National Milieu Research Articles

Comedy and Masculine Hegemony: Adapting Masculinities in Humorous Children’s Fiction

AbstractSince the early 2000s, there has been increasing scholarly focus on the representations of masculinities in children’s literature. In part, this is due to the growing field of critical studies in men and masculinities coupled with wider public concern about boys’ development and education. This paper contributes to this work by analysing constructions of masculinity in four popular humorous series for children: Diary of a Wimpy Kid (2007–2022), The Treehouse books (2011–2023), The Bad Guys (2015–2023), and Planet Omar (2019–2023). Understanding genre as a reciprocal dynamic, the analysis demonstrates how these texts both intercede and shape the social and national milieu in which they are produced. As our understanding of acceptable masculine behaviours has adapted, so too has there been a shift in both the represented masculine dynamics and role of comedy in humorous junior fiction for boys. While some early series attempt to invert the hierarchical ordering of boys to validate alternative masculinities, the farcical genre conventions rest on limited models of masculinity, and frequently reaffirm the very tropes and behaviours that they seek to redress. In contrast, later series attempt to expand the repertoire of qualities that are acceptable for boys and men, challenging patterns of masculine hegemony, thereby revisioning what it means to be male. While humorous texts for young people may engage young male readers, the operation of humour and its relationship to masculinities is political, and can operate in either reductive or expansive ways.

An evaluation of Anti-Terrorism laws in Pakistan: Lessons from the past and challenges for the future

Terrorism has changed the national and international security milieu over the last few years; however, there have been metamorphoses in the phenomenon of defining security in light of new threats of terrorism. This research critically evaluates the anti-terrorism legal regime of Pakistan along with its structural flaws. While vigorous efforts to defeat terrorism have taken place in Pakistan, much needs to be done to achieve de-radicalisation along with identifying and addressing areas of vulnerability. This research moves in three directions: firstly, it looks into the background of extremism in terms of ethnic and sectarian conflicts that led Pakistan to embark on the journey to combat terrorism; secondly, it evaluates how these laws aimed exclusively at countering terrorism have not been as effective as hoped; and thirdly, it offers an in-depth analysis of flaws in the judicial system and analysis of capacity gaps in relation to prosecution of terrorist offences in Pakistan. Lastly, this research makes recommendations for eliminating the causes of institutional and legal inefficiencies that feed and nurture terrorism in Pakistan. The qualitative method is used in this research, which holds that Pakistan needs to make effective structural changes to implement counterterrorism strategies constructively, such as, capacity-building of judiciary and law enforcement agencies, acceptance of innovation in investigation methods, amendments in procedural laws and comprehensive, unambiguous and detailed legislation. Amendments to existing anti-terrorism laws need to be adapted to the changing security trends in the region. In order to combat the high rate of acquittal under these laws, a strong and focused approach is required.

The Role of Cultural Delegations in the Cold War: The Case of China and Italy (1953-1978)

The historical phenomenon of cultural delegations was characterized by several distinctive features during the Cold War and can be considered a significant aspect of cultural relations more in general. The Italian-Chinese case has a certain interest, as it underlines the existence of intricate local dynamics that acquired an increasingly in-ternational dimension throughout the years. Culture was both seen as an issue that stressed the distance between Italy and China and as a possible ground for dialogue. This approach to cultural phenomena shows how, in the context of the Cold War, cul-tural facts permeated political relations as well as commercial ones. The evolution of delegations has been marked by a gradual internationalization and, at the same time, by their being rooted in the national milieu. This process started with the Korean War and reached a turning point with the economic reforms under Deng Xiaoping.

Reflective Practice of Islamophobia Intergroup Dialogues in Higher Education

Hendricks, F. (2020). Reflective Practice of Islamophobia Intergroup Dialogues in Higher Education Background. Journalof EducationinMuslimSocieties,2(1),97–106.DOI10.2979/jems.2.1.07 • Copyright © 2020 International Institute of IslamicThought Reflective Practice of Islamophobia Intergroup Dialogues in Higher Education Fatima Hendricks Introduction T his practitioner’s note integrates reflections from a year of graduate coursework in the International Training and Education Program in the School of Education at American University (AU), and the role of intergroup dialogue facilitator at the Intergroup Dialogue Program on Islamophobia at the Center for Diversity and Inclusion during the fall, winter, and spring of 2019–2020. My graduate studies were undertaken while serving in the capacity of the International Institute of Islamic Thought (IIIT) and AU School of Education, International Training Education Program (ITEP) Partnership in Advancing Education in Muslim Societies (AEMS track). Intergroup dialogues enable facilitators and dialoguers to bring a self-reflexive approach to Islamophobia, applying a dialogue education approach at a time of significant divisiveness in the national milieu. The methodology of intergroup dialoguing personifies the integration of theory Fatima Hendricks is an occupational therapist, educator, and children’s author working at the intersection of health and education. Working in South Africa, Fatima has served as a community organizer, trainer and dialogue facilitator, and has diverse program development experience in grassroots programs for youth leadership development, 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence, refugee anti-racism and xenophobia work, and nonviolence and peace with the Medina Institute Center for Non-violence and Peace Studies, to name a few. She is a graduate of the American University School of Education’s International Training & Education Program, through the partnership and support of the International Institute of Islamic Thought (IIIT). Her areas of academic specialization include management, information management, and Islamic studies. She is currently an Assistant Professor at Chicago State University. 98 JournalofEducationinMuslimSocieties · Vol. 2, No. 1 and practice to reflect the rigor, respect for, and commitment to the overall mission of the School of Education, to coconstruct learning and prepare students to transform societies through education. In parallel to the journey of intergroup dialoguing at AU since 2004, training program design at AU has for the past two decades worked to enable facilitators with systems thinking for change agency. Specifically, the Islamophobia Intergroup Dialogues process located in the Center of Diversity and Inclusion weaves together key ITEP course concepts into a provocative and illuminating experience using mastery of key design, facilitation, and critical/systems analysis skills. Intergroup dialogue utilizes the four-stage educational intergroup dialogue model that focuses on building relationships, exploring systemic group differences and similarities, examining controversial issues, and action planning and alliance building (Zúñiga, Nagda, Chesler, & Cytron-Walker, 2007). Specifically, the goals of the Islamophobia Intergroup Dialogues are to (a) unpack Islamophobia by engaging across difference of perspectives and identities; (b) foster intergroup community through a diversity of identities; (c) explore personal experiences and societal impacts of Islamophobia; (d) provide tools for navigating difference on and off campus. The three key intended outcomes of the Islamophobia Intergroup Dialogues are to (a) raise consciousness by helping participants explore their own and others’ social identities/statuses, and the role of social structures in relationships of privilege and inequality; (b) build positive relationships across differences and conflicts; and (c) strengthen individual and collective capacities to foster intergroup collaboration for personal and social responsibility to promote social justice. At a macro level, higher educational institutions in the United States are increasingly engaging in addressing Islamophobia needs underpinned by the increasing incidents of Islamophobic attacks toward Muslims. Hence, AU’s initiatives of addressing religious bigotry through intergroup dialogues and mini grants for diversity and inclusion trainings is part of a larger tapestry of efforts to stem the tide against Islamophobia in internationalized higher education. Key Reflections The purpose of this practitioner’s note is to critically reflect on lessons learned from the Islamophobia Intergroup Dialogues in order to draw valuable conclusions that may improve future practice. Reflecting on action is important to reviewing, analyzing, and evaluating past practice ReflectivePracticeofIslamophobiaIntergroupDialoguesinHigherEducationBackground · Hendricks99 in order to gain insights that can shape future practice (Finlay, 2008). On a higher level, critical reflection provides the opportunity...

Contaminaciones estilísticas en la obra de Luciano Kulczewski. Yuxtaposición de imaginarios al servicio de una estrategia de apropiación

La obra de Luciano Kulczewski, uno de los arquitectos chilenos más relevantes de la primera mitad del siglo pasado, destaca esencialmente por la originalidad de su propuesta formal. Si sus creaciones dan cuenta, en un sentido compositivo, del arribo de las vanguardias arquitectónicas al medio nacional, su empleo del repertorio estilístico dista mucho de estar apegado a los cánones establecidos para esos lenguajes. El espíritu ecléctico que predomina en sus inmuebles se configuró a partir de un sincretismo formal, que no solo citaba los estilos en boga de aquella época —Revival Pintoresquista, Art Nouveau, Art Déco y Restauración Nacionalista—, sino que también daba cabida a su imaginario personal, habitado por bizarras figuras, cercanas en su sensibilidad al mundo de los sueños y del Grutesco. La peculiar amalgama de imaginarios, junto con referencias arquitectónicas a la alta y a la baja cultura, visto con la distancia que provee el presente, emergieron como gestos muy cercanos a la actual sensibilidad posmoderna. Esto explicaría la gran popularidad que gozan sus creaciones entre el público general, que reconoce su originalidad y singularidad en el contexto local. Este artículo, alejándose de los tradicionales estudios formalistas que se remiten a las propuestas arribadas desde el centro metropolitano, ahondará en el proceso de contaminaciones estilísticas que acusan las creaciones del arquitecto, en el entendido que fueron el resultado de una estrategia de apropiación.

Łemkowie — tylko „inni” czy aż „obcy”?

The Lemkos — just others or no less than strangersThe Lemkos are a group of Ruthenian population, whose history is closely linked with that of Poland. Historically, they emerged as a fully distinct ethnographic entity in the Polish Carpathians, that is within the Polish state. The article is an attempt to answer the question: how are the Lemkos perceived by the Poles, who for centuries have constituted their natural social and national milieu? There is no doubt that the Lemkos differ from the Poles in their customs, language and religion. But are they strangers? In the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth the Polish gentry regarded the Ruthenians living in the Commonwealth as part of the Polish community. In the Second Polish Republic they enjoyed all the rights of Polish citizens. Shortly after the war, in 1944–1947, they were forcibly moved by the communist authorities from their little homeland in the Beskid Mountains. Today, as surveys conducted among the Poles show, the Lemkos are a group practically unknown to ordinary Poles.

Bolesław Leśmian’s Serbian “a-not-fully-attained-incarnation”

The aarticle focuses on the almost „zero” reception of the poetic legacy of Bolesław Leśmian in the Serbian context, taking into account a wider former Serbo-Croat reality. Before World War II, Serbian readers could fi nd hardly any information about Leśmian, and this did not change much in the second half of the 20th century, when Leśmian was „rediscovered” in his national milieu. The paper addresses the problem of the presumed untranslatability of Leśmian’s poetry and ponders the conditions of rendering the formal features of his works, experiments in the fi eld of lexis and semantics, and references to folk culture, in the form of a Serbian / Croatian poetic text.

Badalona Story: integrating the integration initiatives

Introduction: The STOPandGO Project [1] developed an approach [2] to the procurement activities in a local initiative of integrated care in the framework of a multi-annual process of innovation of the managerial, administrative, clinical, and social aspects [3], accompanied by a meaningful use of technology. The paper applies the approach to analyse the journey of Badalona Serveis Assistencials (BSA), a Reference Site for EIPonAHA [4], with a unique long-term experience of effective integration [5, 6]. Methods: The paper systematically describes how the sequence of local initiatives in BSA were complementary or overlapping according to the earmarked combination of two perspectives [1, 2]: to address a defined set of citizens’ needs and the related health journey, e.g. on health conditions; or to establish networks for vulnerable persons; to reduce the fragmentation of the care and cure services across the settings. Results: The analysis shows that: in the initial status (2000) a few isolated initiatives were in place; the sequence of local initiatives achieved a crucial level of integration after a period of disruptive Health Innovation [7], which changed roles and attitudes of citizens and professionals and gained their satisfaction and commitment; the key enablers for integrated care [8] have been: 1) policy commitment towards a patient-centric model enabling the continuum of care at a local level (municipality), 2) Health and social care professionals have a leading role, 3) Interoperable information systems has fostered the full deployment, 4) The absence of major conflicts between the distribution of resources and the alignment of incentives among primary, secondary and tertiary care and social care has facilitated the overall process; the present fully integrated system evolves through a continuing improvement process, with a lower emphasis on specific initiatives. Discussions: In BSA health and social care centres are under the same governance and organisational structure, sharing the same cultural values and legal framework [3, 4]; the local push was reinforced and aligned with the Catalan integrated care policy. The paper demonstrates how this locality managed the sequence of initiatives according to its priorities, speed and emphasis to fit with its local context and favourable circumstances [8]. Conclusions: The long-term ambition of every locality should be to integrate all the relevant services for all the citizens, through a suitable series of initiatives. Priority and shape of each initiative depend on: regional and national milieu, e.g. regulations, health and social plans, coordination of Local Initiatives, common infrastructures, funding; local circumstances, e.g. epidemiology of health problems; readiness of healthcare facilities and technological infrastructures; culture and engagement of professionals; expected return and possibility to reallocate a reduction in resource usage. Lessons learned: Hundreds of good practices [e.g. 4, 9] give evidence of feasibility, relevance and benefits of diverse approaches on a wide spectrum of Integrated Care models. Each Local Initiative should refer to an explicit policy, to deploy an innovative model in a particular scenario. Experience tells that isolated initiatives have a high risk of failure; in addition, an unplanned juxtaposition of several initiatives may provoke serious and costly troubles to achieve the suitable organisational and technological interoperability. Limitations: Each local roadmap depends on local circumstances, however the basic principles and the various components of the innovative models could be shared across localities. Suggestions for future research: The study of the components of a model and their optimal combination may bring to a methodology to support the planning of local roadmaps and their scaling up at regional level according to an agreed regional Action Plan.

The Nouvelle Droite in Portugal: a new strategy for the radical right in the transition from authoritarianism to democracy

ABSTRACTMarchi examines how the French Nouvelle Droite (ND) was introduced into Portugal at the end of the Salazarist regime and during the transition to democracy. The relevance of the Portuguese case lies in the fact that the early diffusion of the ND in Europe coincided with the profound crisis of the radical right in Portugal as it faced the liberalization of the authoritarian regime and repression during the revolutionary transition. For that reason the far right in Portugal, in comparative terms, can be seen to have been subject to historical constraints quite different from those in Spain and other Western European democracies. Marchi describes the groups on the Portuguese radical right, and certain figures who were inspired by the ND and disseminated its ideas in Portugal. His analysis of their main publications, their statements and the media campaign to promote the ND from the end of the 1960s to the beginning of the 1980s highlights the different reasons for and ways in which Portuguese radicals engaged and dealt with the ND. Marchi also looks at the reactions of the national right-wing milieu to the spread of ND ideas. As part of his paper’s contribution to comparative studies on the transnational radical right, it also provides new evidence, derived from the Portuguese case, of the way in which one of the most important schools of right-wing thought at the end of the twentieth century has influenced extreme-right milieux all over Europe. In light of Tamir Bar-On's analysis of the ND's cultural and pan-European impact, the findings presented here confirm its transnational character while drawing on this and other cases from southern Europe to question the French movement's long-term effectiveness in reorienting the culture of the right-wing milieu.

George Mallory i Zamarła Turnia albo kilka uwag na temat miejsc wspólnych i granic literatur międzynarodowych

The main purpose of this paper is to reflect on the forms of presence of universal themes, such as the necessity of conquering the unconquerable and the death as its consequence, in culturally and linguistically distant national literatures. The reflection is based on comparative reading of two apparently not corresponding texts (“Z Tatr” [From the Tatra Mountains] by Julian Przyboś (1901–1970) and “For George Leigh- Mallory” by Gary Snyder (1930–). First of all, the historical, literary and artistic contexts of each poem are presented. Additionally, the legends and biographical facts concerning the focal figures that inspired the poems are shortly characterized in order to emphasise their psychological and intellectual affinities. Furthermore, both poems are commented, with particular stress laid on the particularity of each vision (the upside-down landscape of a dying mountaineer by Przyboś and the defeat of a Western man facing the East by Snyder). Over and above that, the place of two poems in the World Republic of Letters is discussed. Such issues as translatability of each text, their artistic complexity and the chances of being known outside of national milieu of readers are tackled. In conclusion, a language is presented as the main feature determining the fact that a text belongs to the ‘central’ literatures or is placed at their outskirts. Last but not least, it must be stressed that common themes do not correspond with common imaginary, deeply rooted in national cultures.

Disconnect/Desencuentro by Nancy Alonso (review)

Reviewed by: Disconnect/Desencuentro by Nancy Alonso Dawn Duke Alonso, Nancy. Disconnect/Desencuentro. Trans. Anne Fountain. Chico, CA: Cubanabooks, 2012. Pp. 169. ISBN 978-0-9827860-1-7. Disconnect/Desencuentro is a bilingual collection of twelve short narratives well suited for the undergraduate Spanish program. This anthology presents a variety of contemporary topics specific to the Cuban national milieu including: experiencing other cultures, themes of death and dying, human despair, and the emotional toll of losing family through migration. The anthology can also serve as an introduction to the theme of female homoerotic relationship from a Cuban perspective, for there are six lesbian stories, and the last story about male homoerotic desire bears the same name as the title of the collection. Lesbianism operates at two literary levels in this collection. It is suggested emotionally, a spontaneous connection to an interesting other, or it is revealed by a circumstance of trial and difficulty, as those in the relationship struggle to ensure its survival. The literary intention here is non-confrontational; indeed there is no posture of defiance in relation to society as a whole. Neither does there seem to be a desire to express affront or condemnation of the discrimination that individuals might suffer because of their sexual orientation. Vindication and self-affirmation are also not the principal intention. The objective is the establishment of a sense of authenticity or to provide an intimate gaze at thoughts and emotions in relationships destined to suffer the same tensions and challenges faced by any other couple. Ample use is made of the urban landscape of Cuba’s capital city, Havana. The stories zero in on the lives of everyday people, even as they stylistically incline towards tones of tragedy and suffering. The notion of “happy ending” is debunked by way of situations that are the cultural and interpersonal challenges of everyday living even as each story, in its own way, is unique and revelatory. Alonso’s art is simple, easy to access culturally even as it is emotionally very heavy and designed to leave a lasting impression. Her writing style is designed to produce certain effects: dissatisfaction, incompletion, endurance, and survival against the odds. One particular theme that weaves through several stories is the way in which the Cuban subject experiences and processes other cultures. Two main cultural phenomena that inspire the stories are government arranged mission trips abroad and the trauma associated with permanent migration. “Address Unknown/Domicilio desconocido” and “May Allah Protect You/Que Alá te proteja” focus on Ethiopia and are reflections about Africa, displaying a fascination with that continent’s difference as well as coping with profound nostalgia for the homeland. “Dialogue/ Diálogo” speaks of Brazil, and “Traces/Huellas” focuses on the trauma facing older family members because of long term separation from their loved ones who have chosen to depart. Overall, the inclusion of these particular themes proves strategic, moving against the notion of the island’s political isolation because of the embargo by confirming the construction of other types of alliances and travel experiences. Disconnect/Desencuentro is a representation of Cuba’s postmodern experiences, an intimately more personal approach that prioritizes the individual’s perspective and emotional response to adversity. Dawn Duke University of Tennessee, USA Copyright © 2013 American Association of Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese, Inc

Reflections on the pluralization of Enlightenment and the notion of theological Enlightenment as process

Scholars now quite regularly speak of the Radical Enlightenment, the Atlantic Enlightenment, the Super Enlightenment, the Religious Enlightenment, and any number of different national and religious variants of Enlightenment in addition to that of the French. Though much is to be gained from this proliferation, John Robertson is quite prescient in reminding scholars of the possibility that the very concept of an eighteenth-century Enlightenment in France or in the Euro-Atlantic world more generally is at risk of becoming contradictory and specialized to a degree that makes research and pedagogy increasingly cumbersome. While it is true that, as Robert Darnton has noted, making of the Enlightenment everything is in effect to make of it nothing, the dilemma of the pluralized Enlightenment is not so easily dismissed. Even with the best of intentions, attempts to construct a unitary Enlightenment often result in the writing of contrary perspectives out of the Enlightenment, even where such perspectives ought to have their place. The focus of this article proposes another possible configuration of Enlightenment as plurality within an unfolding continuum, as process rather than atomistic, reified, hypostatic Enlightenments. It proposes a process whereby religious and secular, radical, moderate, and conservative discourses, inflected into their national milieu, mutually constitute one another. This article provisionally charts a course for an alternative paradigm for studying the French Enlightenment which might avoid the extremes of balkanization on the one hand and the attractions of an elegant but unrepresentative unity on the other.

Connected Learning in an Australian Technology Program

Connected learning using video conferencing, the interactive whiteboard and Web 2.0 tools is possible in the new “interactive classroom” more than 2,240 New South Wales public schools will receive over the next four years. In Australia the New South Wales Department of Education and Training (NSWDET) is delivering $AUS 158 million of infrastructure and services to schools and technical and further education campuses for new technologies and applications to support teaching in the 21st century. The intention of the Connected Classrooms Program is to create a “large connected and collaborative learning community” of teachers, students and parents that can go online for information, resources and communication “anywhere, anytime” across a state that covers over 800,000 square kilometres. This paper describes the three projects in the program, the underpinning prior work and seven teacher professional learning platforms that reference anticipated learning outcomes and future directions. In its third year, this case study is a descriptive insiders snapshot. It provides an overview for project administrators and participants in other national and international education milieu who may be responsible for planning and implementing enhanced technology environments.

Changing nation/changing self

ABSTRACT By invoking a dialogue between the form of the text and the content in A change of tongue, Antjie Krog creates indeterminacy to foreground the themes of transition, displacement and transformation and, through the protagonist, outlines the possibility for the individual in a changing society to adapt while simultaneously gaining a sense of identity and belonging. Through the deliberate inconsistencies and irregularities of the style, genre, and perspective of the text, Krog engages with notions of the supplementary, displacement and diaspora as ways of understanding the challenges facing South Africans attempting to make sense of themselves and their place in a shifting national milieu. Reconceive the self and you reconceive the shape of your society; alter the image of society and the self has a different kind of space in which to move. (Stephen Clingman)

National Socialism and Blood-Sacrifice in Zora Neale Hurston's "Moses, Man of the Mountain"

In Zora Neale Hurston's Moses, Man of the Mountain (1939), Pharaoh establishes his new rule of law by penetrating the Hebrew womb with his "rod of state," which is intent upon genocide: Pharaoh had entered the bedrooms of Israel. The birthing beds of the Hebrews were matters of state. The Hebrew womb had fallen under the heel of Pharaoh. A ruler great in his newness and new in his greatness had arisen in Egypt and he had said, "This is law. Hebrew boys shall not be born. All offenders against this law shall suffer death by drowning." (1; italics added) So ends the first paragraph of Zora Neale Hurston's Moses, Man of the Mountain, establishing the novel as a meditation on the nature of the authoritarian state and of absolute political power. "Hardly less than Machiavelli in The Prince," Blyden Jackson observed in his 1984 Introduction to Moses, "she discusses power--the kind of power, political in its nature, which is the prime object of concern for the Florentine in his famous treatise on statesmanship" (152). Yet is it Machiavellian political power Hurston discusses, or, in 1939, Hitlerian? This essay shows that Hurston's Machiavellian turn serves to orient her analysis of absolute political power not toward Florence, but Berlin (Gilroy 234-35). Moses' Pharaoh presents Hurston's examination of the ideological content invested in the creation of the fascist state along the lines of the Fuhrerprinzip (Fuhrer principle, or principle of the male, charismatic, authoritarian guide or leader) at work in National Socialist Germany, and the role that ultranationalism plays as a religious faith in supporting fascist political power. Through not only the figure of Pharaoh, but of Moses himself, Hurston critiques the ideological premises of National Socialism while at the same time conceding the value of generic European fascism for a program of African American uplift via black cultural nationalism. Indeed, the black cultural nationalism that Hurston advocates with her appropriation of the Mosaic myth is achieved according to the dictates of "generic" fascist ideology. By generic fascism and generic fascist ideology, I mean the operative terms of the current scholarly discourse in which characteristics of the various fascisms present before and during WWII are synthesized or discarded in order to create a working theory of fascism in general. (1) Indeed, in however diverse national manifestations it appeared or however contradictory its impulses and ideology within a single, national political milieu, the various European fascisms consistently propounded certain principles and ideological precepts. Historians and theorists of fascism gather these characteristics under the heading of "generic" fascism as a correlate to the study of any one given form of historical fascism, and as a field of study in its own right. In other words, "generic fascism" means no specific manifestation of the phenomenon, such as Italian Fascism, or, if one considers it a form of fascism, Nazism. There has been considerable debate in the field of the study of fascism as to whether Nazism can be considered a form of fascism, owing usually to the virulent racism central to Nazi ideology. I am of the mind that Nazism was a form of fascism; for, as Roger Griffin asserts, "[t]o treat Nazism as a form of fascism is not to deny its uniqueness, but to claim that some of its causal factors and empirical aspects are thrown into relief if it is seen as a permutation of a generic phenomenon called 'fascism'" (Griffin 96). (2) Removing the national specificity and virulent racism of a general notion of fascism informed solely by Nazism, Stanley G. Payne lists six characteristics of generic fascist ideology under the heading "Style and Organization," five of which will be central to this book: Emphasis on esthetic structure of meetings, symbols, and political choreography, stressing romantic and mystical aspects. …

The international marketing of professional service projects: to what extent does territoriality matter?

Many types of commercial professional services are commonly sold as projects. Therefore this article draws on the project marketing literature to elucidate the international marketing of professional service projects. After an initial literature review, the project marketing milieu concept’s a priori territorial definition is critically examined on the basis of cases concerning the internationalization of Nordic architectural firms. It is hypothesized that territoriality plays the biggest role in situations where a firm is moving from one national milieu with well‐established norms, rules, and representations to another national milieu with similarly well‐developed norms, rules, and representations, yet that there also exist global milieux. Managerial implications concerning professional service firms’ preparation for entering a foreign milieu as well as subsidiary or office establishment abroad are provided.

The Colonization of Black Theatre

August Wilson's keynote address to the 1996 biennial conference of the Theatre Communications Group spawned a significant body of critical discourse and contention within the theatrical community and beyond. Among other sharp criticisms, he admonished the funding community concerning the continual lack of support for black theatres and cited the principle of colorblind casting as a denial of both black identity and historical and cultural truths. Mr. Wilson is a company member here at Penumbra Theatre Company and this long-standing relationship has many ways shaped the aesthetic that Penumbra has developed. I have consistently been philosophical agreement with him and have, public arenas, already stated my feelings (albeit not so eloquently as has Mr. Wilson). In this essay, I will indicate my thoughts regard to many of the issues raised by Mr. Wilson and how Penumbra seeks to theatrically address them. I am often, as Mr. Wilson is now, cast as the spoiler, for the efforts of major regional theatrical endeavors the multi-cultural arena. I have been quite critical of many of those efforts. Perhaps this is an opportunity to make a clear statement without argument. Since the Guthrie is our regional, here the Midwest, many of my comments refer to its efforts. In my view, the attempts by the Guthrie are indicative of a national milieu (or malaise) and not particular to the artistic directorship at that particular institution. The greatest travesty American theatre today is that, spite of the voluminous amounts of talent and craft evident at every level the black theatrical, musical, and artistic communities, we--as a nation--have not found it necessary to institute and support a major regional black theatre. Furthermore, I view the efforts of the major regional theatres (translation: white, since those are the only ones existence) to be antithetical to that end. Perhaps the following will help you to understand my position. By examining these specifics, I should be able to shed light upon a national condition which, as August Wilson is advocating, must be rectified. Both Mr. Wilson and Penumbra have, because of the tremendous resources the major regional theatres possess, allowed our craft to be exhibited those venues. Some of those closest to me, and whose opinions I hold high regard, counsel me to find ways to work with these major institutions. They argue quite persuasively that by sharing precious resources we could mount projects that could be to our mutual benefit. After all, these organizations have taken up the multi-cultural mandate and, like it or not, they are now in the business. I am advised to assume a position which would lessen many of my negative comments concerning the recent efforts of these organizations and the effects of these efforts upon my organization. I should, I am told, offer constructive criticism and partnership rather than polemical arguments which only serve to widen the chasm between our organizations. Penumbra, a recent collaboration, performed our production of Fences at the Guthrie Theatre Minneapolis. This collaborative venture was regarded by all as an example of two organizations coming together a respectful manner to produce great art. The result was a production that played to large numbers of people and retained the cultural truth for which Penumbra has been known. What will be the fruits of this endeavor? Will major regional theatres across the U.S. respect the expertise of black organizations that understand and maintain art and culture their communities, or will they understand an endeavor like the Penumbra /Guthrie collaboration to be a license to produce and do what they will regardless of the effects upon organizations like Penumbra and the communities they represent? What strikes me as very interesting is why Mr. Wilson's voice is audible now? Both he and I are saying essentially what we have said all along. …

Railroads,Politics, and Comparative History

Practitioners and students alike of systematic comparative history, within as well as across national boundaries, do well to familiarize themselves with the classic 1928 essay by French medievalist Marc Bloch on the need for comparative studies in European history. Bloch identifies two basic criteria for constructive and fruitful comparison: first, a certain similarity or analogy between observed phenomena-that is obvious; and second, a certain dissimilarity between the environments in which they occur.' Historian Colleen Dunlavy and sociologist Frank Dobbin clearly satisfy both criteria in their studies of railroad development in the United States and Europe during the nineteenth century. Indeed, it is hard to imagine more apt focus than railways for historical comparison across national boundaries in the Western world of the 1800s. Dobbin characterizes railroads as one of the modernizing industries in Britain, France, and the United States (cover flap); and Dunlavy, citing historian Alfred Chandler, emphasizes that railroads constituted the first big business in Prussia as well as the U.S. (pp. 35-36). To be sure, as is obvious to Dobbin and Dunlavy, the comparative method need not privilege analogies between historical phenomena as more significant than dissimilarities between their environments. More often than not, systematic comparative analysis leads to more precise appreciation of what Bloch terms the originality of each society under scrutiny.2 That is to say, the analytical interplay between comparison and contrast can yield clearer and more precise appreciation of what is distinctive in the historical experience of each local, regional, or national milieu. Such has been the case with the most highly acclaimed monographs of international comparison by U.S. scholars, from Carl Degler's Neither Black Nor White: Slavery and Race

Nations, clusters and culture: Nycomed and world leadership in the field of x-ray contrast media

Abstract This article discusses Michael Porter's book ‘The Competitive Advantage of Nations’ (i.e. his cluster-theory) in relation to the development of the Norwegian pharmaceutical company, Nycomed, over the last seventy years. First, it is established that the company was part of a pre-1940 national milieu concerning vitamins that can be called a cluster, but that this cluster came to an end after 1940. Secondly, it is established that after 1975 Nycomed became part ofa trans-national cluster in the field of X-ray contrast media. Thirdly, it is pointed out that what linked these two very different clusters was a corporate culture in Nycomed characterized by scientific ambitions and activities. The culture that was formed as part of the national ‘vitamin cluster’ was kept alive, and subsequently the company was able to form a technological basis for a new and trans-national cluster.

Julien Green's Troubled American: A Fictionalized Self-Portrait

Julien Green's locating numerous fictional works (novels, stories, one play) in America has not been considered particularly significant, as these works share with those set in France common themes, moods, and character types which seem to transcend the specific national settings. In those works set in America there is, however, an unusually close relationship between the personal tragedies and the national milieu, certain problems of American life seeming to engender the dilemmas that lead the characters to tragic outcomes. Yet these circumstances are not so typically “American” as suggestive of problems the French novelist himself, born in France of American parents, encountered during the three crucial years he reluctantly spent in America following World War t. His lengthy Journal and some recent autobiographical works reveal that the principal dilemmas that torment his American characters relate to those which the unusual circumstances of his double nationality created for him: problems centering about the matters of national belonging and personal morality (relative to American puritanism). Green's American heroes are primarily transformations of himself, created partly to purge himself of his own tragic inclinations, partly to recapture a period of his life which, though fundamentally painful, had overtones of sweetness because of his first sexual awakening.