Political Assertion Research Articles

KIEŚLOWSKI’S ARTISTIC REBELLION IN CAMERA BUFF (1979): REFLECTIONS ON THE MORAL ANXIETY CINEMA

This study focuses on Krzysztof Kieślowski’s socio-political commentary and artistic expression in Camera Buff (Amator, 1979). The reason for mapping Kieślowski’s political stance stems from his deep engagement with subtle and profound cinematic expression within the Cinema of Moral Anxiety, where directors skillfully forged artistic avenues as a counter to the dominant narrative and censorship imposed by the socialist realist doctrine. This creative defiance birthed not only a novel approach to filmmaking but also a distinct mode of political assertion in a restrictive environment. Directors within this movement stand as exemplars of conscious opposition to state intervention, fostering unique artistic practices in defiance of oppressive systems. Amidst a political climate marked by censorship and stringent controls, the emergence of the Cinema of Moral Anxiety holds significant political and artistic weight. Within Cinema of Moral Anxiety movement Kieślowski’s Camera Buff reflects his resistance to the dominant political order and its censorship mechanisms. To analyze the distinctive features of Kieślowski’s political cinematic expression and the ways through which he dismantles the system in Camera Buff, this study proceeds in two steps. First, it examines how socialist realism is juxtaposed with the ethos of the Cinema of Moral Anxiety. Second, it examines how Kieślowski employs self-reflexivity and metaphor to reflect the themes of the Cinema of Moral Anxiety in Camera Buff. In both steps, metaphor and self-reflexivity are underlined as potent forms of political stance and expression. This essay concludes by demonstrating how Camera Buff embodies the principles of Moral Anxiety Cinema, offering a critique of societal norms and political oppression through self-reflexive storytelling.

Social issues relating to Vladimir Bekhterev's concept of reflexology: a hitherto underestimated aspect of his work.

This article investigates the diversity of social and political assertions in the work of Vladimir M Bekhterev. Its findings reveal that he drew social and political conclusions based on his doctrine of reflexology. Moreover, he propagated the use of statistical investigations by scientific and governmental institutions to estimate the social and healthcare needs of the population. These conclusions accord with Bekhterev's desire for a transformation of society that would bring continued progress to people's social and living conditions. Additionally, the findings of this research work also support the idea that Bekhterev should be regarded as an important protagonist of neuroethics, a relatively recent field of research.

Defining a ‘Paris Test’ of national contribution to global climate mitigation: the Irish exemplar

Abstract It is commonplace to see political assertions that this or that national climate mitigation plan is “aligned” with the Paris Agreement. It is much less common to see this supported by transparent quantitative analysis, grounded in explicit provision for global climate justice. One interesting exception is the case of Ireland. In this Perspective, we briefly describe, and also critique, this exemplar case of a transparent national “Paris Test” of domestic mitigation ambition. We also comment on the opportunity for generalisation to other Paris Agreement Parties and consider critically what follows. We urge all good faith parties to the Agreement to adopt the genuinely emergency scale responses that are now so manifestly required to meet its laudable - but so far largely aspirational - objectives.


“Shut up and take my money” – narrating state funding, independent journalism, and public trust in Singapore

ABSTRACT In May 2021, Singapore Press Holding (SPH), the country’s newspaper conglomerate, announced its restructuring into a not-for-profit entity in response to the global decline of the news industry. The government pledged an annual S$180m budget to the new SPH Media Trust (SMT), raising concerns about the ability of the news entity to break away from government control, but these were dismissed with political assertions that editorial independence had ‘always existed’. This paper analyses the government-led public discourses surrounding SMT, highlighting a two-prong narrative approach: obfuscate the social role of the media in Singapore, and downplay the need for accountability over public funding for SMT. Applying a Foucauldian framework for evaluating discursive practices in governance and measuring these narratives against public service journalism scholarship, this paper probes the constructed determinants of journalism’s social role in Singapore. It proposes that similar evaluations can be applied to discourse about journalism in other societies.

Drawing the lines: Studying the Common Man caricatures by R.K. Laxman to understand dominant political discourse around legitimate political contestations in postcolonial India

ABSTRACT The paper studies the Common Man political caricatures by R.K. Laxman, a staff cartoonist at the Times of India, to understand dominant political discourses in postcolonial India. It argues that constructs like the ‘common man’ and ‘vote bank’ through popular cultural discourse like caricatures have a critical impact on the political landscape of the country. While the former is associated with an urban English-educated middle class, the latter is used to denote the socially marginalised sections of the electorate voting en masse as a form of political assertion. The latter is perceived as an aberration in the modern secular democracy and its political voice is often delegitimised. Further, the former is associated with economic liberalisation, development and anti-corruption. The paper demonstrates how Laxman’s Common Man is a proponent and mascot of these in the popular imagination. Thereby indicating that the popular cultural archive has indeed had a visible impact on the political, economic and sociological cartography of the nation.

Regionalism in India and Movements

India has been witnessing the onset of the democratic processes that have resulted in the reconfiguration of its politics and economics. Among these processes, most significant has been the assertion of identity politics. There have been struggles around the assertiveness and conflicting claims of the identity groups and of struggles amongst them, often fought out on the lines of region, religion, language (even dialect), caste, and community. These struggles have found expressions in the changed mode of electoral representation that has brought the local/regional into focus with the hitherto politically dormant groups and regions finding voices. A more genuinely representative democracy has led to the sharpening of the line of distinction between or among the identity groups and regions.

Is Social Justice and the City still relevant? Some thoughts

ABSTRACT This year (2023) marks the 50th anniversary of David Harvey’s Social Justice and the City. At the time of its publication, it was viewed by many as a text that revolutionized thinking in urban geography. Since then, it has been subjected to numerous reviews and critiques. Each time, its intellectual strength allowed it to maintain its place in the geography canon. This paper describes my encounters with Social Justice; how I read it in 1978 as an African American woman graduate student in geography; and how I read it now almost 50 years on. I argue that, while Social Justice of the City demonstrates Harvey’s command of an extensive body of literature, it falls short in several ways. First, in its relative silence on the role of capitalism and the capitalist agenda, it lacks the political assertiveness (aggression) that the times required. Second, it fails to acknowledge a socio spatial dialectic or the importance of sociological variables (race/ethnicity, gender, and intersectionality) in planning. Finally, as a theory, it fails to anticipate the intellectual advances in the US and geography. This paper offers a brief synthesis of the ideas in existing reviews but is primarily a personal reflection.

Caste politics, minority representation, and social mobility: the associational life of Muslim caste in India

ABSTRACT Social stratification among Muslims in South Asia, specifically the phenomenon of Muslim caste, has recently gained scholarly and media attention, particularly in India. However, the public discussion – often empirically shallow and politically polarized – fails to adequately explain the mechanisms through which Muslims perpetuate social inequality while invoking egalitarian principles. This special section, based on a panel held at the 2022 BASAS annual conference, aims to contribute to the scholarly and public discourse by advocating for the study of Muslim caste associations. Taking the associational life of caste into account provides a tangible object of study. Moreover, it shifts the focus away from macro-level discussions towards an empirically grounded analysis at the meso- and micro-levels. This introduction explores two central aspects. First, we suggest that caste associations offer a fresh perspective on the study of Muslim social mobility, beyond the oft-assumed imitation of dominant caste groups or Ashrafization. Second, documenting caste associations helps us understand the diversity of Muslim representation, specifically, the tension between Muslim minority politics and Muslim caste politics. Overall, this special section provides multiple examples of Muslims’ associational engagements with caste, which encompass endeavours as diverse as political assertion, declassing, social exclusion, or universal charitable aspirations.

Understanding of the norm of political discourse

It is argued that understanding is the norm of political discourse, and it is shown why political assertions can be epistemically problematic within a liberal democracy even when asserted knowledgeably.

The politics of rhetoric: examining popular discourse in Jammu and Kashmir

This study examines diverse political slogans in Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) from 1947 to 2019. It discusses the rhetorical impacts of these slogans and how they impacted and shaped the diverse ideological orientations across the different regions of J&K. Building on the rhetorical function that political assertion serves through the use of slogans, the article analyses slogans that have shaped the cultural and political trajectory of J&K since 1947. The analysis is insightful for understanding the political history of J&K and the role of institutions and processes like the party system and elections in the smooth functioning of democracy. Though considerable literature exists on J&K’s politics and conflict, however, the subject of slogans has remained largely neglected, despite the significance that they hold for a comprehensive historical understanding of the region. Studying this subject, we believe, not only opens a political window to analyse regional history differently but also highlights how the rhetorical functions of political assertions shape popular opinions and hold the potential to impact thought patterns and cultural settings. Strategies to develop slogans and how the political parties and other groups used them will be analysed contextually and the developments that have shaped the modern political history of J&K.

Theoretical Connotation and Practical Path of People's City in the Perspective of Ecological Civilization

“People’s city is built for the people and by the people” provides new directions and research perspectives from the overall and strategic perspective of the future development of cities, and expounds on the development concept of global cities of excellence. Based on the political assertion of social contradictions, the paper begins with an analysis of the relationship between the city and the people, the essentials of environment and development, and the realistic demands of the goal of excellence from a values perspective. This study puts forward the theoretical model, basic connotation, and object task. And then, establishes the measurement indicators of people's city development from the perspective of decoupling development theory. Finally, the four aspects of ecology, humanities, innovation, and governance, extract the policy path to the promotion of people’s city development.

Diaspora in the Cyberspace: Assertion of Identity, Virtual Home, and International Politics

Developments in the field of science and technology revolutionized the field of information technology that culminated in the superhighways of internet that enabled not only the fasted transfer of information but also the cyberspace, a virtual world parallel to the physical world. However it is not a neutral space the same power struggles, hierarchies, and hegemonies which are present in the physical world also contaminate the virtual space. This parallel universe though owned by transnational capitalists provides a space and means to register dissenting voices which is central to diaspora narratives along with many other dissenting groups. It provides an opportunity to the otherwise dispersed diaspora groups to meet each other, unite as a comprehensive community, and constitute a virtual nations in the cyberspace. Though it provides a platform to the dissenting voices, it is not neutral and completely benign. According to some scholars it is the strongest tool of neo-colonialism. Despite its negative aspects the cyberspace has emerged as an alternative space alongside physical space and its physical and ideological dimensions are felt across all spheres of life ranging from economic, political, and socio-cultural to innumerable other spheres. To understand this complex relationship between citizens, nation states, indigenous communities, and diaspora in the cyberspace this research paper brings in Benedict Anderson’s idea of imagined communities along with Michael Foucault’s idea of knowledge and power and foregrounds the complexities of the diaspora’s relationship with it.

淸末民初 시기 杜亞泉의 정치개혁 방안- ‘減政主義’를 중심으로

This thesis examines the political reform method of Du Yaquan -Editor-in-chief of 『Eastern Miscellany(東方雜誌)』 in the 1910s-, during the period before and after the Xinhai Revolution. To analyze his thoughts on politics of that time, I focused on ‘Reducing Politics Policy(減政主義)’, a political methodology advocated by Du Yaquan himself. Before the Xinhai Revolution, Du yaquan viewed the Late Qing reforms had no practical effect. Although reform by Qing were focusing on institutional changes and adapting foreign politics. Du said that China needs is “Reducing Politics Policy” which is “consolidating and reducing government offices, reducing the number of officials, and reducing government affairs” as its core. Du thought that if the political reforms promoted by the Qing continued, it would lead to the “disappearance of politics,” which would then lead to a “collapsing of economy” since the vitality of society would be terminated. The important argument of the ‘Reducing Politics Policy’ was that, Chinese people must change the idea of government and politics being superior to society. And also the idea of government taking lead on society should be abandoned as well. Du claimed that ‘Reducing Politics Policy’, which opposes the quantitative increasement of politics, is “a new trend in various country’s society and an old experience of Chinese politics”. He also insisted that political development in the true sense should be achieved through this method. After the establishment of the Republic of China, Du''s perception and assertion of politics faced a new phase. He pointed out that it is urgent to solve the problems which existed since late Qing, such as ''the problem of centralization, excessive foreign debt, and financial disorder''. These situation lead him to emphasize the need for ''Reducing Politics Policy''. After the establishment of the Republic of China, Du added new obejective for ''Reducing Politics Policy'', which was to break down bureaucracy in China.

Can migrants be indigenous? Affirmative action, space, and belonging in the Andaman Islands

AbstractIn India, the contested category of Scheduled Tribes (STs) is enacted in order to socially uplift certain indigenous communities. This article concentrates on analysing the intersection between modes of indigenous self-definition, political assertion, and localized conceptualizations of space and belonging. My ethnographic example from the Andaman Islands focuses on the Ranchis, aboriginal labour migrants from the Chotanagpur plateau in central India. Being classified as STs, both in their homelands and other localities to which they migrated, Ranchi activists seek to accomplish coeval recognition in the Andamans. Their demands to be rewarded for the labourers’ contribution to the islands’ development are complicated by their occupation of non-ancestral lands that were originally inhabited by indigenous hunter-gatherer communities. By narrowing the notion of indigeneity, and hence ST status, down to communities who live on ancestral lands and who are culturally, socially, and economically different to migrant communities, state authorities and activists reject the Ranchis’ demands for affirmative action as Adivasis from but not of the Andamans. Reflecting on the existential relationship between land and people in popular understandings of indigenousness, this article aims to investigate the Ranchis’ claims of being migrants, yet also indigenous, in order to explore alternative possibilities to think through the notion of indigeneity. In so doing, I focus on the Ranchis’ subaltern history of racialized labour migration, their lack of voice within the post-colonial welfare regime, and their striving for autonomy and autarky by applying principles of indigenous knowledge and cosmologies from their homelands to the Andamans.

GOLDEN CALF NARRATIVE: Deuteronomist Ideology of Jeroboam Reformation

Jeroboam 1st is depicted as the prototype for all future evil kings, who are regularly accused According to the books of Kings. Jeroboam accused of established two sanctuaries; Bethel and Dan to rival the temple of Solomon in Jerusalem. These shrines then provoke vehement censure and sin of Jeroboam become paradigmatic of northern apostasy. Underlying the negative depiction of Jeroboam’s cult, however, scholars have found subtle details suggesting that Jeroboam’s cult was traditional and even Yahwistic in nature. His calves may be best understood as familiar Canaanite vehicles for the invisible deity enthroned above them – in this case, Yahweh – comparable to the cherubim in southern cult of Judah. Jeroboam priesthood likely included Levites. And his choices of Dan and Bethel, too, apparently reflected a sensitivity to honor venerable memories of pre-monarchic era. This research aims to explain what Jeroboam did was not a violation of the Yahwistic system of Israel at that time. The establishment of God in Bethel and Dan did not disconcert the status of Yahweh in the treasures of Israel, instead of a form of a political assertion that separated Israel from the arrogance and the power of Judah. By using the method of analyzing historical criticism and literacy, the result is a new perspective of understanding Jeroboam’s reform in Israel - merely a political movement alone. Jeroboam never removed Yahweh from the treasury as the god of Israel. Instead, he retained Yahweh as God who was declared to have led Israel out of Egypt.

Socio-Cultural Heritage, Identity and Political Affirmation through Toponyms in the Far-North Region of Cameroon

If there is one theme in the context of the conservation of onomastic heritage which to rely on, it is undoubtedly toponyms. Indeed, toponymy comes from the Latin word topos which means place and from the Greek onoma which means name. It is the science which studies the names of places. As a science, toponymy is subdivided into several sub-branches and is an important source of knowledge of the past and the preservation of the memory of people. They constitute not only a very precious base of information which must be preserved, but also a spatial mark of the culture of the people occupying or having occupied a given space. In France, the French-speaking division of the United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names was created with the adoption of resolution I/7, by the Seventh United Nations Conference on the Standardization of Geographical Names. This should be applied in North of Cameroon, because actions must be facilitated with UNESCO in the sustainability of the intangible cultural heritage, including toponyms. They are oral tradition in the Far-North and must be recorded in their entirety, preserved and capitalized. In addition, toponyms have an obvious identity stake, because the name conveys the appropriation of identity. But, geographical names are also among the most fragile cultural phenomena, because of their intangible and still very often oral character. In this sense, toponyms must occupy a prominent place in the development process. They are loaded with historical, religious and cosmogonic values. To what extent should toponyms in Far-North Cameroon cultural heritage be preserved? Are they vestiges of an identity or political assertion with regard to current changes?

Disciplinary power and practices of body politics: an evaluation of Dalit women in Bama\u2019s Sangati and P. Sivakami\u2019s The Grip of Change through Foucauldian discourse analysis

Through a Foucauldian reading of Bama’s Sangati (2005) and P. Sivakami’s The Grip of Change (2006a, 2006b), this paper attempts to delineate the permeation and maintenance of disciplinary power in the social structure and assertion of patriarchal politics in the subjugation of Dalit female bodies. The detrimental politics of patriarchal discourse, the paper argues, degrades the existence of Dalit women, and excludes them from the equation of power relations by delimiting their access to society’s productive resources and restricting their sexuality. Disciplinary power, which acts as a patriarchal tool, prescribes acceptable gestures and required behaviour, and through constant surveillance normalizes a dominant male order. It reduces Dalit women’s existence into an amorphous property, readily mutilated and moulded under the whims of a phallocentric order. Discursive practices further constitute practices of body politics, making the female body an object of active site of political struggle. The paper studies Sangati and The Grip of Change as literary exemplars to demonstrate how disciplinary power, as underscored by Foucault’s discourse analysis, intervenes and determines the life of Dalit women. It not only lays bare the covert body politics of patriarchy with the unfiltered depiction of women’s exploitation and atrocities, but also represents a paradigm shift by advocating ways of emancipation for Dalit women.

Beyond Conspiracy and Coordinated Ascendancy: Revisiting Caste Question in West Bengal under the Left Front Rule (1977–2011)

This article has critically engaged with the speculative claim that the disappearance of caste question from public discourse during Left rule in West Bengal was a result of conscious upper-caste ploy to silence articulation of caste interests and tactfully eliminate the possibility of Dalit political assertion. To verify the veracity of this claim, this study has critically scrutinized Left Front’s political mobilization strategy of rural population and also its landmark land reform initiative. The investigation attempted by this article, in this regard, has revealed that there is little to suggest the existence of any organized upper-caste conspiracy. It is, however, true that the articulation and aggregation of political demands along the lines of caste was indeed averted in West Bengal through political tactics and developmental strategies devised by the upper castes. But, the marginalization of the caste question in mainstream politics was an unintended consequence of such political tactics and developmental strategies which were primarily designed with the objective to preserve and enlarge the political support base, rather than to contain the lower castes. Thus, political motives acted as far more important determinants of political and developmental activities rather than any inherent caste bias.

The Political Possibilities of an Administrative Boundary: How the Transforming M-Ward Project ‘Constructed’ the Ward

This article reflects on the significance of an administrative boundary in producing distinctive forms of political assertion. It shows how acts of highlighting the ward boundaries of a marginal suburban ward in Mumbai illuminated an important scale of discriminatory spatial governance and also helped its residents organise and articulate a new politics of infrastructural need at a significant planning scale.

Dilemmas of Democratic Deepening in India: Notes from two North Indian states

AbstractThe political assertion by subalterns (specifically lower and backward castes) that India witnessed from the 1990s onwards, and the formation of governments by parties representing these groups in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, two electorally critical North Indian states, contributed significantly to the deepening of India's democracy. But these lower caste governments met with vehement resistance from privileged strata, and from a section of state actors themselves, in particular, the bureaucracy. These governments adopted a range of strategies to counter this resistance in turn, which had the effect of bringing the procedural and substantive elements of democracy into sharp conflict. The project of lower and backward caste empowerment was defined by a politics of levelling, which placed great value on instantly visible egalitarian outcomes, even when these could only be achieved by denting the rule of law and weakening public institutions. But it was precisely on account of its ability to deliver instant egalitarian fixes (albeit on an ad-hoc and sporadic basis) that this politics commanded so much legitimacy among subordinate groups. Drawing on ethnographic research conducted in Uttar Pradesh, and secondary literature on backward caste politics in Bihar, this article explores the consequences that this prioritizing of right outcomes over proper procedures had on public culture in North India. It argues that this prioritizing of consequences over means bred a widespread impatience with a procedural conception of democracy, which was seen as obstructing the modalities that went to secure justice in real life.