Official Elite Research Articles

ГОРОДСКОЙ ГОЛОВА: РЕТРОСПЕКТИВА В КОНТЕКСТЕ СЕМЕЙНОЙ ПЕРЕПИСКИРЕЦЕНЗИЯ НА КНИГУ: МАРГАРИТА АГЕЕВА. УФИМСКИЙ ГОРОДСКОЙ ГОЛОВА АЛЕКСАНДР МАЛЛЕЕВ:ИСТОРИЯ В ПИСЬМАХ. УФА: ИНФОРМРЕКЛАМА, 2020. 448С.: ИЛ.

The new book by Margarita V. Ageeva presents the family correspondence of the Ufa mayor A.A. Malleev and studies his biography. The epistolary finding and the specific historical context of the story introduce different aspects of the history of urban administration and the everyday life of the provincial nobility in the late 19th – early 20th centuries. The book has become an original contribution to regional historiography, and its author has revised some of the conclusions of his predecessors, based on a metahistorical narrative. Information about the origin and genealogical relations of the family surname sheds light on the formation of the official elite in the eastern provinces as a result of the industrial development of the region in the 18th century and the reforms of local government and the court system in the post-reform period. The epistolary material recreates a portrait of personal qualities of the modernizers and testifies to the formation of new personnel in the provinces – the carriers of a genuine democratic culture. The author analyzes the influence of ethical views of officials on managerial decision-making as a central problem poorly developed in institutional history. The author traced it on the example of the events of the 1905 revolutionary crisis in Ufa. The discourse of private correspondence contains a lot of valuable evidence on the family life of the Malleevs, their religious identity and methods of raising children, on cultural and everyday life of the urban elite of a provincial town. The style and spelling of the letters, as well as the turns of phrase and the accepted spelling of certain words at that time, have remained unchanged, which increases the value of the source. The literal capture of the smallest details of everyday history make the book a practical tool for museum workers, fashion historians and other professionals.

Global Position Analysis during Official Elite Female Beach Volleyball Competition: A Pilot Study

The aim of this study was to quantify the physical demands of female beach volleyball competition with reference to player position, set, and match outcome. Twelve professional players were equipped with a 10 Hz GPS device (Minimax S4, Catapult Sports, Australia). Data collection occurred over 30 official matches, with a total of 50 sets. GPS output variables were related to position (e.g., Defenders and Blockers). Differences between players’ positions were found in Peak Player Load, the distance covered at different intensities, and acceleration and deceleration. Variations during the match were more pronounced for Defenders than for Blockers, with the former increasing the intensity of acceleration and deceleration, and decreasing the velocity of displacements and lower jumps. For Blockers, main variations occurred between the first and second set, with a reduction in velocity displacements and an increase in the intensity of jumps. Defender variables that contributed to victory were high deceleration, velocity, acceleration, and Peak Player Load. The characteristics of Blockers that contributed to victory were maximum velocity and high jumps. Female beach volleyball players seem to have different physiological requirements according to their position. The analysis of these variations throughout the game suggests that a specific player’s position output may be determined by proper and/or opponent tactical schemes.

About Seraph’s arrow and St. Michael’s shield. A poem by priest Dominik Zabłocki OP for Countess Teresa Barbara Radziwill Pac on the occasion of her name day

In the second half of the eighteenth century a lot of occasional poems were published in Vilnius. Their authors were often representatives of various orders: the Piarists, the Jesuits, the Basilians, the Dominicans. Name day poems enjoyed great popularity, which was influenced by the intensive development of various forms of social life. Name day poems were part of “home muse” or family poetry. The authors often addressed their works to representatives of the political and official elite of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, who played an important role in the public and political life of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. The poems were more often devoted to the representatives of the male lineage due to their social status and functions, although it happened that women, especially representatives of influential families in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, were also the recipients of these poems. The article discusses an occasional work by a priest Dominik Zabłocki, Dominican friar, devoted to Countess Teresa Barbara Pacowa of the Dukes of Radziwills – a lady of the Austrian Order of the Starry Cross. The poem describes her personal merits, the merits of her husband and family, referring to the rich symbolism of the coat of arms of the Pac, the Radziwill and the Zawisza families from which Teresa Pacowa’s mother was descended. This piece of work undoubtedly belongs to the group of texts that were addressed to a wider audience and performed a political and propaganda function.

Everyday Life of the Late Byzantine Imperial Court Viewed by the Contemporary

The Imperial court was the center of political life of the Byzantine Empire. It was the place where the Emperor, government departments, bureaucracy and the highest nobility were concentrated. The informal life of the Byzantine court, unlike its ceremonial life, is poorly studied by scientists. This article is devoted to the study of the daily life of the Imperial court of the time of the Palaeologoi dynasty and court manners. The main sources are historical and epistolary writings of Byzantine authors and reports of European travelers. Using the methods of historical anthropology, the author of the article studies the specifics of the Palace life, especially the work of court services, court etiquette, as well as characterizes the manners of the official elite and the rules of life at court.

‘Ungentlemanly capitalism’: John Hay and Malaya, 1904–1964

ABSTRACT John Hay was one of Britain’s leading colonial capitalists, building his career from the 1900s to the 1960s in Malaya’s plantation industry. He became the leading spokesperson for the British rubber growers, and played a major role in the formulation of international restriction schemes during the 1930s. Hay was a remarkable entrepreneurial talent, consolidating his corporate power through the premiere Malayan agency house, Guthrie & Co. This in itself challenges the notion that Britain’s myriad of ‘free-standing’ companies, which were typical of direct investment in the Empire, represented a relatively weak and unsustainable form of multinational enterprise. But Hay’s dominance of the Malayan plantation sector also questions the notion of ‘gentlemanly capitalism’ as the driving force behind the expansion and sustenance of the British imperial system. Hay’s network of colonial corporate influence did not extend into the corridors of ‘gentlemanly capitalist’ power in Whitehall and the City, where he often had frosty relations. Ultimately, it was the financial sector in London that brought about Hay’s forced resignation from Guthrie in 1963. Examining questions of class, ethnicity, personality, ideology and strategy, the article focuses on why Hay did not develop better relations with commercial, financial and official elites, issues that would also engender tensions with the post-colonial political and business leadership of Malaya/Malaysia.

‘In what orbit we shall find ourselves, no one could predict’: institutional reform, the university merger and ecclesiastical influence on Irish higher education in the 1960s

AbstractThis paper explores the persistence of ecclesiastical influence on higher education in Ireland during an era of far-reaching policy change in the 1960s. The extensive interaction between political and official elites and the Catholic bishops offers a fascinating insight into the complex and contested process of policy formulation during an era of transformation in higher education. This study offers a re-interpretation of Whyte’s thesis that the Irish bishops displayed a ‘new flexibility’ in their response to governmental policy initiatives during this period, especially the initiative for university merger launched by Donogh O’Malley in 1967. Catholic prelates, notably John Charles McQuaid, the influential archbishop of Dublin, were pursuing a traditional Catholic religious and socio-political agenda in higher education, which sought not so much to accommodate new official initiatives as to shape such reforms in the ideological direction favoured by the bishops. McQuaid in particular enjoyed exceptional access to policy-makers and was an indispensable partner in launching the initiative for the university merger. The eventual failure of the merger, which was influenced by the successful resistance of academic elites and the declining significance of religious divisions in higher education, underlined the limits of ecclesiastical power in a rapidly changing society.

Reign-seeking and the Rise of the Unelected in Thailand

ABSTRACTThis article develops the concept of “reign-seeking” to capture the unprecedented collective action of the Thai professional and official elite prior to the 2014 military coup and the establishment of a military regime. It argues that this phenomenon reflects broad and deep political dynamics, for which the dominant scholarship on authoritarianism and Thai politics cannot adequately explain. The changing incentives of these supposedly non-partisan actors are interwoven with neo-liberal governance reform driven by a desire for depoliticisation and the minimisation of rent-seeking. This idea has been rationalised in Thailand since the promulgation of the 1997 Constitution resulting in the rise of technocratic and judicial bodies designed to discipline elected politicians and political parties. However, such institutional reconfigurations have consolidated the incentive for people considering themselves to be prospective candidates to “reign” in these organisations. As evident in the 2014 coup, these unconventional political actors – academics, doctors and civil society leaders – made collective efforts to topple the elected government in exchange for gaining selection into the wide range of unelected bodies. Governance reform in Thailand has hitherto reinforced the status quo, although the article further argues that reign-seekers should be seen as contingent, rather than consistent, authoritarians.

The 2014 Thai Coup and Some Roots of Authoritarianism

ABSTRACTThailand is the only country currently ruled by a coup-installed military government. The 2014 coup aimed not only to abolish the influence of Thaksin Shinawatra but also to shift Thailand’s politics in an authoritarian direction. While the army authored the coup, the professional and official elite played a prominent role in engineering the coup and shaping political reforms. This article examines some historical antecedents of this authoritarian turn, first in the broad trends of Thailand’s modern political history, and second in the emergence and political evolution of the Bangkok middle class.

Fashion and the world of the women of the VOC official elite

During the early modern period material culture increasingly started to serve as symbols of identity and status rather than merely fulfilling a basic need. One example of such possessions that was particularly relevant for demonstrating social position was clothing. By using markers of distinction such as clothing, individuals could affirm or reaffirm their identities and could denote an association with a certain status group. At the Cape, this means of distinction was employed by the social elite that consisted of a small group of senior officials with the Governor at the head. The Governor was appointed by the VOC and in all cases but one, was not locally born. Equally, many members of the VOC elite were temporarily stationed at the Cape and would return to Europe or move to another VOC station at the end of their tenure, most often taking their wives and daughters with them. The aim of this article is to discuss women belonging to the VOC elite of Cape society and to determine whether these women maintained their status through the use of status objects (in particular clothing and other items used for personal adornment). The second aim of the article is to assess what effect this use of clothing as a symbol of status had on the social consciousness surrounding the importance or unimportance of particular objects. The article will also aim to determine how these women in the top echelons of Cape society influenced and determined what types of fashion, dress and accessories were seen as status objects.

O zmianie instytucjonalnej w Europie w okresie kryzysu

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the specificity of institutional changes taking place in the framework of European integration, with particular emphasis on the crisis. Have these changes been increasingly often introduced by non-democratic methods in order to improve their efficiency? Regardless of whether they are gradual (incremental) or radical, are they implemented as a result of informal and discreet agreements reached in the restricted circles of the political and official elite, and bypassing citizens? Can one refer to national democracy without harming the progressing integration of the Old Continent? The analysis is based on two examples – the amendments to EU treaties concluded by the establishment of the Lisbon Treaty in 2007 and expanding the powers of the European Central Bank at the time of the eurozone crisis.

Harmony through Holistic Engagement: An Emic Model of Greater East Asian Regionalism

This study applies grounded theory to develop an emic substantive theory of regional integration in Greater East Asia. The role of norms and policies is explored through discursive content analysis of a wide theoretical sample of official elite policy statements dealing with regionalism and related policy areas. A resulting model of regional integration titled "Harmony through Holistic Engagement" is then discussed in relation to the etic consensus on the phenomenon. The study concludes that the etic consensus on the nature of regional integration in Greater East Asia greatly differs from the results of an emic approach and thus reflects a normative consensus rather than a descriptive reality.

A quiet revolution – International influence, domestic elites and the transformation of higher technical education in Ireland 1959–72

The upgrading of higher technical education which began in the 1960s marked the most influential intervention by the Irish government in the third-level sector since the establishment of the independent Irish state. A series of reforming initiatives extended educational opportunity and transformed the status of technical education at higher level. International pressures undoubtedly proved influential in stimulating policy change. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) encouraged far-reaching reforms through its critical evaluation of educational facilities for technical training in Ireland. But educational reform was not imposed by international agencies on a reluctant corps of national politicians and officials. International influences dovetailed with changing attitudes toward technical education within the Irish political and official elite. Leading politicians and public officials showed an increasing awareness that the previous neglect of technical education was untenable in an era of economic development and educational expansion. It was a timely combination of international scrutiny and domestic political re-appraisal, which triggered a radical restructuring and expansion of higher technical education in Ireland.

Ethnic identity and the nationality issue in contemporary Soviet literature

The Soviet Union is a country consisting of roughly one hundred and eighty nationalities. Great Russians account for only about half the population. These nationalities are joined by a common fate: to more or less the same degree, they all have endured decades of communist dictatorship. In spite of this common fate, the peoples of the Soviet Union are quite dissimilar. They differ, often quite markedly, with respect to their languages, religions, histories, level of modernization, the degree to which their traditions have been preserved, and their conceptions of the future. Even the totalitarian government of the USSR has been unable to reduce the myriad of ethnic groups to a common denominator. In fact, the official elite of non-Russian peoples-not to mention their cultural elite, however weak it may be-have inevitably been gravitating toward greater autonomy and even separatism. (Here, one should make a distinction between issues concerning the preservation of ethnic identity and the nationality question which involves issues of political power, although issues of both kinds are usually closely related.) Outwardly this separatism expresses itself and is kept within the framework of the Soviet institutions and the lexicon of Soviet ideology. Only in the samizdut press are the limitations of “Newspeak” cast away, replaced with the language of traditional nationalism (and chauvinism) dating back to the 19th century. Such a samizdut press exists in the Ukraine, in the Baltic republics, in the Caucasus (especially Armenia), and also in Russia. In the sumizdut press the question of independence from the Soviet Union arises, a question which the Soviet elite has not taken seriously up to now. Despite the multitude of taboos in official Soviet culture, the taboo against serious discussion of the nationality question has always been, shall we say, “first among equals.” In the epoch ofglasnost andperestroiku-and even slightly earlier-the taboo has nonetheless started to crack. I will attempt to trace several of these events and their possible implications. The well-known Kirghiz writer Chingiz Aitmatov appeared in Literuturnuyu Guzetul with a statement that it is necessary to preserve linguistic diversity as long as possible; the disappearance of even one small people and language signifies the impoverishment of the world (here Aitmatov, incidentally, concurs with Solzhenitsyn). In the same article Aitmatov, although restrained, speaks unequivocally of Russilication, of mechanical borrowings from the Russian, of the inappropriate eulogies of Russia which for many have become almost a profession, and of careerist charges that the protectors of Kirghiz culture are nationalist and “narrow-minded.” The Baltic people are also speaking out (although the local languages and cultures in the Baltic region are in a significantly better position).*

IX. Between Empire Building and State Formation. Official Elites in Java and Mughal India

The reason to compare the recent histories of India and Indonesia was that they were the scenes of the two most extensive and populous colonial empires of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The decision to push back the comparison to the pre-colonial era meant loosing track of the vital focus of the enterprise. Moreover, pre-colonial India presents a unity in only some respects whereas Indonesia as a territorial concept did not even exist then. The tendency of Indonesianists to focus, for convenience's sake, on the island of Java seems to become inescapable. This confronts those on the Indian wing of the comparison with the dilemma to what extent they are entitled to give up Indian unity and if they do, what part of India compares best with insular Java. Especially fit for comparison seem the regional states of South India: Vijayanagar, Madurai etc. Both the rice-based economies of the South Indian states and their size suggests this. Although Java became the core region of one of the colonial empires, whereas the South Indian states would stay at the periphery of the other, such a comparison could well be fruitful.