Political Mission Research Articles

Noi tendințe în analiza sincronică și diacronică a minorității germane din Bucovina

"The “Bukowina-Institut” [Bukovina Institute] in Augsburg was founded in 1988, at the initiative of Georg Simnacher, a politician who, at that time, was the president of the Schwaben Regional Council. The purpose of the institute was to research on scientific bases the multiethnic and multicultural space of Bukovina and to create efficient bridges of communication and collaboration with institutions and organizations from historical Bukovina, located on the territory of Romania and Ukraine. There was a close collaboration between the institute and the “Landsmannschaft der Buchenlanddeutschen”, an organization that was founded in 1949 in Munich to represent the social and cultural interests of the Bukovinian Germans in the Federal Republic of Germany. It can therefore be admitted that the institute in Augsburg had both a scientific and a political mission. It must be pointed out, however, that the political mission was fully in line with the fundamental principles and values that formed the basis for the building of the European Union. In 2003 the institute was integrated into the University of Augsburg and the fundamental directions of activity changed. The researchers newly co-opted in the Bukovina Institute were of the opinion that in the past too much importance was given to the research of the German aspects of the Bukovinaʼs culture and civilization. Then, it was considered that in the 1990s, due to the affinity and interdependence existing between the institute and the organization “Landsmannschaft der Buchenlanddeutschen”, the historical sources were not critically approached, being capitalized mainly narratives meant to give a meaning and a collective identity to the “Christian Germanophones” from Bukovina. In the present work are highlighted, on the basis of studies regarding the Bukovinian Germans, some new tendencies that manifest themselves in the current German historiography. "

The Church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Chicago: A Complicated Story of the Search for Lithuanian Identity

Summary The article examines the complicated history of the search for Lithuanian identity in the church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Chicago. After leaving their homeland in the aftermath of World War II, the Lithuanian community struggled to maintain its national identity under difficult conditions of emigration. The search for a Lithuanian architectural character became an important part of this political task. Based on a case study, a church near Chicago’s densely populated Marquette Park in Lithuania, the text analyzes the Lithuanian community’s debate about the cultural and political mission of Lithuanian architecture in exile, and the way to express it. Although the concept of the national style had already emerged at the beginning of the twentieth century, post-war technological progress and the unfamiliar context of emigration brings additional questions to the subject. The article argues that historical reminiscences in the church are more an ethical than an aesthetic choice. This approach embodies the specific cultural expectations of the community and is, at least partially, in line with the critique of modernism from regionalist point of view.

Genealogies of African Nationalism and the Idea of Africa

The historiography of the African nationalist movement in South Africa tends to focus on the struggle for political liberation. Whatgets marginalised, often, is that early African nationalists envisioned their political mission as not only bringing about inclusive freedom, but also to establish what they called ‘the ‘New Africa’ or ‘the regeneration of Africa’. The purpose of this paper is to discuss critically the idea of Africa—the New Africa—that leading early African nationalist intellectuals such as Pixley ka Isaka Seme, SelopeThema, Selby Msimang, Anton Lembede and Herbert Dhlomo advocated. This paper explores commonalities and differences in their imaginings and idea of Africa, and demonstrates the significance that political and intellectual currents from the African diaspora had in shaping the notion of the ‘New Africa’ that they advocated. By focusing on this idea at the heart of the African nationalist political tradition, the paper challenges scholarship that often dismisses early African nationalists as conservative, influenced by their experiences in mission communities, or by an eagerness to become loyal subjects of the British Empire.

The socio-ecological fix by multi-scalar states: The development of ‘Greenways of Paradise’ in Chengdu

This paper examines the recent green turn in China by investigating a large-scale urban greenway project. Using the perspective of the socio-ecological fix, we demonstrate that multi-scalar states strive to upgrade environmental quality. Specifically, the local state seizes the opportunity for ‘ecological civilisation’ envisioned by the central state to carry out green infrastructure development. We reveal complex motivations to incorporate ecological changes into entrepreneurial urban governance instead of encroaching greenspace for economic growth. Our state-centred analysis reveals that such an environmental strategy, the making of Chinese green urbanism, is promoted like a political mission, despite its operation by the development corporation. We argue that, while the socio-ecological fix facilitates capital accumulation, its deployment must be understood through state politics and actors.

Kyai Pesantren dan Politik Uang dalam Pilkada Indonesia: Kedudukan Kyai dalam Bernegosiasi dengan Demokrasi Neoliberal

The article about Kyai pesantren and money politics in the Indonesian elections, aims to explain the position of Kyai in the political configuration of neoliberal democracy, between idealism and pragmatism. This study uses a qualitative method of phenomenological studies. The results of the study explain that the role of Kyai pesantren in the political space of Pilkada has increased over the last few decades or after the political reforms rolled after the collapse of the New Order regime in 1998. In line with the increasing awareness of education and political insight of pesantren. Kyai is often an important element in any political consolidation of Pilkada (Indonesia’s Regional Head Election). Kyai in Pilkada is like a socio-political instrument that cannot be left behind like magic in politics. Kyai's fatwa and political support have always been a role model for the community. This phenomenon is in line with the paternalistic nature of people's lives and the political culture of the Indonesian people cannot be separated from the socio-political religion. Kyai as candradimuka companions for the people who teach religion and social norms, are unable to patch up the flow of money politics in the neo-liberal democratic system. Every moment of the Pilkada, Kyai becomes a political broker and is trapped in the paragmatism of money politics. The idealism of pesantren which should be a political mission has been defeated by the hegemony of the political ideology of neoliberalism. So that the political mission shifts from the politics of struggle for amar ma'ruf nahi munkar to pragmatism of money politics.

Research on the Path of Integrating the Red Gene into the Moral Education of Translation Course

Red gene is the spiritual core and “genetic map” of red culture and it is the political mission and responsibility of colleges to implement “educating people with moral values”. The teaching objectives, teaching contents and teaching methods of the translation courses integrate with the education of red gene, which is conducive to the implantation of red gene in the moral education of the translation course. It is carried out by introducing the history of red translation, integrating the local red gene and “Internet+ Red Culture Resource Project”. The high degree of integration between red gene and translation course in both theoretical and practical dimensions is good for the formation of a synergy of red culture education and cultivation of talents in translation course. By finding out the integration between the red gene and translation expertise, we can establish the inner relationship in a seamless way through the systematic design of translation course to achieve the “genetic” integration.

Alternative Solution for Indonesian Political and Ideological Problems

This article aims to elaborate on the narrative of Hizb ut-Tahrir in Indonesia on addressing Indonesian problems. This group has existed for over twenty years in Indonesia. As part of a global movement, HT has a single mission to call Muslim people to implement Islam and shariah as the state ideology and law. On the other hand, Muslims should leave the secular ideology adopted in the Muslim world today. This article will discuss HT`s perspective on Islam and secular thought like democracy, nationalism, and liberalism in the Indonesian context. This issue will be explained through framing theory in social movement study that will help to understand how a movement perceives the root of the social problem, offers the solution, and invite people to join the movement. this article argues that Hizb ut-Tahrir has used framing approach to disseminate its ideological and political mission in Indonesia.

Modern Imagology: Significance and Development Prospects

With the revival of nationalism and identity politics, imagological studies that analyze attitudes, stereotypes and prejudices about one’s own and others’ national character are becoming increasingly relevant. These studies investigate relationships that govern rhetoric, discursive representation, literary activity, and ultimately international relations in general. Imagology is currently intensively developing in literary criticism and other humanities, which also determines the relevance of this study. The purpose of this review article is to analyze scientific publications on the theoretical and practical aspects of imagology over the past 10 years in order to determine its significance and development prospects in the era of globalization. Тhe object of the study is the significance and prospects for the development of imagology; the subject of the study are scientific publications on imagological topics over the past 10 years. The choice of sources for this review was made by the keyword imagology on the following resources: Scopus, Cyberleninka, as well as Imagologica.eu — a site dedicated to imagological research over the past 10 years. An analysis of the main specialized series and collections of articles on imagology was carried out in order to identify the predominant topics of publications and confirm the role of imagology in literary criticism and other humanities. The study of modern Russian and foreign publications on imagological topics has shown that the modern environment is open to studying the discursively constructed nature of many social and cultural values. Thus, a large number of publications on imagological topics testify to the importance of modern imagology, its great prospects and continuous development. The analysis showed the main directions of research in modern imagology and proved that at present imagology is not concerned with isolated images, but with their relationships and associative links with other images, chronological boundaries of the dispersion of images, and shifts in content elements. Combining various approaches of contextual analysis (socio-historical, ethno-psychological and cultural-political), makes the imagological method effective and universal. It must be emphasized that imagology takes on the political mission of deconstructing nationalist reasoning and thus contributes to a better understanding between peoples. In cross-cultural, transnational and globalization studies, imagology has the potential to break stereotypes that oppose nations to each other and to find ways to interact.

Depoliticizing China's Grassroots NGOs: State and Civil Society as an Institutional Field of Power

AbstractThis article employs ethnographic fieldwork and interviews to examine two distinct processes of depoliticization by non-governmental organizations advocating rights for sex workers in China. Drawing upon Bourdieu and institutional theory, we argue that the consolidation of state repression of civil society under the Xi regime created an institutional field of power to which two NGOs responded differently. While one of them relied on government procurement as its major funding source, thus diluting the original mission, the other internalized state rhetoric as it sought political legitimacy through state certification, thus sanitizing its political mission. These distinct responses were then institutionalized into organizational practices, norms and culture. Rather than portraying NGOs in China as either capable political actors or pawns of an authoritarian state, this article illustrates how NGOs are subtly depoliticized by being inculcated in a state-produced, hierarchical social order in which compliance with state norms becomes synonymous with organizational competence.

Financial professionals and the formation of proprietarian ideology

Financial professionals and the formation of proprietarian ideology

Lady Clara Cavendish: Reynolds and Rymer’s Political Hoax

In 1858, G. W. M. Reynolds’s (1814–79) popular penny periodical Reynolds’s Miscellany introduced a new ‘authoress’, Lady Clara Cavendish. Reynolds bragged that Cavendish’s novels would reveal Hanoverian court corruption—for a great price, which he happily paid. However, as some Victorian critics speculated, Cavendish was herself a fiction. She and her novels are in fact the inventions of Reynolds and his regular employee James Malcolm Rymer (1814–84), who in the 1840s created ‘Sweeney Todd’ and ‘Varney, the Vampire’ for the penny blood publisher Edward Lloyd. This essay contends that Reynolds and Rymer’s Cavendish is not a random collection of pieces united merely by a byline. Instead, Cavendish’s supposed productions combine with paratextual material such as Reynolds’s advertising to articulate a consistent personality. Reading the Cavendish phenomenon as a holistic literary corpus reveals that in creating it, Reynolds and Rymer advance a didactic and political mission. In keeping with their involvement in Chartism, the Cavendish hoax enlists the rhetoric of ‘Old Corruption’ to support Chartist ideals, especially the political awakening of the ‘industrious millions’. By presenting Cavendish as an aristocrat and court insider, Reynolds and Rymer invest their political critique with authority they could not otherwise have achieved. For Reynolds and Rymer, therefore, the hoax did not constitute a departure or escapist fantasy, but a potentially more persuasive affirmation of the ideological commitments that they shared. Reading it today throws into bold relief those shared perspectives, which critics are only beginning to recover and re-appraise.

Liberalism in Cambodia: Broken Lineages

ABSTRACT This article seeks to recover strands of liberalism in Cambodian politics from the period leading up to Independence onwards. It uses Bell’s (2014) summative conception of the liberal tradition, which understands liberalism contextually as a constructed and contested historical phenomenon. The starting point of the analysis is liberalism from the vantage point of the present: today’s half-hearted liberals, and those they may bring up when tracing a liberal genealogy. It is argued that the intersection with global liberalism currently is this: while today’s democratic opposition does not seek to ‘translate’ liberalism into Cambodian terms, it considers its own political mission to be part of a global liberal-democratic agenda when translating Cambodian realities to the global context. The article makes a claim for something that never came to be: broken lineages retrieved from undersized engagements with liberalism, enmeshed in other political agendas. Tracing the stunted circulation of liberal idioms, it is argued, allows us to see the comparatively familiar history of the more dominant political ideologies and projects differently.

UNAMA MISSION IN AFGHANISTAN

The aim of this study is to evaluate the success or failure of a special political mission UNAMA, based on the evaluation framework of Paul Diehl and Daniel Druckman. It is adapted to the context of the Afghan environment. The criteria for the mission success evaluation and its volume can be used for the problems and defects identification of allies` effort in Afghanistan during the period of 2001 – 2021.

Beyond Propaganda: The Changing Journalistic Practices of China’s Party Press in the Digital Era

ABSTRACT To embrace the digital transformation, the Party press in China started to set up official accounts on social media platforms, hoping to strengthen the CCP’s legitimacy while satisfying audiences’ expectations. This study focuses on the case of Xiake_Island, an official WeChat account affiliated with the Party newspaper, People’s Daily, and tries to explore how new media technology redefines its journalistic practices. Through close observations and in-depth interviews, this study found that propaganda still dominates the production process, but the editors have incorporated some elements of commercialism and professionalism into their practices. They pay more attention to the objectivity and attractiveness of the stories in an attempt to weaken their mouthpiece role. To seek the balance between the political mission and audience demand, the editors of Xiake_Island have developed some strategies. Targeting elite audiences, Xiake_Island produces only high-quality, in-depth stories. When covering negative stories, it criticizes policy implementation by the local government while avoids questioning the legitimacy of the Party’s policies. Being firmly subordinate to the CCP, the editors will continue to accomplish their propaganda mission more subtly and softly in cyberspace.

City of Beginnings: Poetic Modernism in Beirut

City of Beginnings: Poetic Modernism in Beirut

Villar Palasí: Sobre tecnocracia y dirección escolar

University Professor José Luis Villar Palasí took charge of the Ministry of Science and Education in April 1968, after being nominated by the technocratic sector of the Government, with the political mission and personal conviction of reshaping the organisational structures of education in an attempt to stem the increasing unrest at universities. Nonetheless, he soon came to learn that the Spanish educational system as it stood required a complete renovation if it was to join the ranks of other advanced educational systems in the last quarter of the 20th century. In order to complete this task he recruited a team of qualified technocrats, most of them having independent political views and associations with international agencies and institutions. This ministerial team carried out a diagnosis of the imbalances and contradiction of the educational system at the time and then put forward a proposal for an educational reform, laid out in the so called Libro blanco (White Book). This document would become the foundational plan for the new General Education Act of 1970. However, regarding the matter of academic management, the wording of the Law deviated from the proposals made in Libro blanco, suppressing the Board of Directors. This work reflects on the ideological and political circumstances of the educational reform and Minister Villar Palasí himself. We also attempt to provide some clues as to the causes that led to the abolition of the Corps of Directors.

Educating those who matter: Thomas Whittemore, Russian refugees and the transnational organization of elite humanitarianism after the First World War

ABSTRACT This article examines the work of the Committee for the Education of Russian Youth in Exile (CERYE) and its founder, the American scholar Thomas Whittemore. Established during the Russian Civil War, the CERYE rescued displaced Russian youth from Constantinople and placed them in schools and universities across Europe, but only if they could demonstrate sufficient intellectual merit. It made a virtue of its elitism and Whittemore revelled in its selectivity; the committee intended that its students would return to Russia following the completion of their education and constitute a new intellectual elite once the Bolshevik government had fallen. The article contributes to the growing historiography on humanitarianism in the era of the First World War by emphasizing that elitism and selectivity co-existed with discourses of universal suffering when describing the needs of displaced students. The article traces the emergence of the CERYE at the end of the First World War and explores its anti-Bolshevik political mission, its funding network in North America, and the experiences of a number of its students. It argues that the work of the CERYE was inherently anti-Bolshevik and an example of what Charles Maier called the ‘recasting of bourgeois Europe’. The article sheds light on an overlooked element of First World War era humanitarianism, namely, the many small-scale and amateur organizations which co-existed alongside larger bodies such as Save the Children. Assured of the financial support of an influential network of likeminded donors in America, Whittemore’s committee could pursue a narrowly focused and highly elitist humanitarian mission in the early 1920s.

М.М. Сперанский: у истоков политической системы РФ

The purpose of this work is to identify the role and significance of M.M. Speransky as the founder of a theoretically sound, holistic and systemic liberal doctrine in Russia. The article uses such methods of scientific research as the historical method, the retrospective method, and the hermeneutical method. The question of the founding fathers of Russian liberalism, which ideologically has a serious impact on all spheres of modern public life, continues to be quite controversial in the historical and political science literature. From the research position of the author of the article, it is M.M. Speransky stands at the origins of Russian liberalism. During the were identified the most important theoretical parameters of the richest philosophical, political, legal heritage of Speransky, on which were based all the ideologues of Russian liberalism, till our days: the adoption of Western political experience, a focus on the formation of civil society in Russia, the need for government guarantees the rights and freedoms of the individual, etc. these parameters are presented as individual subsections, at the end conclusions and generalizations. The article also provides information about the personality of M.M. Speransky, the most important stages of his biography and political and legal activities. According to Speransky, the effectiveness of ways, methods and forms of Russian transformations increases with the skillful borrowing of Western experience, gradual "grafting" of useful elements of the legal system and political culture of the advanced countries of Western Europe. He saw his political mission as the reorganization of Russian absolutism and potential despotism into a form of constitutional monarchy based on the separation of powers and subordination to a single ("root") law. The "root law" should provide for the interests and aspirations of all the main elements of society, and the rights and freedoms of all Russian citizens will be firmly respected. This will also ensure a response from the bottom up, an increase in social activity of the population, the development of social and individual self-activity, and the emancipation of entrepreneurial talents. M.M. Speransky justified the relationship between the development of liberal trends and the need to form a full-fledged civil society in Russia. The importance of M.M. Speransky gave social mobility for the successful development of society, defended the facilitated opportunities for intersectional movements of Russian subjects.

Global justice, foreign policy, and the law of peoples: a Rawlsian defence of the Commonwealth

ABSTRACT Ever since its entrenching of a fundamentally political mission with the Harare Declaration in 1991, the relevance of the modern Commonwealth has been fiercely contested. Not only has its organisational purpose been questioned but its efficacy in delivering its democratic goals continues to be undermined as well. This article seeks to relocate the debate to within the spheres of political philosophy and normative international relations theory and argues that a defence of the Commonwealth can be found in John Rawls’ The Law of Peoples. This defence, however, is conditioned on and accompanied with a proposal for an open enlargement foreign policy which furthers the Commonwealth’s commitment to global justice.

Dinamika Elit Gereja dalam Panggung Politik

The church is an organizational organization that takes the interests of various church elites and parties to become a competition arena for local political elites. Thus, the elite church became the target of political elites and academics who wanted to seize power. This condition is evident, in various political constellations, religious organizations are laden with political contracts. Involve church elites in political momentum, there is support and response. This research explains how church elites compete on the political front and the views of church members of the church involved in politics. The methodology used is descriptive qualitative by determining informants using a purposive technique, in which the informants are determined based on their capacity to answer questions that are the locus of this study. The informants in the study were 13 people. The research location is in North Halmahera Regency. The results of the research show that political momentum contains political views and interests, thus giving permission to the church split (GMIH). The church elite (pastor) with its theological mission transformed into a practical political mission, the community (congregation) was educated with the political education of race, ethnicity, and religion which was then considered as the truth that all levels of society must accept.