Religion After Atheism

The recent history of Russia and China show that eradicating religion from the face of the earth is no easy task. In both cases the regimes were effective only as long as they carried out repressive measures, and this success was limited to public displays of religion, not private belief. As soon as forced secularization ceased, desecularization began almost immediately. Religious belief did not simply return previous levels, but rather has in some cases, most notably China, begun to spread like never before. These facts should force us to reconsider the mechanisms of secularization and whether or not a secular world is not just likely, but even possible.     

The Two Pluralisms Under the Third Rome

Society - This article applies Berger’s new paradigm for religion in a pluralist age to the case of Russia, a society that underwent 70 years forced secularization and yet today...     

Two six-shot suicides in close geographic and temporal proximity

Two six-shot suicides are reported that occurred in adjoining counties in Ohio eleven-and-one-half weeks apart. There is no indication of any connection between victims, and it is doubtful that the second individual knew of the first death since there was no news media coverage of the first death. The most significant points of commonality between the two cases are the location of the gunshot wounds (anterior chest and upper abdomen) and the responses of disbelief from those outside the medicolegal professions. Knowledge of such cases with a high number of shots and more than one fatal wound can assist death investigators in confronting similar cases.     

Ireland

European Journal of Political Research -     

Bail system development study

This systems analysis of the judicial and bail processes of two, large, Ohio jurisdictions provides an empirical data base for the courts to utilize in designing, implementing, and evaluating new or modified bail and court procedures.     

Two Cheers for Interpretivism: Deconstructing the British Political Tradition

This article engages with Bevir and Rhodes' version of interpretivism from a critical realist perspective. It argues that they are misguided to equate path‐dependency with path‐determinancy. Instead, we argue that there are three path‐dependencies, institutional, discursive and political‐economic, which constrain without determining the actions of agents and thus effect political outcomes. The argument is illustrated through a brief consideration of the operation of the British Political Tradition.     

The Religious Dimension of Post-Communist “Ethnic” Conflict

1 This paper is a result of the ongoing research project, “Transnational Politics in the Black Sea Rim: Religions, States, and Minorities” (April 2009–March 2012) financed by the Japan Ministry of Education. The draft of this paper was presented at the international conference, “The Modernization of Russia and Eurasia: Challenges and Opportunities,” held at National Chengchi University (Taipei) 13–14 November 2010. View all notesThe collapse of socialist regimes resulted in tremendous regional realignments in the regions surrounding the heartland of Eurasia. Remarkably, not only states, but also transnational actors have played significant roles in this process. This study highlights transnational ethnicities (Mingrelians, Armenians, and Muslims) in Abkhazia, and tries to describe how the involvement of transnational religious organizations (such as the Armenian Apostolic Church and Turkey's Diyanet) affected the politics around these minorities. In the Black Sea rim, interstate and transnational politics are rather autonomous from each other. For example, when scores of powerful countries, such as the United States and European Union member states, desperately tried to ignore Russia's recognition of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, regarding it as a lawless act, Turkey's Diyanet admitted that Russia's recognition of Abkhazia created a new legal situation and began to fulfill its long-dreamed-of desire to help the Abkhazian Muslims. According to political conjuncture in Abkhazia, the same Gali population changes from Georgians to Mingrelians and back. This demonstrates how ethnic categories are used in a constructivist way in the Black Sea rim.     

A method for the rapid detection of the zopiclone degradation product 2-amino-5-chloropyridine

Zopiclone (Zimovane) is a cyclopyrrolone compound which exhibits hypnotic and sedative effects while also exhibiting anticonvulsant and muscle relaxant activities. The detection and quantification of zopiclone is difficult. It has a high molecular weight compared to most other commonly used drugs, therapeutic levels are not high, and it is unstable in nucleophilic solvents. A degradation product of zopiclone, 2-amino-5-chloropyridine (ACP) together with a method for its detection using high-performance liquid chromatography with diode array detection has been described previously. An account is presented of a simple method for the detection of ACP using gas chromatography with mass selective detection (GC/MS) which will facilitate detection of zopiclone use as part of a routine screen.