Political Movements Research Articles

Left Atheist Activism and Crime of Genocide in Francoist Spain

Abstract This article examines whether the mass killings of people with leftist ideology by the Franco regime can be interpreted as genocide in accordance with the provisions of international law. The present study underscores the influence of religion on the configuration of Francoist criminal policy and provides evidence that allows Francoist repression to be considered as genocide. Individuals with leftist ideologies were presented not only as a political group but also as a religious group with atheist and non-Catholic beliefs. In this sense, the mass political repression conducted by the Franco regime fulfils the objective elements (actus reus) of genocide due to the fact the religious element played a significant role in justifying the annihilation of Republicans. The victims of Francoist repression were in fact selected not only because they belonged to a certain political movement or party but also because they belonged to a certain religious group.

STRUCTURAL AND FUNCTIONAL ASPECTS OF POLITICAL COMMUNICATION IN THE CONTEXT OF MODERN SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT

The article highlights the structural and functional features of political communication as a process of communicative interaction in the political sphere in the conditions of modern social development. It was determined that political communication is a communicative process of mutual exchange of political information and broadcasting of political discourse among political subjects, state administration bodies, civil society, aimed at achieving consensus in making political and managerial decisions, legitimizing power and maintaining the stability of the democratic political system through means mass communication, Internet social networks, informal contacts, etc. The leading functions of political communication in terms of its structural elements are distinguished: 1) subjects of political communication: citizens, state authorities and management, political parties, movements and associations, civil society institutions, associations and groups of users of social networks on the Internet etc; 2) feedback between the subjects of political communication, acting as a communicative interaction that takes on different forms of information exchange; 3) information message as a relevant political discourse; 4) channels and means of information transmission and two-way communication between subjects of political communication.

The Influence of Tiken Jah Fakoly’s Reggae Music in Post-independence Côte d’Ivoire

Tiken Jah Fakoly, a prominent Ivoirian reggae artist, has played an important role in the social and political development of post-independence Côte d’Ivoire. This paper explores the impact and influence of Tiken Jah Fakoly’s music on the socio-political dynamics of the country, especially as these relate to national unity, political awareness, and social movements. To assess Fakoly’s influence on the social fabric of Côte d’Ivoire, we administered a questionnaire-based survey to a diverse sample of participants. The questions included information on demographics, music consumption habits, familiarity with Fakoly’s music, perceptions of his recordings, his influence of their sense of identity, and their impressions of the impact his music has on social and political issues. The results show that Tiken Jah Fakoly’s music has had a significant effect on the attitudes of Ivoirians and has helped shape the unique character of Ivorian reggae. His music has fostered a sense of unity and solidarity among Ivorians, and it has inspired numerous individuals to take part in advocacy and activism-related activities. The outcomes of this research have broad implications for the role African music plays in nation-building processes, in the creation of a sense of cultural identity, and in the capacity to motivate political and social movements.

Sudan's catastrophe: the role of changing dynamics of food and power in the Gezira agricultural scheme.

This article explores the role of historical, political, and economic processes in understanding war and famine in Sudan after 2023. The focus is on Al-Gezira, the site of Sudan's largest agricultural scheme. Using ethnography, interviews, and document reviews, the study analyses the Gezira irrigation project in three phases. First, the 1980s and 1990s, when patronage politics dominated its management. Second, the neoliberal strategies of the Gezira Scheme Act of 2005, which enabled Islamist profiteering while increasing vulnerability among farmers and labourers and tensions between them. Third, post 2018, when political movements used evidence of the scheme's deterioration to call for revolution, but once achieved, previous tensions grew and have been manipulated during the war. Sudan provides an example of how decades of war and neoliberal economic strategies have led to a deeply-rooted, violent, and extractive political economy. This has been to the benefit of business and elites, leaving many to a life of precarity, exploitation, and hunger.

A Comparative Approach to Amendments to Constitutional Preambles: Questions of Amendability, Substance, and Reasons

Preambles of constitutions tend to express general principles, overarching values, and aspirational ideas that underpin the whole constitution. Whether they are deemed legally binding or not, their special character seems to suggest that constitutional preambles should be difficult to amend and that amendment of them should occur only rarely. Attention seldom extends beyond this, however: there is a distinct lack of comprehensive comparative analysis of amendments to constitutional preambles, with these preambles remaining the least researched part of constitutions. The paper represents an effort to fill this void by presenting a comparative empirical analysis of amendments to constitutional preambles around the world. After providing an overview of what sets constitutional preambles apart from the main body of constitutions and analysing their overall amendability, it reports specific results from empirical research into amendments to constitutional preambles, which identified 55 constitutional events occurring since 1949 that have resulted in some change in a constitutional preamble. The paper offers a typology of those amendments, from 42 countries, which involves 20 general characteristic elements of preambles, of which amendments related to political movements, ideology, or ideologues / political leaders were identified as most frequent. Lastly, it directs focus to the socio-political and other factors that lead to amendments in constitutional preambles.

SOMOS POLITICAL MOVEMENT: FROM THE EMERGENCE TO THE FRACTIONATION OF THE LGBTQIA+ STRUGGLE

This study aims to understand the emergence and consolidation of the LGBTQIA+ political movement in Brazil, focusing on the 1970s and 1980s. The study was guided by the question of how and why the LGBTQIA+ political movement originated in Brazil. The investigation followed a bibliographical and documentary research, anchored in the materialist-dialectical method. The theoretical support was provided by the works of Cruz (2018), Green (2018), Mott (2018), Quinallha (2022), Trevisan (2018) among other authors dedicated to the theoretical unveiling of the problem. The historical moment that gave rise to the movement, the importance of the mass communication process through the press, the internal political-ideological struggles for the conception of the LGBTQIA+ social and political movement and the reconfiguration of the homosexual movement in Brazil in the 1990s are highlighted. In the conclusion phase, the period is identified as fundamental for the organization of the initial struggles against homophobia and for the affirmation of the movement as instruments of collective struggles for rights.

Between the Religious and the Secular: Latin American Neo-Pentecostalism in a Context of Multiple Modernities

This article seeks to understand neo-Pentecostalism in Latin America as a religious and political movement within the framework of multiple modernities, based on an ethnographic study in evangelical churches in Chile and Mexico. The study focuses on two main axes: the discourse of the “Kingdom of God” and the experience of the Holy Spirit. The former explores the conception of public space, while the latter examines the experiential dimensions, both individual and collective, that confer meaning and legitimacy to this religious movement. Neo-Pentecostalism emerges as a complex phenomenon where religion and politics intertwine in novel ways, responding to the intricacies of the region. Contrary to the notion of a monolithic and reactionary movement, this article demonstrates how neo-Pentecostalism is a movement that navigates the interstices between the religious and the secular.

Formation of historical memory of the first independence period in Latvia in the Perestroika years, 1987–1990

The author analyses the evolution of a new historical narrative in Latvia during the era of Perestroika, a period marked by the emergence of numerous public initiatives springing from political and social movements. One of the key initiatives was the restoration of the memory of ‘forgotten pages of history’, namely events and individuals who had been erased from the historical record in the Soviet Union for ideological reasons. Given that the restoration of state sovereignty was a central objective of this period, the “revival” of commemorative dates related to the history of the Republic of Latvia’s first independence (1918–1940) was a logical consequence of the search for one’s roots. A number of historical events were not only integrated into the collective memory but also referenced in political documents designed to reinstate national sovereignty. One of the primary objectives of this process was to construct a new historical narrative that would assert continuity and legal identity between the Republic of Latvia of the interwar period and the one that emerged in the late Soviet era, seeking to secede from the USSR and regain its lost independence. The formulation of the doctrine of national continuity entailed, on the one hand, the pursuit of reference points that would serve as the basis for a new state and national identity, and, on the other hand, encompassed a public discourse on the “black pages” of history, reflecting the aspiration to overcome the challenging historical legacy associated with the loss of independence in 1940 and to establish a framework for legitimate international relations.

"El Primer Grito de Independencia" en los ensayos históricos de Francisco Gavidia: la invención de un mito fundacional de la "nación salvadoreña"

In 1911, the centenary festivities of the political movements that took place in the Municipality of San Salvador in 1811 were celebrated with great sumptuousness. The commemorations-celebrations of 1911 were part of a set of rites, symbols, anniversaries, monuments, places of civic memory that the Salvadoran State needed to invent in order to instill feelings towards the country in the population. To achieve this, it was also necessary to create a history based on historical facts that would become a canon and give support to nationalist inventions. To pursue this, in 1912 the President of the Republic Manuel Enrique Araujo commissioned three intellectuals to write an official history. Francisco Gavidia was asked to write about the independence of El Salvador. The result of that request was the publication of the book Modern History of El Salvador. In this book, Gavidia included two chapters on what was called “First Cry of Independence.” Thus, the movements of 1811 became one of the founding myths of the Salvadoran nation. Along with the date —November 5—, the myth of the hero / father of the country José Matías Delgado was created. The third link in the myth was the bell tower of the La Merced Church. In this way, the story to create a “cradle of the country” was resolved. Along with Gavidia, other intellectuals completed that company. This work intends to analyze the context of the invention of “The First Cry of Independence”. Realidad, Revista de Ciencias Sociales y Humanidades, No. 164, 2024: 39-88.

O herói improvável e o elixir das concórdias

The reproduction of pleasant myths, the fabrication of heroic predecessors for present political movements and the upkeep of useful lies for the defence of noble causes should not constitute the aim of legal historians. On the contrary, it is their scientific duty to point out the inappropriateness of such conducts and the lack of plausibility of narratives produced this way. Showing how the legal community of São Paulo has reconstructed its memory, the article offers a new interpretation about the path of Goffredo Telles Junior as a political militant and State theorist. Re-examining forgotten remains of such path and reinterpreting the already known sources, we aim at demonstrating that his adhesion to Integralismo, far from having been an insignificant and episodical juvenile whim, was a decisive moment which affected his ideological views along four decades. From the thirties to the hardest times of the Military Dictatorship, his texts abounded with typical elements of the far-right antidemocratic thought: the obsession with corporatism as a supposed antidote against class struggle, the repugnance for liberal democracy, the disdain for the opinions of the average citizen, the strong attachment to hierarchy and to the “Principle of Authority”, the rejection of individualism and the belief that small élites, superior to the “mass”, should show the Nation its way. Obvious as well in the first integralist party as in its postwar successor, Goffredo’s longstanding loyalty to that far-right movement tends to be disregarded by his admirers, thus wiping out decades of the jurist’s political activity.

A Historical Perspective Through the Lens of the Islamic City Theory: Konya Example

The concept of the Islamic city elucidates the spatial structures specific to Islam religion and civilization, deeply influencing the lives of Muslims. Despite geographical, ethnic, and cultural diversities, it has been observed that the fundamental influence of the religion shaped similar urban formations in the Islamic geography. A key determining factor in the transition from traditional bedouin tribal life to urban civilization is the need for more suitable settlements to meet the multifaceted requirements and rituals of Islam. Societies embracing Islam have restructured their ways of life, with mosques becoming centers of worship, simultaneously reshaping legal, administrative, educational, and commercial structures, thereby becoming central to urban life. Islamic cities, reaching their zenith during the Golden Age of Islam, gradually weakened over time during the processes of modernization/secularization, with the rise of rational/bureaucratic powers diminishing their role as the primary shaping force of space. Konya, representing the characteristics of the Islamic city during the Seljuk and Ottoman Empires, underwent significant transformations approaching the modern era, affecting its physical, social, economic, and administrative fabric. Particularly in the Republican era, the Islamic city features were sidelined due to modernist spatial shaping, but have recently regained importance with the emergence of Islamic political movements and approaches by National Vision (Milli Görüş) municipalities. This study examines the Islamic city from a historical perspective, highlighting common characteristics of Islamic cities worldwide, scrutinizing the erosive effects of secularization/modernization trends on the Islamic city, specifically focusing on Konya, and finally evaluating recent revitalization policies directed towards the Islamic city in Konya.

The Dilemma of Identity Politics Strategy

This article aims to critically highlight the affirmation of identity politics narratives in Indonesia. For this purpose, the text of Ummat Party Chairman Ridho Rahmadi's political speech is used as the object of attention. Points of critical analysis of the New Social Movement (NSM) theory of identity politics are used to highlight Ridho Rahmadi's political speech. Collective identity, including identity politics, is necessary to mobilize social movements. In this case, the expression of identity is used as a political strategy, so that in the end the collective identity can become the goal of social movement activism. However, in the context of the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia, which is multicultural, multiethnic, multiracial, and multi-religious, does the presence of a political party that clearly excludes itself as a party with Islamic identity by making the mosque a node of political jihad, not threaten national unity? From the perspective of NSM theory, social movement mobilization can indeed be triggered by collective identity-based political movements such as those launched by the Ummat Party. However, the same theory also emphasizes the strategic dilemma of such social movement mobilization, namely that the identity that is the basis for organizing a movement is also the basis for oppression, persecution and exploitation.

The Impact of the Anglo–Boer War on Russian Marxists before the October Revolution

ABSTRACT Various political movements in Russia followed the Anglo–Boer War of 1899–1902 (also known as the South African War). The reasons why the Russian Marxists, who later carried out the first socialist revolution in history, sympathised with the Boers and ignored the reactionary and exploitative nature of their regimes in the Transvaal and the Orange Free State remained unexplored. Russian Marxists were reluctant to join the mass pro-Boer effort. However, they participated in the pro-Boer campaign conducted by the Second International. Poorly informed about the oppression of Africans in the two republics, the social democrats regarded the Boers as freedom fighters whose experience deserved to be studied and applied to the confrontation with tsarist autocracy. Russian Marxists used information on Boer commando tactics and other aspects of the South African War for instruction, training, and dissemination of their ideas. They campaigned for an introduction of a militia in Russia and studied the methods and organisation of Boer military units. Although Russian Marxists had little in common with members of burgher commandos, lessons of the Boer resistance to British imperialism served the cause of a Russian revolution.

Can Mindful Politics Be Meaningful Politics? Socially Engaged Buddhism as a Political Project within a Liberal Political Order

Throughout the Western political world, and particularly in the United States, contemporary Buddhist political thought has largely become synonymous with the movement of mindful politics, also known as Socially Engaged Buddhism. Focusing primarily on issues of social, economic, and environmental justice, mindful politics has found a natural ally in Western left-wing and progressive movements to the degree that Buddhist political thought in the United States is now seemingly indistinguishable from these Western political positions as a practical matter. While the practical alliance of Socially Engaged Buddhism and progressivism is well established, what is less clear is what the movement of mindful politics brings to this relationship beyond its Buddhist veneer. By basing its political project on the secularization of Buddhist compassion (karuṇā), mindful politics fails in creating a political project which can be compelling to those outside of the confines of Buddhist religious belief and practice. While the mindful politics movement and contemporary liberal progressivism share an overlap in policy commitments, the religious roots of Buddhist mindful politics ultimately preclude it from properly aligning with the pluralistic requirements of the prevailing liberal political order. This article will examine the foundations of Socially Engaged Buddhism and explore the standing of the possibility of Socially Engaged Buddhism as the foundation for a political project within the confines of a liberal political order.

Globaloney: Extended Party Networks and the Dissemination of Anti-Globalization Insults

From where does discontent against globalization originate? Current explanations emphasize material conditions and the emergence of globalization-skeptical parties. We argue that party-affiliated factions play a critical but underappreciated role. Such factions provide foundational support for elite appeals, acting entrepreneurially to construct new narratives that are later invoked by elites. We test this by studying a unique case: the “globalist” insult on Twitter. We find that “globalist” mentions co-occur with hashtags and terms associated with right-wing conspiracies, “alt-right” media figures, and Donald Trump. We further find that the most consistent correlate of the “globalist” insult is its use by the alt-right media organization Breitbart, not by traditional political elites or in response to changes in economic conditions. The results suggest that a conceptualization of political parties as organizers of political conflict, specifically ones that incorporate factions and non-elite entities like partisan media, helps make sense of anti-globalization political movements.

Dinamika Transformasi Tasawuf Era Modern: Neo-Sufisme dan Gerakan Islam Transnasional

This article examines the dynamics transformation of Sufism in the modern era. Sufism in the modern era appears running into transformation both in terms of its concept and movement. From the aspect of the concept of Sufism, modern Sufism is running into a transformation, namely neo-Sufism. Likewise, in the network aspect of the Sufism movement in the modern era, Sufism moves dynamically, from a local movement to becoming a network of transnational Islamic movements. This research is qualitative research using transnationalism theory as an analytical tool and historical studies as an approach. In this research, at least two findings were found. First, the presence of neo-Sufism is a form of transformation of classical Sufism teachings. The concept of neo-Sufism tends to be balanced (tawazun) between exoteric and esoteric aspects and can be a spiritual alternative for urban Muslim communities. Second, modern Sufism can be categorized as a representation of a transnational Islamic movement, as a non-governmental movement structured across countries in terms of thought, spiritual and political movements. The main route behind the transnational Islamic movement of Sufism is through da'wah, trade and immigrants. Keywords: Sufism, Neo-Sufism, Transnationalism, Transformative

Party polarization in digital fingerprints: Tracing politicians’ social media posts on the George Floyd protests

Under what conditions do politicians express their views on social media? How do politicians express their opinions around a given issue on social media? This paper contends that issue ownership and electoral accountability are critical factors that drive politicians’ attitudes toward a politically salient issue. It conducts a case study on the 2020 George Floyd protests in the United States, using an original, computationally-gathered dataset of posts on Twitter. The multi-level analysis results suggest that politicians’ race and party affiliation, in conjunction with their constituencies’ partisan orientation and racial composition, played significant roles in determining the frequency of Floyd-related Twitter posts they shared. Additionally, topic modeling results demonstrate a disparity in how the political movement is phrased between Democrats and Republicans. These findings shed light on the motivations behind social media posting behavior by public officials and carry significant implications for party polarization in contemporary democracies.

Introduction: Esperantists in the Twentieth Century: Making Connections in an Age of Division

The transcending of borders marked a large part of the political experience of the 20th century. This aspiration took shape in a century that strengthened and multiplied national barriers and that witnessed two world wars. In response to growing nationalism, many individuals, political movements and communities adopted an enlarged identity bound up with cosmopolitanism, internationalism, pan-Europeanism or, more recently, globalism. These categories, often part of a broader political frame of reference, established a connection between estranged nations but still referred to national divisions. Transnational history has shown how these tendencies were experienced not as a withdrawal of the border framework but as a link between nations-states. In this context, a particular and powerful way of abolishing national constraints has remained unnoticed by historians: the community of Esperanto speakers. They emerged at the end of the 19th century as an alternative to internationalizing models. With this aim, they developed a linguistic and cultural space that would not be marked by one specific culture to the detriment of the others. Nevertheless, the international language and the social movement created around it had to face the dominant ideological trends of the time. Through three case studies from the history of the Esperanto movement we propose to deepen the debate on the links between ideology and transnationalism. The first investigates the epistolary relationship between two communists, one Bulgarian and the other Japanese, discussing the trajectory of their political life and most notably their rejection of Stalinism. The second focuses on the link between Esperanto and anticolonial thinking in East Asia during the 1930s and early 1940s. Based on the study of literature and in particular of post-war Esperanto poetry, the third contribution examines the reasons that led a number of authors to choose the international language Esperanto to formulate their own account of WWII and to perpetuate the memory of the collective tragedy.

Impure blood: specialists, institutions, and cultural authority in the context of AIDS in Brazil

In this article, we examine the concept of cultural authority in the context of the professionalization/corporatization of medicine at the end of the 20th century, and its political and moral contours since the HIV/AIDS epidemic in São Paulo. Based on journalistic articles collected from the newspaper O Estado de São Paulo (1986-1989), we seek to highlight the place of medical expertise, examining the discourses produced about the disease in Brazil, in bases that show the emergence of social actors, disputes for credibility and the clinical authority under challenge. We analyze public narratives about AIDS, situating the place of authority. We argue that such discourses, in the context of sexual panic, did not occur outside a dynamic of therapeutic/clinical authority and the profession's own norms, which also immediately made visible the role of physicians, specialists and other health professionals, in dialogue with the moral grammar of the socially current illness. The conclusions illustrate the link between Brazilian medicine at the end of the century and the local-global history of AIDS, concentrating historical and political movements that disputed the scientific and moral meanings of the disease, fractured by the clash between authorities in the scientific, sanitary and clinical fields.

Legal Feminism: Wang Ruqi and the 1950 Marriage Law

Abstract This article analyses Wang Ruqi’s 王汝琪 (1912–1990) contribution to the drafting of the 1950 Marriage Law, the first codified law promulgated by the People’s Republic of China (PRC). It argues that Wang–who had been a legal specialist and a female political activist dating back to the 1930s and 1940s–was the actual author of the law’s first draft. In rehabilitating Wang’s long-forgotten contribution to the making of the Marriage Law, this study highlights that, first of all, lawmaking in the early years of the PRC was characterized by legal “professionalism,” rather than the “vernacularism” that scholars in recent years have tended to ascribe to this period. Second, Wang was an exemplary figure of a new breed of “state feminists” in the PRC, which we term “state-legal feminists.” State-legal feminists, like state feminists in general, were brought into the PRC state apparatus and took advantage of their role in the state to advance sociopolitical agendas. However, they differed from their fellow state feminists because they firmly believed that the state’s will and intent could be best articulated and exercised through codified laws and legal institutions. The making of the Marriage Law thus exemplifies the state-legal feminist approach insofar as it resorted to a codified law to push for the political agendas of women’s emancipation and restructuring families in China. While recent scholarship highlights the politicization of the law in the 1953 campaign to promote the Marriage Law, this study inverts this by addressing the legalization of political and social movements.