religion has become a new or re-born element of the new Turkey and has been transforming many areas such as: the media, the Kurdish issue, implementation of the rule of law, foreign policy and gender issues. This special issue aims to scrutinise the question: how does a religion-based transformation in Turkey influence the raison d’etat of the state?     

An Ever-Shadowed Past? Citizens’ Attitudes towards the Dictatorship in Twenty-First Century Portugal

Abstract

Several years after the transition to democracy, positive attitudes towards the authoritarian past are still observable in Portugal: the belief that the previous regime had more good things than bad things is expressed by about one-fifth of the Portuguese. What explains this nostalgic sentiment? Are factors such as socialisation under the regime, party identification or religiosity more important than satisfaction with democracy and the state of the economy? The empirical analysis suggests that the relevance of these factors varies considerably, but socialisation phases lead to different stances on the past both in routine times and in times of economic crisis.     

Lessons from Ugandan indigenous knowledge systems regarding the management of HIV and AIDS

Abstract

Health is one of the major challenges facing Africa today. Solutions need to come from within and outside Africa, drawing from Africa's indigenous knowledge systems. This article describes the life cycles of malaria, tuberculosis and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) and presents some strategies for the control and prevention of these diseases that are lessons and experiences from African countries.     

Citizenship status and social exclusion in Estonia and Latvia

Abstract

Findings from the Norbalt living conditions surveys in Estonia and Latvia are used to examine whether persons without Estonian and Latvian citizenship are at greater risk of social exclusion than citizens in these two countries. the level of integration into the labor market, participation in civil society and political life, degree of social isolation, and the level of economic resources among the two groups are analyzed. In Estonia non-citizens are more at risk of social exclusion compared to Estonian citizens, while in Latvia one finds no statistically significant difference between the groups. In both countries educational level is much more important than citizenship status in explaining social exclusion.     

Arrested development? Sub-Saharan Africa in the stratified world economy 1965–2015

ABSTRACT

The central concern of this paper is with Sub-Saharan Africa's (SSA) standing in the stratified world economy. Country standings are determined for the period 1965 through 2015, based on the Arrighi and Drangel method of calculating world-system position. We find that the region as a whole remained in the bottom of the global economic hierarchy and was particularly sensitive to macroeconomic-historical changes and pressures. Of note too is the clear link between the SSA countries that are performing well in the semiperiphery of the global economic hierarchy and those with a concentration of natural resources.     

Africa and its Diaspora: The principal reciprocal benefits to be derived from the amended Constitutive Act of the African Union

Abstract

Under article 3(q) (Objectives) of the Protocol on Amendments to the Constitutive Act of the African Union, we read the following: ‘invite and encourage the full participation of the African Diaspora as an important part of our continent, in building the African Union (AU)’. According to the AU, ‘The African Diaspora are peoples of African descent and heritage outside the continent, irrespective of their citizenship and who remain committed to contribute to the development of the continent and the building of the African Union’. Not only is this posture entirely consistent with the African development agenda and Renaissance, but it is also congruent with the recent and first-ever AU African Diaspora Summit which was convened on Friday, 25 May 2012, at the Sandton Convention Centre, Johannesburg. This is so because the Summit provided us with an excellent opportunity to continue to reflect on, and engage with, issues relevant to the development of the continent and, by extension, its multilingual and globally dispersed Diaspora. In this public lecture, it is argued that the current Amendment to the Constitutive Act of the AU in which the African Diaspora is now considered the sixth Region of the AU – an Amendment which has not yet been ratified by the requisite number of African states and one which might still be in need of some degree of disambiguation – provides the framework within which some fundamental and reciprocal benefits can be derived from an ongoing interaction between Africa and its Diaspora – especially its Older or Historic Diaspora. In essence, it is my contention that the principal reciprocal benefits that can accrue from this interaction between Africa and its Diaspora might best be captured in the language of pan-Africanisation and re-Africanisation respectively.     

Estonia in the 1990s

Abstract

As Estonia nears its second decade of restored independence, it seems appropriate to offer an overview and assessment of developments during the 1990s.¹ The time perspective is now sufficient to justify such an exercise, and although numerous specific ­­ and often very valuable ­­ studies of various aspects of the transition in Estonia have been published in recent years, they typically remain focused on only part of the overall picture. After a brief look at the process by which an independent Estonia was reestablished in 1991, this article provides a summary analysis of the main trends in domestic politics, foreign policy, economic development, population shifts and society, and culture during the decade of the 1990s. The emphasis is on the political sphere, but all major aspects of Estonia's post-communist evolution are covered.     

Allocating Campaign Effort in Spain: Evidence from Four General Elections

Abstract

This paper analyses which districts are targeted by Spanish political parties in their electoral campaigns. We find that the major Spanish parties - PP and PSOE - mobilise districts where they are more likely to win a new seat or are in danger of losing one they already hold. The predicted closeness of the district race is more relevant in the smallest districts. We also find that Spanish parties mobilise their strongholds. We suggest that, apart from the pure office-seeking strategies, political finance motivations might also play a role in the mobilisation choices made by Spanish party elites.     

The dams of Northern Sudan and the policy of demographic engineering

ABSTRACT

This article discusses the deteriorating situation in Northern Sudan linked to policies of demographic engineering, embedded in plans for the further construction of dams along the Nile River in the North by the Government of Sudan. Although the generation of power and agricultural irrigation are the declared purpose of the dams, the fact is, these dams will, as past dam constructions have, cause a massive displacement of the Nubian, Manasir and Amri-Hamdab people far from their ancestral lands. With the collaboration of the Egyptian government the areas vacated will be repopulated with Egyptian peasants, as part of both governments’ plan to alter the demographics of North Sudan.     

State fragility in Africa: Methods chasing problems or problems chasing methods in political discourse?

Abstract

The article critiques the inadequacy of the conceptions and definitions of state fragility, failure and weakness in Africa. The dominant accounts of state failure, weakness and fragility tend to look at the superficial appearance and not at the multi-causal economic, political and discursive foundations of an African state. The article argues that a deeper and alternative discourse about state failure, fragility and weakness in Africa needs to address the basic question of what the character and nature of the African state are. The article broaches this question by analysing the conceptions of state failure, fragility and weakness, and then provides a comprehensive account of the character and nature of post-colonial states in Africa. The intention here is to show that the form and content of post-colonial states in Africa have been a contested and inadequately theorised phenomenon for many years.     

Post-socialist China: Labour relations in Korean-managed factories

Abstract

How are labour relations practiced in Korean-managed factories in China? It is often said that labour relations in Korean transnational factories are abusive, even despotic. In this article, I argue that the disciplinary nature of labour relations in Korean factories in China is more complex and so multi-dimensional that they cannot be characterised as a simple economic matter of labour exploitation. These relations entail hierarchical segregation, normalising workers' behaviour through fines and salary reductions, personal degradation and dissimilar cultural practices.     

The need to improve the living conditions of women in Nuba Mountains,Southern Kordofan

ABSTRACT

The Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) not only ended Africa's longest civil war, it aimed to transform Sudanese society. A critical element of this transformation is uplifting the status of women. This article surveys the conditions faced by women in two villages in Nuba Mountains/Southern Kordofan, principally their ability to access land for farming, credit facilities and barriers to education and health services, and whether the implementation of the CPA has resulted in any concrete changes.     

Our Common Future in the Arctic Ocean

Abstract

Environmental state-change in the Arctic Ocean is introducing risks of political, economic and cultural instability. Interests are awakening to take advantage of new energy, shipping, fishing and tourism opportunities associated with the diminishing sea-ice. With urgency–building on the common arctic issues of sustainable development and environmental protection—environmental security offers an holistic context to address the risks and opportunities within law of the sea, as the international legal framework to preserve peace and stability in the Arctic Ocean.     

The Baltic area in east European studies at American universities

Summary

Work in the Baltic area is not easy and will not become so in the near future for the following reasons:

• 1. One has to command a number of languages.

• 2. The number of scholars interested in the Baltic is not great, and they are widely dispersed. Hence, cooperation is impeded.

• 3. A student or scholar must become a Baltic specialist in terms of some other academic discipline.

• 4. Materials needed for studying the Baltic at a distance are scarce and dispersed. Even the best library holdings are not extensive, and existing collections are all too often not catalogued.

There are, however, positive aspects:

• 1. One can go to the area for short-term visits with an idea of gaining insight into the locality and establishing personal contacts with resident scholars.

• 2. Funds, while not ample, are no more restricted than in other academic enterprises. In some respects, money is the most available resource.

     

Farmers and farming in Ladakh (Tibetan Kashmir)

The War Against Japan—I. Editor Major Gen. S. Woodburn Kirby with Colonels J. F. Meiklejohn and G. T. Wards, Captain Addis, R.N., and Air Vice‐Marshal N. L. Desoer. H.M. Stationery Office. 1957. Pp. 568 and xxii; illustrations, index, 28 maps and sketches. 9¾” × 6¾”. 55s.

The History of the World Conqueror. By Ata‐Malik Juvaini. Translated by John Andrew Boyle, Ph.D. Published in two volumes by Manchester University Press. 63s. Published by University of Manchester in agreement between U.N.E.S.C.O. and the University of Tehran.

Bolshevism in Turkestan, 1917–1927. By Alexander G. Park. Columbia University Press, New York, 1957. Pp. xiv+428, index, bibliography. 55s.

Jawaharlal Nehru. By Frank Moraes. New York: Macmillan and Co. Pp. 510; illustrations, index, bibliography, maps. $6.75.

The Evolution of India. By Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit. Oxford University Press, London. 1958. Foreword by G. P. Gilmour, of the McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario. Pp. 46. 6s.

The Strongholds of India. By Sidney Toy, F.S.A., F.R.I.B.A. Heinemann. 1957. Pp. 133; index, 150 illustrations, maps. 30s. net.

Islam in Modern History. By Wilfred Cantwell Smith. 1957. Princeton University Press. Oxford University Press. Pp. x +317 and index. 40s.

Lebanon in History from the Earliest Times to the Present. By Philip K. Hitti. London, Macmillan, 1957. Pp. 548. Ill., index, maps. 42s.

Expédition en Arable Centrale. By Phillipe Lippens. Preface by H. St. J. B. Philby, C.I.E. Pp. 210+xi; 44 photographs (of which 5 are in colour), map, index. Librarie d'Amerique et d'Orient. Adrien‐Maisonneuve, 11, Rue Saint‐Sulpice, Paris VIe. 1956. 32s. 6d.

The Market of Seleukia. By James Morris. Faber. Pp. 337; illustrations, index, maps. 25s.

Forty Years in the Wilderness. By H. St. John B. Philby. Robert Hale. 1957. Pp. 272. 111. Index. 30s.

My Arabian Days and Nights. By Dr. Eleanor Calverley, M.D. Published by Crowell, New York. Pp. 182. Price $2#lb95.

Bureaucracy and Society in Modern Egypt. A Study of the Higher Civil Service. By Morroe Berger. Princeton Oriental Studies: Social Science No. 1. Princeton University Press, Oxford University Press. 1957. Pp. 231. 38s.

The Embassy of Sir William White at Constantinople, 1886–1891. By Colin L. Smith. Oxford University Press. 1957. Pp. 181; index, bibliography. 25s.

The Young Turks: Prelude to the Revolution of 1908. By Ernest Edmundson Ramsaur, Jr. Princeton University Press. 1957. Pp. xii + 180. Index and Bibliography.

A Short History of the Chinese People. (Revised Edition). By L. Carrington Goodrich. Published by Geo. Allen and Unwin. 1957. Pp. 288; illustrations, maps, index, bibliography. 25s.

Ta T'ung Shu. The One‐World Philosophy of K'ang Yu‐Wei. Translated from the Chinese with Introduction and Notes by Laurence G. Thompson. George Allen and Unwin. 1958. Pp. 300; bibliography, index. 35s.

Chiang Kai Shek. A Summing up at Seventy, Soviet Russia in China. Geo. Harrap and Co., Ltd. Pp. 392. Index. 30s.

In the Shadow of the Dragon. By Peter Schmid. Published by Weidenfeld and Nicolson. Pp. 288. Ill., map. 25s.

The Politics of Israel. The First Decade of Statehood. By Marver H. Bernstein. Princeton University Press. 1957. Pp. 360.

Digging up Jericho. Ernest Benn. 1957. Kathleen Kenyon. Pp. 267. Ill., plans. 30s.

Studies in Economic Development (with special reference to conditions ih the under‐developed areas of Western Asia and India). By A. Bonné. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul. 1957. Pp. 294; including appendices and index. 32s.

The Rise of Modern Asia. By Ian Thomson. John Murray. 1957. Pp. 265; illustrations, index, maps. 18s.

Scripta Hierosolymitana. Vol. III. Studies in Economics and Social Sciences. Edited by R. Bacchi. Magnes Press, The Hebrew University. Pp. 396.

Brief Authority. By Edwin F. Stanton. Published by Robert Hale. Pp. 290; map, index. 18s.

True Account. By Ernest W. D. Tennant. Published by Max Parrish. Pp. 256. Index. 21s.

Up and Down Asia. By George N. Patterson. Published by Faber and Faber. 150 pp. 16s.     

Drivers of China’s Regional Infrastructure Diplomacy: The Case of the Sino-Thai Railway Project

ABSTRACT

The land-based Silk Road Economic Belt, as a part of China’s Belt and Road Initiative, has become central for the country’s economic diplomacy since 2013. As part of these initiatives, Chinese authorities have been keen to expand their high-speed railways across the country’s border into neighbouring countries. Thailand has been one of the front-runners in negotiating high-speed railway projects with China. This article seeks to answer the following questions: what are the driving forces behind the land-based Silk Road Belt; what are the rationales behind the Sino-Thai rail project; and how can the process and outcome of Sino-Thai negotiations be understood? These questions reflect on whether we are witnessing Chinese economic diplomacy to advance commercial and wider economic goals or Chinese economic statecraft to serve foreign policy objectives. Overall, after examining the evidence, the article argues that Silk Road Economic Belt diplomacy and the Sino-Thai rail project are driven predominantly by economic motivations.     

Institutional reform and political party engagement: Challenges to democratic transformation in post-CPA Sudan

ABSTRACT

This article looks at the role of institutions and political parties as main agents of the democratisation process in the Sudan, following the signing the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA). A review of the historic weaknesses of intermittent democratic rule in the Sudan, since its independence in 1956 and through to the signing of the CPA, is offered. Those elements of the CPA critical to institutional reform and democratisation are identified and their implementation assessed, including the results of the CPA-mandated elections held in April 2010. The four principal political parties and their capacities to contribute to democratic transformation are analysed.     

Young Turk Governance in the Ottoman Empire during the First World War

Abstract

The article analyses the system of government of the Ottoman Empire during the First World War by looking at three elements: the constitutional-parliamentarian monarchy, the Committee of Union and Progress and the army. The analysis takes place along two axes: one in which the functioning of, and the power relations between, the different institutional elements are analysed, and one based on a series of case studies of important decision-making moments of the years 1914–18.

The civil-military relations as they developed during the war years are studies in a comparative framework. The Ottoman situation is analysed against the backdrop of changes in the balance of power between military and civilian authorities in other belligerent countries in Europe.

The conclusion is that the Ottoman Empire was a constitutional and parliamentarian monarchy only in name, but that its governance did not turn into a form of military rule either. It was run by the Committee of Union and Progress, but within that, key decisions were taken by changing informal coalitions of power brokers in such a way as to make sure that the two dominant factions, the civilian one led by Talât and the military one led by Enver were in agreement.     

“Cultures of populism: institutions and hegemonic practices” – a brief introduction

ABSTRACT

This short Introduction sets the context for the nine articles included in Safundi’s special issue on “Cultures of Populism: Institutions and Hegemonic Practices” (Vol. 21, no. 3) by establishing connections with the colloquium of the same name that was hosted at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg from 10th until 13th July 2019. At the conference, populism (whether of the political right or the left) was examined in relation to democracy, the role of elites, and possible futures for the Humanities. Drawing on a range of theoretical perspectives, papers considered the diverse histories of populism, as well as varied occurrences of this phenomenon across the globe.