Analysis of the relevance of traditional leaders and the evolution of traditional leadership in Zimbabwe: A case study of amaNdebele

Abstract

This article analyses the Ndebele institution of traditional leadership in contemporary Zimbabwe. It traces the pre-colonial Ndebele traditional leadership in order to establish the changes that have occurred as well as their causes. The article highlights the importance of indigenous knowledge systems (IKS), especially in leadership which is highly controversial in Africa. Traditional leadership is the indigenous way of leadership which can, in a good way, influence contemporary governance for the benefit of the people. The article takes an Afrocentric approach with a clear understanding of the dynamism in culture. It then proceeds to reveal the problems (and their causes) within the traditional leadership institution in contemporary Zimbabwe. Finally, the article recommends solutions to the problems.     

宗教认同与民族认同的互动——以延边朝鲜族基督信仰为例

宗教认同与民族认同均是表示一种与自身文化相契合的亲近感,前者的主体主要是宗教信徒,后者主体则是民族成员,二者分别对宗教信仰与民族文化保持不同程度的亲近。在朝鲜族社会发展历程中,基督教从传入至今已经一个多世纪,对朝鲜族传统文化与风俗习惯等各个方面进行了不同程度的渗透、交融与改变。将存在于朝鲜族社会的宗教认同和民族认同与延边朝鲜族基督信仰状况相结合进行互动分析,有利于深化宗教认同与民族认同的相关研究。     

Reformation in Islam?

Large segments of the Muslim world are experiencing a radical return to ancient doctrine, not a reformation. Unlike Christianity with a separation of legal structures from religious dogma, many groups within the Islamic world are moving toward the imposition of severe Islamic law (Sharia) while theology as understood in the West is blocked. Simultaneously the issuance of Islamic religious injunctions (fatwas) is becoming more arbitary and unregulated.

他们为什么呼吁人道主义——19世纪至20世纪初俄罗斯人道主义思潮简析

19世纪至20世纪初,人道主义成为俄国精英文化的主旋律,其深刻的历史与文化原因是:东正教教义对俄罗斯文化精英们的长期心灵洗刷;俄罗斯广袤大地上长期存在的村社文化对他们的精神影响;同时,对西方工业文明的体验与批判也深化了他们的俄罗斯人道主义思想。     

从《晋承汉统论》看习凿齿的正统史观

东晋中期史学家习凿齿著《汉晋春秋》,将后汉、三国、西晋三百年史事勒成一书,于三国以蜀汉为正统,以曹魏为篡逆,认为晋越魏而继汉.在临终前又作《晋承汉统论》上疏晋帝,系统地阐述了关于晋承汉统的思想,形成了一种新的封建正统史观.     

My Space/Mi Espacio: Evangelical Christianity and Identity Politics in Mexico

This article analyses evangelical identity politics and more generally religious competition in contemporary Mexico through a specific focus on the construction, dissemination and imagination of space. The imagination and occupation of a particular space determines the specific identity of its followers. Since the identity–space construct is primarily anchored in the political, religious, economic and funerary contexts in most societies, these four rubrics are woven together to assess of the evangelical Christian space–identity construct. The paper furthers research on religious space creation, dissemination and demarcation amongst evangelical Christians in Mexico, and it emphasises the extent to which the strategies of spatial expansion can lead to rigorous intra‐faith competition and conflict.     

Religious parties and the problem of democratic political legitimacy

Thinkers committed to an ideal of public reason are suspicious of religiously informed political activity as it undermines democratic political legitimacy. This paper considers Jürgen Habermas’s recent shifts on this question in light of the history of Europe’s religious parties in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. These parties made a real and lasting contribution to Europe’s democratization and their history suggests ways in which Habermas and other defenders of public reason misunderstand the nature of democratic political legitimacy.     

试论俄国的新教运动

在俄国现代化过程中也出现过新教运动。大约从叶卡捷琳娜大帝时期起,由信奉新教的德国移民把新教传播到俄国南部。1861年废除农奴制以后新教运动得到快速发展,并开始从社会底层向社会上层扩展。这使得沙皇政权和东正教会大为恐慌,因为它与东正教旧礼派一样对沙皇政权和东正教会的统治造成了威胁。对于沙皇政权来讲,精神的力量是其政治体系中重要的组成部分,而沙皇政权利用东正教会加强对整个国家的控制。在亚历山大二世执政时期,沙皇政权开始对新教徒采取镇压政策。到亚历山大三世统治时期,在东正教会与沙皇政权的联合绞杀下,俄国的新教运动失败。这使得新教运动在俄国社会锻造一个像西欧一样的中产阶级的努力付诸东流。     

和而不同：儒家与基督宗教对话的可能性

儒家与基督宗教分别以特异性的“忠孝”与“爱神”作为本根至上的终极正当原则,结果导致它们不仅在理论和现实中陷入了深度悖论,而且彼此间也形成了无法调和的张力冲突,难以展开建设性的对话。只有运用它们共同包含的“普世爱人”观念,置换它们各自奉行的特异性至上本根,以尊重人权的“不可坑人害人、应当爱人助人”原则为基础,儒家与基督宗教才能通过求大同、存小异的途径,真正实现“和而不同”。     

基督教与刑法--对近现代刑法宗教渊源的解读

西方的法律文明有其深刻的宗教根源。其中 ,近现代刑法制度中许多被认为最重要、最关键的一些核心理论和基本理念 ,都属于直接或间接地来自于基督教文化的内容或受其影响的结果。了解近现代刑法的宗教渊源 ,是理解刑事法治深刻语意的有效途径。