Political Struggle Research Articles

Pan-Africanism and Afrocentrism — current trends of the XXI century: the potential of symbiosis

The object of the study is the movement of pan-Africanism, which arose at the end of the XIX century and the concept of afrocentrism, at the end of the XX century. The first concept, pan-Africanism, turned into a powerful socio-political movement aimed at the national liberation, political struggle of the peoples of Africa against the metropolises, colonialism, as well as other forms of oppression. Afrocentrism was also formed as a tool to combat colonialism, but mentally, spiritually, and culturally. It was created as a tool to support and fight African Americans, the peoples of Africa and representatives of the African diaspora living around the world against the dominance of the Eurocentric model of the world. The subject of the study is the study of the formation of these concepts and the main ideological positions that formed the basis of their ideological foundation. The author examines in detail such aspects as spiritual decolonization, cultural decolonization, and the African personality. Special attention is paid to the study of the semantic core of pan-Africanism and Afrocentrism, the influence of European culture and the position of Africa as an object rather than a subject of history. The purpose of the work is to establish common ideological positions, as well as the possibility of symbiosis to solve the current challenges of the African continent. The methodological basis of the study was the historical approach necessary to restore the picture of past events, which were the basis for the formation of the ideological base of pan-Africanism, Afrocentrism, as well as the emergence of certain provisions. A systematic approach is used to carry out a comprehensive analysis of the relationship between ideological trends and determine the main trends in the development of these relations, methods of deduction, induction and synthesis. The novelty of the research lies in considering the concepts of pan-Africanism and Afrocentrism as complementary and mutually reinforcing parts. Both concepts were born almost a hundred years apart, but their similarity and relevance of ideas remain to this day. About 100 years ago, pan-Africanism called for the decolonization of African countries, and today for the eradication of neo-colonialism. Afrocentrism has common roots with pan-Africanism. The main conclusions of the study showed the possibility of a symbiosis of pan-Africanism and afrocentrism. It can become an effective tool for strengthening African society and obtaining the necessary energy to implement national strategies and protect the interests and values of both individual States and the continent as a whole.

PECULARITIES CONCERNING THE TRANSLATION OF POLITICAL SPEECHES IN THE MODERN PERIOD

The article is devoted to the study of the terminology of political discourse in modern English and the ways of its transmission in the process of translation. The difference between translation and paraphrase or summary, or any kind of adaptation, lies in the correctness and completeness of the information transference. Nowadays, the language is used not only as a means of forming and expressing thoughts, but also as a means of concealing them. In the context of political struggle and the process of transition in the world, the awareness of the fact that political discourse is a linguistic and cultural problem is becoming increasingly stronger. Difficulties in translating political discourse texts are often related to the fact that the boundaries between certain types of political texts are not always clearly defined in scientific research, which makes this topic relevant. Since political discourse is created for the speakers of a particular culture, the translator faces a number of additional challenges when interpreting it into another language. The purpose of translation is to convey the essence of the original thought as accurately as possible to a reader (listener) who does not know the source language. To translate means to express correctly and completely, using the tools of one language, what has already been expressed earlier by means of another language. That is why the purpose of this article is to identify the ways to preserve the fullness of meaning when translating political texts from English into Ukrainian. To define the concept of political discourse; to study the main characteristics of political speeches as a subtype of political discourse; to identify the features of English political speeches; to analyze the ways of translating speeches into Ukrainian. Modern political discourse is characterized by a number of specific features. The point here is not only the use of specific vocabulary determined by political activity, but also in the proper selection and organization of certain structures of expression in accordance with the pragmatic guidelines. Today, in both Ukrainian and foreign societies, the ability of language to influence people's attitudes to facts and events, in particular the impact of language on the political sphere is quite clear, which makes scholars interested in the language of politics. In order to reproduce certain characteristics of the speech in translation, the translator sometimes needs to use translation grammatical transformations, which are changes in the grammatical character of a word, phrase or sentence in the translation. To analyze political speeches, we have taken the speech of British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak at the Munich Security Conference and the speech of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at a joint session of both houses of the US Congress.

Casting Stones with Intent: Transnational Interventions towards Ethical and Reparative Memorialisation

In the summer of 2020, on the wave of the Black Lives Matter Movement, statues and public monuments became focal points of political struggle, perceived by many as symbolic reminders of pervading western imperial legacies. Yet, the debate over public memorialisation is far from new. Starting from the 2020 BLM protests in Britain and going back to previous campaigns, this article contextualises the toppling, effacing and removal of well-known statues of colonial agents in Britain, Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand and examines artistic interventions which appropriate, challenge and shatter static historical interpretations of imperial figures and events. Our contention is that these interventions constitute diverse forms of performative and re-storied resistance reflecting transnational demands for redress and reparation.

Capitalism and the Organization of Displacement: Selma James’s Internationalism of the Unwaged

As political theorists explore work beyond traditional workplaces, how should we understand the vast class of insecure, informal, and unsalaried workers whose existence defies traditional categories of employment? In asking this question, I revisit the political theory of the Marxist feminist and cofounder of the International Wages for Housework movement, Selma James, to explore her “internationalism of the unwaged” and her writings on wagelessness. An example of political theory in service of struggle, James’s internationalism was widely circulated in anticolonial, Black radical, and autonomous Marxist circles in the 1970s. In this article, I argue that it was grounded in three intertwined and mutually reinforcing arguments: an account of how capitalist life is spatially divided into distinct workplaces; an anticapitalist theory of identity that explains social difference as maintained by the international division of labor and labor market hierarchies; and a diagnosis of work organization viewed from the perspective of the wageless worker. I trace how James developed these arguments about the spatial division of labor, hierarchies of identity, and internationalist political struggle and how her view of the common exploitation and division of workers formed the basis of a class-struggle identity politics. Her political theory was an important contribution to women’s international thought and transnational feminist critiques of global forms of domination and exploitation. It also offers a critique of capitalism’s organization of the displacement of work and workers and an account of wagelessness as a work situation, both of which illuminate capitalist organization of work and wageless life today.

Political Crisis in the Late Ming dynasty

The Ming Empire is one of the greatest states that existed from the 14th to the 17th centuries. However, 1644 was marked by the fall of the empire and the subsequent seizure of the throne by the Manchus. In this regard, the question arises: what caused the centralized state to fall to a group of rebels and the invaders from the north? The purpose of this study is to identify the main opposing parties of the political crisis in the late Ming Dynasty, study the dynamics of their interactions, and reconceptualize the context of its fall, moving away from the ideologically driven narrative of “faithful officials vs the cunning eunuchs” to delineating the real sides and process of the political struggle. The study covers the time frame from 1597 to 1644. By analyzing the two sources of “Ming Shi” (The Official History of the Ming Dynasty) and “Ming Shilu” (Veritable Records of the Ming Dynasty) and their reflected priorities, the political process during this period was studied, thus answering the questions raised in the research.

War Travels: The Logistics of Vietnam War Militourism

This article explores the everyday entanglements of militarism and tourism that helped sustain soldiering life during the Vietnam War. Free world soldiers in Vietnam were entitled to take between five and seven days of leave in rest and recuperation (R&R) sites located within the war zone and across the Pacific more generally. This article places the literature on militourism in conversation with close readings of archival sources to show how imperial soldier-tourists used trans-Pacific infrastructures of military R&R in a diversity of ways. Militourists in colonized cities such as Manila and Hong Kong often enacted heteronormative fantasies of leisure, seeking out intimate and predatory relationships with local women. The U.S. military also valued R&R as a mechanism for reuniting soldiers with their families, however, and transformed Honolulu into a site for hosting such forms of leave. When considered together, these different forms of militourism emphasize how trans-Pacific R&R infrastructures served simultaneously as conduits of gendered violence, terrains of racial management, and objects of political struggle. What this article offers, then, is a more complex understanding of militourism, one that reclaims vernacular cultures of travel from militaries, markets, and empires, and repurposes them to further the urgent work of abolition, decolonization, and demilitarization.

Data in the making, political struggle, and epistemic (in)justice: Asian and Asian Americans as early responders to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States

The COVID-19 pandemic exposed the limits of big data to guide decision-making in times of crisis. As people navigated daily life, they were confronted with the reality that data were often not yet material but rather in-the-making. Drawing upon critical and feminist lenses and participatory methodologies, this study investigates the data stories of nine people of Asian descent living in the United States. Findings illustrate how participants navigated within and across time, space, activity, media, epistemology, race, and politics to produce lively data assemblages. These data stories guided social-distancing and mask-wearing weeks before official US policy even as participants lived in constant fear of dehumanizing racist and xenophobic violence. This study advances theorizing about data practices for human knowing and learning with media, racial and epistemic (in)justice, and community action. It also advances participatory research as a site of epistemic resistance and activism.

Racial Exclusion by Bureaucratic Omission: Non-Enumeration, Documentary Dispossession, and the Rohingya Crisis in Myanmar

Abstract This article traces the bureaucratic bases of the Rohingya crisis in Myanmar. I draw on ethnographic fieldwork and interviews with Rohingya activists to elucidate the political struggles and competing archival logics surrounding their disenfranchisement and displacement. I explain a curious shift in the past decade in Myanmar’s approach to managing the Rohingya population, whereby longstanding strategies of legally-encoded racial exclusion gave way to moves to withhold and contract the state’s administrative reach: 1) the repudiation of the Rohingya category in the 2014 census; and 2) the dispossession of documents leading up to the 2015 elections. I develop the concept of “bureaucratic omission” to reveal an alternative mode by which the state’s symbolic power can be accumulated and exercised. In the wake of new claims-making pressures during Myanmar’s short-lived democratic opening, state officials nullified Rohingyas’ claims for recognition as citizens by depriving them of the material evidence to support these claims. In response, Rohingya activists invoked this same epistemic power of documents, leveraging archival sources and documentary vestiges to build their own historical counternarratives of indigenous belonging. By protagonizing stateless Rohingyas, I provide insight into top-down administrative efforts to un-make race and into how minorities can contest these omissions.

Between Religion and Politics: The Case of the Islamic Movement in Israel

The power of the “moderate” branch of the Islamic Movement (Alharaka al-Islamiyya, subsequently referred to as IM) Southern Faction (IMSF) in Israel stems from its ability to adapt to different situations, reconcile with the complex reality of being an indigenous minority in a state that defines itself a “Jewish state”, and operate within the state structure accepting democratic processes that have long been debated to clash with Islamism. Besides being represented in the Israeli Knesset since 1996, the culmination of this adaptation was the joining of the movement to the short-lived Zionist coalition government on 2 June 2021 (the government collapsed in July 2022). This historic entry of an Arab Party into a Jewish/Zionist government coalition for the first time in Israel’s history was a shocking surprise to many, not only due to the IM being an Arab–Palestinian movement but also an Islamist movement. My analysis shows that despite this reconciliation, the IM continues to emphasize religiosity, binding it to the national political struggle and identity of Israel’s Palestinian minority. For its supporters, the IMSF is seen as a meeting point of spiritual/religious needs on the one hand and material needs in the social, political, and cultural spheres on the other. However, for its opponents, mainly from the other Arab political parties, the IM had deviated from the national consensus and accepted strategies and tools to deal with the challenges facing them as a minority in Israel. And, for some others, the IM had even deviated from Islam itself. I draw on a field study that spanned several years. It is based on qualitative, extensive interviews with senior Islamist and non-Islamist leaders in Israel, as well as primary sources of the IM, including publications, leaders’ speeches, and social media. All quotes in this article are based on the author’s interviews during 2022–2024. Interviews with the following leaders and activists: IM leader Abdul-Malik Dahamsheh, sheik Ibrahim Sarsour, former MK Muhammad Hasan Ken`an, Nosiba Darwish `Issa, IM MK Eman Yassin Khatib, NDA’ chairman Sami Abu Shehadeh, secretary general of Abnaa al-Balad (Sons of the Country) Muhammad Kana`neh, and with Kufr Qare` former mayor Zuhair Yahya were conducted by in-person or by phone during summer–fall 2023. The interviews with former IMNF activist Aisha Hajjar, activist Zuhriyyeh ‘Azab, journalist Abd el-Rahman Magadleh, and DFPE member Elias Abu Oksa were conducted via What’s App, Messenger, and e-mail in 2022. The interview with political analyst Ameer Makhoul was conducted in December 2023 via Messenger. Follow-up communication was mainly through What’s App to clarify certain points. The interview questions focused on the reasons for the Islamic Movement’s division into two wings, the religious and political justifications for entering the Knesset and the coalition, the relationship between the southern wing and the main Arab parties active in the Israeli Knesset, the experience of unity with them, and the experience of its members while in the Zionist coalition. This article examines how the Islamic Movement in Israel uses religion as a tool to influence the national, cultural, political, economic, and social lives of the Arab minority in Israel. It asks: How does the Islamic Movement, religiously and politically, justify its involvement in the political game and in a Zionist government coalition, and how do Arab parties perceive this involvement? Moreover, it raises an important question about the nature of the movement: to what extent is the Islamic Movement a political Islam movement, and whether it has abandoned the basic goals of political Islam for the sake of becoming a democratic Islamic party? This article will provide significant insight into crucial aspects of the IM that have been previously overlooked. While being in a Zionist coalition gave hardly any latitude in decision making about policies, budgets were an attractive avenue for the Islamic Movement to guide public opinion and gain political support. The article comes during the ongoing war on Gaza, which will undoubtedly cast a shadow on the political climate and the political map in Israel in general and on the political work of Arab parties and the Islamic Movement in particular. Although it is too early to predict the impact of this war on the Islamic Movement and its political future, it can be assumed that the impact will be profound.

Historicising the colonial past of India and Hindi cinema

ABSTRACT The idea of India as a nation has its seeds rooted in the political leadership for the struggle of independence in the colonial history. The pathway of such struggles stemmed from the social-cultural sphere of the society that imagined India free from the shackles of debt and slavery from the colonial British. Visual imagination and representation of political struggles that made, unmade, and remade the notion of India have been documented in the Hindi Cinema. However, analysing Hindi cinema from perspective of imagination of a nation has received less attention and needs a serious critical engagement. This article investigates Lagaan (2001), a Hindi film, based on anti-colonial struggle to understand how the nation is imagined in the cinematic text. It explores the peasants' role in the struggle and the relationship of the peasants with the nation, in a larger debate on colonialism and anti-colonial movements by using dialectics as a method.

Palestine/Israel Review: Carving Out a New Intellectual Space

Abstract Knowledge about Palestine/Israel has long been produced and recruited for multiple contradictory political struggles. The emergence of distinct, counterposed scholarly associations, centers, and publications for Palestine studies and Israel studies reflects a certain set of contemporary political logics and agendas. What is the meaning of this separation? What are its implications for our scholarly understanding of dynamics in Palestine/Israel? Could this separation be justified, and could we imagine an alternative way of organizing our knowledge?

Political Struggle for the Renewal of the Ottoman Empire

The aim of this research is to analyze the relationship between nationalism and historical awareness. The method used in this study employs a literature review with specific steps. The findings of this research indicate that the downfall of the Ottoman Empire is the result of complex dynamics, involving the roles of intellectuals, government policies, the paradox of reforms, poor political language, and the influence of the Young Turks movement. From the era of Mahmud II to the collapse of the absolute rule of the Sultan, the shift in the foundational values of the state from Islam to nationalist identity reflects the challenges of a transformation that was not always successful. The incompatibility between reformists and the majority of the Muslim population, particularly in the political communication of the Sultan, becomes a key factor complicating the achievement of consensus. This research provides profound insights into the complexity of the history of the Ottoman Empire, emphasizing the importance of comprehensively understanding social, cultural, and political aspects in analyzing the decline of an empire. Consequently, a more comprehensive understanding of these events can offer valuable lessons in detailing and comprehending the dynamics that shape historical changes.

Discourse on family values in public policy (content-analysis of the statements of Giorgia Meloni)

The paper represents a content analysis of statements by the Chairman of the Council of Ministers of Italy, Giorgia Meloni, about family and family values. Interest in this topic is conditioned by the growing opposition of arguments manifested in the political field, expressed by opponents and supporters of G. Meloni and the Brothers of Italy party. The conceptual reflection of the idea of a “traditional” family in the these public statements conflicts with the European left-liberal ideal of gender neutrality. Within the analysis the author study the semantics of: (1) Giorgia Meloni’s political statements regarding family values; (2) assessments of Giorgia Meloni’s political rhetoric in the media and in the modern political discourse of the European Union. The study is based on publicly available media materials. Methods used: content and sentiment analysis. The results of the study have shown a large-scale value split starting from the level of Italian society up to the level of communities within the EU. Thus, in the discourse of family policy, opposing positions are indicated. The emotionality of the arguments used in the political struggle regarding the discussion of family policy indicates the urgency of the research questions arising in connection with the practical steps and consequences of the implementation of the “new” Italian policy.

Rights and Responsibilities of Non-Muslim Citizens in Pakistan:

Every corner of the Holy Prophet's (PBUH life illuminates the lamp of guidance. One of the most important attributes of his Seerah is being a ruler. The principles you left as a ruler are still useful in the modern era. As ruler of Madina, he gave the status of a state which was a confederation of units with Socio- political autonomy. He made various covenants for the development and defence of the state of Madina. One of the most important of which is remembered as the charter of Madina (Methaq-e- Madina).
 Part of the charter of Madina sets out the rights and duties of all citizens including non-Muslims. And it specifically mentions the Jewish tribes who have lived here for a long time and almost occupied the financial resources of Medina. Therefore, there was a need to determine their rights and duties in an Islamic state, so that they would play a vital role in the development and stability of the State. Under the Madina Seerah charter, they were guaranteed protection of all kinds of religious, political and social rights and liberties. The Madina charter is in fact, an important document for a peaceful society and is also a fundamental part of his political and constitutional struggle. This study is an effort to explore the Charter of Madiana for religious minorities’ rights and duties in the context of Pakistan as an Islamic State. The analytical research methodology will be adopted in this study to reach the conclusion.
 In view of the charter of Madina, there are some similarities between the State of Madina and Pakistan. The constitution of Pakistan also guarantees that every citizen has the right to practice any religion. Therefore, the dissertation under investigation is important as it will provide an opportunity to be aware of the rights and duties of non-Muslims citizens living in Pakistan in the light of the charter of Madina.
 Keywords: Madina Charter, non-Muslims, rights and duties, Pakistan, reflections

Political Commitment versus Industrial Reality: Unveiling the Dilemma of China’s Safety Production Regime in the 1950s

The 1950s witnessed high accident rates in China’s industrial workplaces. Previous scholarship has attributed this phenomenon to enterprises prioritizing production over safety and to the impotence of China’s labor unions in enforcing safety policies. This article proposes a third approach by exploring the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) mass-based safe production regime, which was designed for political struggle against capitalists as well as fulfilling its political commitments to workers, while also aiming to enhance safety. Consequently, China’s labor authorities often adopted a principle of absolving workers from accident responsibilities, often shifting blame to enterprise leaders. This approach was ineffective in preventing accidents. In addition, the party’s safety education policies fell short because they romanticized older workers as safety-conscious mentors to the younger workforce but overlooked the reality that these veterans were often more prone to accidents. The generational gap in China’s workforce also impeded the dissemination of safety knowledge and practices.

РЕПРЕЗЕНТАЦИЯ КОНЦЕПТА ЗЛА В ФИЛЬМЕ «ЛЮТЕР»

This article delves into the persona of the German reformer Martin Luther (1483–1546) as portrayed in the eponymous German-US production of 2003. The creators, including director Eric Till and screenwriters Camille Thomasson and Bart Gavigan, alongside the stellar cast, aimed to present Luther in his most humanistic light. However, in pursuit of attempting to craft a “man-centric film,” they compromised historical accuracy. Nonetheless, even in this watered-down version, two issues surface: a political struggle (both against Papal Rome and among his peers) and a psychological one, centered on Luther’s autonomous manifestation of auratic evil within his psyche. While a degree of historical authenticity resonates concerning the political power play (between German religious-political Protestantism led by Luther and the Roman Catholic Church under the Pope), the psychological dimension extends to the religious-state realm. Luther, though, is depicted one-dimensionally: as an entirely positive and progressive figure concerned solely with the moral and ideological renewal of the church institution (despite actually acting in the interests of Elector Frederick the Wise); also, there is a complete absence of critical scrutiny regarding certain chauvinistic aspects of Luther’s beliefs in the film. The article authors endeavor to elucidate the validity of the cinematic concept, prompting a critical appraisal of critiques on the film Luther and scholarly works on Luther the reformer’s historical import. This scrutiny exposes the incongruity between the cinematic personalities and their historical counterparts, necessitating an in-depth analysis of the film’s dramaturgy. In conclusion, the authors articulate the presence of evil as a concept in the actions of Luther and his milieu.

Shifting the Geography of Reason as Praxis

The Caribbean Philosophical Association’s project of shifting the geography of reason requires five specific commitments of attunement: (1) to the languages we use, (2) to our expressive and perceptive capacities, (3) to the communities in which we are engaged and the ones we aspire to engage within, (4) to building culture through political struggle, and (5) to our situatedness and irreducible interconnectedness. Each of these commitments is developed toward identifying the mutually constructive relationship between communicology and creolization.

По ту сторону утопии. Два взгляда на постиндустриальный труд

Statism and anarchism are a binary opposition that divides Marxists into two irreconcilable camps. This opposition was felt especially irresistible during the Iron Curtain. But already in the 1980s, both in Soviet philosophy and in European Marxism, the idea of dialogue and communication was actively gaining popularity, which called for compromise between opponents. And today, when the depoliticizing nature of late capitalism tendentiously smooth out “rough edges,” imposing radical centrism according to Anthony Gidden contradictions completely lose their fundamental importance. Within the framework of this hypothesis, the author constructs a theoretical dialogue between Italian post-Operatism (Antonio Negri, Paolo Virno, Franco Berardi, Maurizio Lazzarato, etc.) and domestic cultural philosophies (Vladimir Bibler, Vadim Mezhuyev, Nal Zlobin, Moses Kagan, Arnold Arnoldov, etc.), which are usually located at opposite poles of the political spectrum: postoperatives are known as anarchists, and cultural philosophers are more conservative and rather closer to the Social Democrats. Both schools, referring to Karl Marx’s early works, analyze a new reality where the role of the main producer is occupied by a cultural person (scientist/artist) or a postindustrial worker. Both schools experience a certain affect of disappointment in radical political changes, and therefore see the main way to improve society no longer in political struggle, but in culture and communication. But while Italian Marxists urge to seek horizontal solidarity in subcultures, cultural philosophers take a position of power, developing pedagogical programs to make from proletariat the so-called cognitariat. The post-operatives label the new society emerging with the term “Empire.” The author of the article draws parallels between the new Empire and the late USSR, in which cultural philosophers worked. The article compares critical and apologetic views on post- Fordist production, as well as examines two proposed Enlightenment projects. The article attempts to demonstrate the theoretical similarities of the two directions and lays a certain foundation for their convergence with the aim of creating a dialectical theory that would combine both elements of pedagogy and a program of horizontal solidarity.

Assembly of Experts of the Islamic Republic of Iran: Socio-Demographic and Political Recruitment Factors (1983-2024)

Assembly of Experts of the Islamic Republic of Iran: Socio-Demographic and Political Recruitment Factors (1983-2024)

Sappho Between Friends and Enemies: Specifics of Wiew on Human Relationships

The article explores the dynamics of friendship and enmity within the framework of the legacy of the early Greek poetess Sappho. It establishes that, akin to other poets of the archaic era, she adhered to the principle of reciprocating friendship with friendship and enmity with enmity. Nevertheless, it is revealed that certain hostile connotations and fragments are not solely explained by a personal factor, such as the betrayal experienced in the Sappho fiasco, but also by the political power struggle on the island of Lesbos. The poetess distinctly opposed the tyranny that emerged post the aristocratic rule of her relatives, leading to sharp criticism of girls aligning with her political adversaries, which extended to matters of religious services. Her enmity is portrayed as more than mere “blind hatred”; rather, it embodies a nuanced sentiment intertwined with political, religious, and social beliefs. Betraying someone in her eyes equated to betraying oneself. The analysis unveils that in her poems, Sappho contemplated friendship on two planes: interpersonal and between gods and people. Relations with the gods, particularly Aphrodite and Artemis, exhibited a patronizing nature, offering assistance to the poet in various life situations. The argument is substantiated that the elucidation of friendly relations with girls is ambivalent, encompassing not only a friendly and intimate nature but also implicit ritual and social connotations.