Aśvaghoṣa and His Canonical Sources I: Preaching Selflessness to King Bimbisāra and the Magadhans (Buddhacarita 16.73–93)

A?vagho?a’s Buddhacarita contains two sharply argumented critiques of the non-Buddhists’ self: one against Arā?a Kālāma’s (proto-)Sā?khya version of the ātman in Canto 12, and one of a more general import in Canto 16. Close scrutiny of the latter?s narrative environment reveals A?vagho?a’s indebtedness, in both contents and wording, to either a Mahāsā?ghika(/Lokottaravādin) or—much more plausibly—a (Mūla)sarvāstivāda account of the events that saw the Buddha preach selflessness to King Bimbasāra and his Magadhan subjects. Besides hinting at this genetic relationship, the present essay aims at exhibiting the structure and contents of A?vagho?a’s arguments against the self, some of which can pride themselves of a long posterity in the controversy over the self.     

Going privately: partnership and outsourcing in UK public services

Public private partnerships provide an important illustration of the way the traditional role of government as employer and service provider is being transformed. While policy–makers argue that the growing role of the private sector is not driven by ideological thinking – that, in fact, both public and private sector organizations can benefit from working together in partnership relations – in practice it is the norms and rules of private sector management that underpin reforms. This paper assesses evidence from two detailed case studies of partnerships and demonstrates, first, that there is little evidence of mutual gains from partnership arrangements and, second, that because of an imbalance of power between public and private sector partners, any gains achieved are not distributed equitably. These results suggest that current reforms need to be refocused around building on the distinctive qualities of services provision in the public sector, rather than expanding the private sector world of markets and contracts.     

Der European Research Council als Ordnungsanspruch des europäischen Projekts im akademischen Feld

The European Union wants the “European Research Area” to become a process with its own competitive dynamics between national academic traditions and the global hegemony of US research. At first glance, such a Europeanization of Higher Education is vertically posited by the EU Research Framework Programmes. In addition and beyond that, the European Research Council (ERC) establishes a genuinely European academic logic fueled by strategies aimed at scientific autonomy. It does so by creating competition in accordance with meritocratic rules of academic legitimacy. As a result, both governance-oriented and critical idealist elites actively relate to the ERC as a European institution and bestow it with the ability of consecrating academic excellence. As a consequence, they contribute to the discursive construction of a European order characterized by a symbolic and material integration of elites, the opening up of national fields and the primacy of economic competition.     

Media–state relations in Burundi: Overview of a post-traumatic media ecology

Through an analysis of the relations between the state and the media in Burundi, this article aims to problematise these actors’ interactions within a context characterised by an asymmetry of power in favour of political authorities and some leeway enjoyed by the media. Through a review of a corpus constituted of scientific literature, reports documenting the situation of press freedom in the country, and newspaper articles, the present article shows that the legal framework governing media activity is rather protective of press freedom, despite some recent setbacks. Under this protective media context, the state uses a variety of devious means to strengthen its grip on the media sector and on journalists. The media, for their part, are obliged to manoeuvre in a post-traumatic context where issues of security have a strong public legitimacy. The article shows that in order to understand relations between the Burundian state and the media, it is necessary to place them in an asymmetrical power context where both face constraints and enjoy spaces of tactical intervention.     

Russia,Europe and the Ontological Security Dilemma: Narrating the Emerging Eurasian Space

Abstract

The aim of this essay is twofold. First, it seeks to examine how Russia and the European Union understand the emerging Eurasian space. We will do this by looking at how the two narrate the space, the use of power and each other. Second, we want to argue that the narratives at the heart of the conceptual and normative maps that guide their actions and behaviour create an essentially ontological security dilemma; that is, behaviour aimed primarily at enhancing confidence in the identity and continuity of a political community threatens the ontological security of other actors.     

“Les catholiques sont l’élite!”: représentations de l’espace politique par une minorité religieuse au Burkina Faso

Abstract

The Catholic Church occupies a privileged position in the religious arena in Burkina Faso. Having invested very early in the public arena of the country, it constitutes a vital actor in the socio-political landscape of the country as attested to by its involvement in the domains of education and health and its positioning as mediator in times of crisis. Based on a field survey conducted among members of the Catholic community (members of the clergy, religious and lay), this article studies the manner in which Catholics in Burkina Faso portray themselves as a religious community in the country’s political arena. It reveals that in Burkina Faso the Catholics portray themselves as a dominant religious minority in terms of politics due to their disproportionate engagement in the apparatus of the state. The article also shows that the Catholics in Burkina Faso see their dominant position as under threat, on the one hand, from competition by the Protestants and, on the other, by the rise of Islamism.