Post-war Context Research Articles

Do Sonho à Torre: o último drama de Hofmannsthal como reação à Primeira Guerra

Em 1928, Hugo von Hofmannsthal publicou sua última peça e seu legado: “A torre”, baseada em La vida es sueño de Calderón de la Barca. Na trama ficcional, a Polônia antiga, abalada por uma guerra perdida, oscila entre três formas de governo: o tradicional, o legal e o carismático. Sigismund, filho do déspota fracassado, não consegue sustentar-se como novo príncipe humano, e a revolução milenarista das crianças órfãs tampouco se afirma; quem triunfa é o soldado Olivier, apoiado em amoralidade radical e seus guerreiros embrutecidos. Reconhece-se, neste cenário, uma alegoria sobre a situação austríaca do pós-guerra e dos movimentos fascistas em surgimento na Europa. Ao mesmo tempo, o autor assimila leituras de M. Weber, W. Benjamin e C. Schmitt, de forma que “A torre” pode ser lida como complemento ficcional das agudas análises desses teóricos sobre a sociedade europeia após a catástrofe da 1ª Guerra.

Social critique and viewer’s response in the Italian Gangster film: the case of Bandits in Milan (1968) and Romanzo Criminale (2005)

ABSTRACT This article investigates the development of the Italian gangster film and its interconnections with film noir. Specifically, this article will focus on those cinematic manifestations’ attempts to explore post-war Italian culture, society and political context through the portrayal of some of the most important Italian criminal figures of this period. It argues that, while sharing some characteristics such as the femme fatale, flashback structures and a narrative of betrayal, like its American counterpart the Italian gangster film also presents a flexibility that show the mutative qualities of the genre. In order to prove this point, this article analyses two gangster films: Carlo Lizzani’s Bandits in Milan (1968) and Michele Placido’s Romanzo criminale (2005) also through the lens of the viewer’s process of identification. By showing how the protagonists and their victims are represented in these films, and how this intersects with the social critique featured in these films, this article revaluates the Italian gangster film as a creative and artistic output that should be analysed beyond its generic conventions.

Beyond the Maracanazo: the World Cup, diplomacy and the international exposure of Brazilian football in 1950

ABSTRACT The memory of the 1950 FIFA World Cup in Brazil is inextricably bound up with Brazil’s defeat against Uruguay in the tournament’s deciding game. Known afterwards as the Maracanazo, it was a source of national collective grief. Literature on the topic has mainly adopted an internal perspective, highlighting the significance of the Maracanazo and this sporting event in terms of nation building. However, drawing on archives (FIFA, Brazil’s ministry of foreign affairs) and European newspapers, this article addresses the visibility and prestige that the 1950 World Cup brought to Brazilian football. An analysis of the tournament’s organization in the postwar context reveals its dimensions and international impact and raises two questions: Did the Brazilian organizers and authorities, particularly the diplomatic service, envision this World Cup as an opportunity to promote their country? And what representations of Brazil and Brazilian football were conveyed by the European journalists dispatched to South America to cover the competition?

Post-War Development and Women’s Empowerment in Eastern Sri Lanka: A Case Study of Batticaloa District in Eastern Province

The civil war in Sri Lanka had caused enormous impacts on the physical as well as infrastructure development of Eastern Province. Since the end of war in 2009, the province has immensely benefitted from the state and non-state sectors, particularly in the sphere of women empowerment in terms of their livelihood, education, health, etc. Although, many previous studies have delved into a number of post-war development interventions in the province, it failed to explore the dimension of women’s empowerment. Using both qualitative as well as quantitative methods, this study specifically explores the impacts of socio-economic development initiatives on women’s empowerment in the post war context. The findings show women received much support such as housing assistance, dry rations, livelihood assistance, micro-credit loans and psycho-social counselling from state and non-state sectors including NGOs, and UN organizations in the post war period in the Batticaloa district of Eastern Province and such supports have largely been effective as it contributed to women’s empowerment. Nevertheless, such supports have significantly dried up in recent times with priorities of state and non-state sectors being shifted. Thus, it is crucial for state and non-state sectors to focus on the empowerment of women in future, especially enhancing their capacity in terms of their knowledge and skills, and providing financial assistance for their self-employment on a soft loan basis or under grant schemes.

The Sound of Reconciliation? Musical and sociocultural harmony in the Sri Lanka Norway Music Cooperation

This article presents findings from the Sri Lanka Norway Music Cooperation (SLNMC, 2009-2018) launched immediately after a twenty-four year long civil war in Sri Lanka. The project responded to a stated need of rebuilding a fractured society and re-establishing relations between Sinhala and Tamil populations of the island. The SLNMC comprised school concerts and public concerts, music education, heritage documentation and digitalization, in addition to skill training for musicians and technicians, festival organizers and other actors in cultural life. The article offers a critical phenomenological approach to the concept of harmony, where both phenomena of musical and socio-cultural harmony are displayed and discussed in relation to each other. I set out to investigate whether harmony in the SLNMC was a taken for granted, ´dead metaphor´ or an actual creative and impactful tool for implementing musical activities in a post-war context. Theoretically, my point of departure is Howell’s conceptual investigation of harmony in multicultural musical projects (Howell, 2018) and specifically in the South-Asia context (Howell, 2019). I have combined elements from her framework with Sykes (2011 and 2018a) as well as insights from my own research data to present a schema of three musical and three socio-cultural definitions of harmony paired and discussed in relation to each other. In conclusion, I argue that attention to various types of musical and socio-cultural harmony can cast new light on existing art for reconciliation-practices as well as generate fresh and fertile views on how to conceive, implement and assess such initiatives in the future.

Formulation of historic residential architecture as a background to urban conservation

PurposeThe paper explores how interpretations of vernacular traditional architecture played a significant role in the development of urban conservation practice in Turkey in the 1960s and 1970s. At the turn of the 20th century, the value of Ottoman historic residential architecture began to develop with the label of the Turkish House. At the turn of the 20th century, historic residential architecture of the Ottoman Empire gained a heritage value and labeled as the Turkish House. Thus, these houses became a part of a national heritage discourse, though their preservation only came to agenda in the early 1970s through preservation programs for Istanbul's waterfront mansions (yali). Turkey simultaneously adapted international heritage developments throughout the 1960s and the 1970s and introduced urban conservation both in practice and in theory to heritage management system of Turkey.Design/methodology/approachThe main research material is derived from the archives of the primary preservation council of Turkey that functioned from 1951 to 1983. The earlier works of the members of the council, journals of the period and urban projects are investigated to outline the complexities of urban conservation.FindingsThis paper explores how modernist efforts of the early 20th century framed traditional Ottoman architecture with the label “Turkish House.” In addition, it reveals how preserving the Turkish House was a major motivation that triggered early urban conservation attempts primarily along Istanbul's Bosporus shores.Originality/valueThe paper outlines dynamics of urban conservation. It outlines that urban conservation did not only emerge as a response to postwar context, but it was also a historic continuation of modernist understandings of “cultural heritage.”

Psicofotografía: Grete Stern and the Administration of the Unconscious

Between 1948 and 1951, photographer Grete Stern constructed a heavily manipulated taxonomy of dreams, realized in the form of 149 photomontages for the popular Argentinian fotonovela magazine Idilio. The series, now commonly referred to as Los Sueños, counterintuitively represents Stern's rejection of Surrealism and demonstrates how classifying systems in the postwar context were deployed to popularize psychoanalysis, normalize authoritative didactic imagery, and collapse formerly distinct economies of desire. The ideology of consumption underpinning the project both affirms and exceeds the historically specific boundaries of Peronist nation-building to portend the sub-rosa forms of surveillance and self-administration that would come to characterize post-industrial culture.

Prevalence and social determinants of tobacco use in Afghanistan.

BackgroundLimited evidence exists on the prevalence and social determinants of tobacco use in Afghanistan—a fragile post-war context where the tobacco epidemic is on the rise. This study aimed to estimate the prevalence and social determinants of tobacco use in Afghan men and women.MethodsData from the 2015 Afghanistan Demographic and Health Survey of 10 760 men and 29 461 women were used to generate weighted prevalence estimates for smoking, smokeless tobacco (SLT) products including chew and snuff tobacco, ‘any tobacco use’ and ‘dual tobacco use’. We also modelled associations with tobacco outcomes using binary logistic regressions.ResultsWe found that for men, smoking cigarettes was the most prevalent form of tobacco use (21.9% [95% confidence interval {CI} 21.2–22.7]). Prevalence rates were far lower for women, with cigarette/pipe smoking at 3.4% (95% CI 3.2–3.7). For both sexes, tobacco use was inversely associated with education and positively associated with agricultural and skilled and unskilled manual labour occupations. Wealth increased the odds of smoking for men but decreased the odds for women. Media exposure had little influence on tobacco use among women; however, the effects were more varied for men.ConclusionsOur results demonstrate social inequalities in tobacco use among Afghan men and women, which calls for stronger tobacco control measures and continued monitoring of this growing epidemic.

Democracy and Populism. The Constitution of the Political Community in Early Post-War Hungary


 
 
 This article proposes to reconsider the relation between populism and democracy. Instead of taking democracy as a given, it will study populism in the context of democratization in a case study from a historical sociological perspective. The post-war and pre-Cold War historical context is analyzed here on the example of Hungary. First, I analyze the public debate on democracy in order to map out the discursive field in which the different political positions were taken. I show that the debate was about the legitimate definition of the political community, the demos. Second, I situate the political wing of the Hungarian populist movement in this discursive field. I establish that the position of the populists’ party did not differ considerably from the standpoint of the other participants: the basic populist claims and references were articulated as part of the problem of democracy. Third, I analyze the continuity of the populist tradition in the context of the post-war redefinition of the ethnoscape, that is, in relation to the “Jewish question” and the “German question”.
 
 

Place-making and the everyday lives of children born into the Lord’s Resistance Army

ABSTRACT After decades of war in northern Uganda, children born of forced marriage in the rebel group the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) struggle to feel belonging. Based on data collected through a longitudinal study in the urban centre of Gulu town in northern Uganda with 29 children born into the LRA, this article offers a way to understand why the children are stigmatized in the places of their everyday lives. Stigmatization in the local postwar context is defined as having a moral dimension in which the children embody the insecurity and immorality of the war. Drawing on their stories about school and church, the article argues that stigmatization of the children can be understood as a place-making mechanism in people’s efforts to reclaim former places of violence, which results in the children’s sense of exclusion. The article concludes with a reflection on the importance of research with children born of war.

“Me acuerdo de Malet e Isaac”, de Georges Perec. Memoria, historia y reescritura

En 1979, el escritor Georges Perec publicó “Me acuerdo de Malet e Isaac” en la revista francesa H-Histoire, un texto en el que transcribe y reordena la información de los manuales de historia del colegio para cuestionar su contenido ideológico. En el presente artículo analizo esta propuesta estética a partir de la semiótica para exponer por qué Perec contrapone la historia a la memoria colectiva y cómo, mediante la transcripción del discurso histórico, pone en evidencia su arquitectura al tiempo que desacraliza e interrumpe su narrativa en un contexto de posguerra en el que la escritura, el lenguaje y la historia debían ser reevaluados.

The effect of competitive and green marketing strategy on development of SMEs

The purpose of this study is to examine the effect of competitive and green marketing strategy on development of SME in Jaffna district by surveying 302SMEs in Jaffna district. Resource advantage theory of competitions is underpinned to link the marketing strategy and performance development of SMEs. Llittle researches were undertaken into the competitive marketing strategy and green marketing strategy in SMEs in the post war context. The influences of these marketing strategy on the performance of SME is nebulous in the post ear context. Data were collected by using questionnaires from owners of SMEs. Simple random sampling method was applied to select samples for this study. Structural equation method (SEM) was utilized to identify the effect of marketing strategy on the development of SMEs .The findings revealed that competitive marketing strategy significantly influenced on the financial development, customer development and SME development and not significantly influenced on the employee development. Regarding green marketing strategy, it significantly influenced on customer development and employee development not significantly influenced on the financial and SME development. This research suggested that entrepreneurs need to apply these two strategies for the development of SMEs.

Prishtina – A New European Capital

“Prishtina – A new European capital” has been an inspiring experience but a complex project in itself. Although it had a good basis because of the interaction experiences of Co-Plan Institute and Polis University staff with Kosova institutions and professionals over last 2 decades, it has been never enough to take a position towards the future of a city or a country in itself. However, using well-structured ‘external’ research sometimes works better in an emotional postwar context like Prishtina where memories related to war of the past are still fresh and often blocking the decision-making processes related to future city development. Adding here also the exploding urbanization and a vivid - almost informal- market economy, makes it here even more difficult to correctly read the city in a short time. However, cooperation with local professionals and a strict methodological approach based on the experiences coming from POLIS/ UNIFE and Co-PLAN, made possible for our students, staff and PhD researchers to further elaborate their ideas and concepts over three main lines: i) the intensive visits and fieldwork in Kosova and Prishtina; ii) specialized studios and workshops in Tirana and Ferrara; iii) and independent individual research. Such volume of work coordinated over more than one year by our academic team concludes successfully with a tangible product such as this publication that helpfully might be useful to Kosovar authorities, people, academics, researchers and professionals there.

Post-War Religious Violence, Counter-State Response and Religious Harmony in Sri Lanka

Abstract Sri Lankan military forces and government authorities have succeeded to counter measure terrorism by defeating the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). However, their initiatives and efforts to restore peace and harmony among different ethno-religious groups in the post-war context are highly complex. The additional space given to the reemergence of radical religious groups has negatively influenced the process of fostering religious tolerance and harmony, which have been maintained for centuries in the country. Ethno-religious minorities became the major targets of religious hatred and violent attacks. At both the societal and political platforms, majoritarian religious sentiments and discourse have established a dominant presence in opposing the existence and practice of the religious fundamentals of minorities. This study has attempted to investigate the nature and impact of majoritarian religious violence in post-war Sri Lanka, as well as the efforts made by the government authorities to control them in order to foster religious tolerance and harmony in the country. This study argues that religious violence under the shadow of religious nationalism has been promoted by many forces as a mechanism by which to consolidate a majoritarian ethno-religious hegemony in the absence of competing ethnic-groups context in post-war Sri Lanka. In many ways, state apparatuses have failed to control religious violence, maintain religious tolerance and inter-religious harmony, particularly of accommodating minorities in nature. The study concludes that the continuous promotion of majoritarian religious hegemony through anti-minority religious hatred and violence would further promote religious intolerance and radicalism challenging the establishment of religious harmony in the country.

Emerging ethnic minority sub-cultures: young Tamils in the post-war context in the Tamil-dominated areas in Sri Lanka

ABSTRACTSignificant socio-cultural and political changes have taken place in Sri Lanka since the end of the most recent war in 2009. There is, however, a lack of research on minority youth sub-cultures in Sri Lanka. This paper seeks to fill the gap, describing different elements of Tamil youth sub-cultures and identifying factors which can be used to distinguish them. The research aimed to explore emerging youth sub-cultures, considering Somasundaram’s idea of collective trauma and Hall’s concept of resistance: which are combined with other broad theoretical conceptualizations and synthesized as resistance, intersectionality and identity, as a lens to understand the sub-cultures among Jaffna post-war youth. Ethnographic approaches are used to understand Tamil youth phenomena, with interviews and focus group discussions among youths and professionals. Seven youth sub-cultures in which war trauma is a predominant factor are identified. The results suggest that in-depth studies of all youth sub-cultures are needed.

Performing anger in Kosovo: Women's claim to citizenship

This article analyzes post-war feminist contention in Kosovo. The analysis distinguishes between two stages of feminist contention: post-war and post-independence by drawing comparisons in the methods feminist activists have used. The main emerging difference is the use of silence as a form of contention in the post-war context, and the public and predominantly artistic forms of contention of post-independence activism. I claim that by making their contention in the public sphere and actively challenging the status quo, contemporary feminists in Kosovo have sought to claim citizenship. While post-war activism was contentious it still maintained gender in the private realm whereas contemporary activism brings gender into the public sphere through acts of citizenship such as slam poems, marches, and art installations. These new methods of contention have made it possible to invent new spaces of contention and new ways of being for feminists in Kosovo which are crucial to claims of citizenship.

Impact of Maltreatment: Psychosocial Experience of Parentless School Going Adolescents


 
 
 The present study examines the impact of maltreatment among the Parentless School Going Adolescents (PSGAs) and their psychosocial experiences in Northern Provence in Sri Lanka. Prevalence of PSGAs’ exposure to maltreatment can be understood considering the size of PSGAs exposed and their experiences, how exposure impacts PSGAs psychosocial development, factors that increase risk or provide protection against the negative effects of exposure, and the types of interventions that can be implemented to mitigate harmful effects. Participants (PSGAs) were recruited from two districts; namely Kilinochchi and Mullaithivu. Participants with recent experiences and had psychosocial distress were examined. 30 cases {[Female=18 (60%), Male=12 (40%)] and [Mean Age=14.7, SD=1.9]}, were recruited using purposive sampling techniques. An exploratory approach was adopted and semi-structured interview was conducted as the present study aims to have an in- depth understanding on various elements of maltreatment experiences. The questions were mostly open-ended and were intended to be used as a guide to explore or capture as much as possible the PSGAs’ thoughts and feelings about his/her experiences. Content analysis was used to identify common themes related to the objective. Twenty two cases (73.3%) were subject to maltreatment by care takers and their family members. The three most frequent types of relationships to the PSGAs were grandparents (9 cases), uncle (6 cases), and aunty (2 cases). Others included cousin (3), and brother-in-law (2). Maltreated by other people occurred in 21 cases (70 %). This included neighbor (7 cases), total stranger (4), friend’s parents (4), friend (2), teacher (2), priest (1) and servant (1). Many PSGAs faced with multiple maltreatment. Maltreatment occurs on the background of caretaker’s dysfunction and sociocultural factors. The findings underscore the need of providing support for caretakers so they can provide better care of PSGAs. Psychosocial intervention should be individualized to meet the needs of each PSGA. Further research is needed to clarify the issues of risk and protective factors in the post-war context in Northern Provence.
 
 

The Parable of the Working [Class] Man: Strategic Tensions in Gendered Discourses of Striking Workers, 1950

The post-War American advertising landscape was filled with the consumer legacies of wartime technologies, and re-positioned consumption within the “national interest” mindset the war emergency had produced. This new mindset would involve a vision of business and enterprise that had people “pursuing individualistic goals to secure a larger prosperity for the nation” (Cohen, 2003, p. 101). Within this developing post-war context, and strongly driven by economic and political motivations, The Texas Company took out full-page ads in the newspaper of Port Arthur, Texas—where workers at their largest plant were on strike—to deter workers from participating in the ongoing strike with messages promoting an ethic of individualistic, noncollective goals. Coupled with gendered “slice of life” messages that have the façade of gender role depictions typical of the era, these ads attacked the strike not as it would affect the work space but rather from within the home, presenting an image of striking workers as infantile, unsophisticated, and, effectively, emasculated. These ads present the Parable of the Working [Class] Man, a moral lesson presented in the guise of everyday life (Marchand, 1985). The Parable of the Working [Class] Man relied heavily on gendered notions of home and work spaces to subvert expectations and, thereby, to present the strike as antithetical to the moral character of the working man.

Challenges and opportunities for the online gaming industry in Vietnam: a qualitative study on the thoughts of involved parties

This article examines the performance of the online gaming industry in Vietnam since its beginning. The findings were retrieved by analyzing the interview results with leaders and experts of notable game companies in Vietnam who know deeply and broadly about the industry, as well as officers of various administrative bodies that are directly in charge of governing online games. The main themes include the profile of those who established the industry, the game-related legal structure in Vietnam, and the endeavor of locally producing online games in Vietnam. The comments of interviewees on the future of online gaming in Vietnam are also analyzed in depth. The results retrieved from the interviews provide readers with the information regarding the development of the online gaming industry in Vietnam, which also entails a number of legal and economic challenges- those that arise in the specific post-war historical and political context.

Inclusive peace mediation in the city: spatial segregation of violence and urban politics of ‘social’ inclusion in gang truces

ABSTRACTThis article considers the adaptation of international peace mediation to the post-war context of urban gang-related violence. The 2012 OAS-brokered San Salvador gang truce represented a shift from the management of ‘criminal’ actors through liberal security measures and narrow pragmatic criminal pacts towards a new social inclusion strategy based on local political participation, social justice and programmes to address the socio-economic causes of gang-related violence. Mediators failed to engage key interested non-armed actors who reside outside ‘criminal’ gang-held territories, with the result that the truce lacked legitimacy at the city level. Inclusive national-level engagement is particularly important in the post-war democratic Central American city because gangs play a key role in shaping urban space and urban politics. The article depicts the politics of inclusion of gangs in peace mediation as part of a city-wide debate regarding the merits of the dominant liberal/pragmatic inclusion strategy versus ‘social’ inclusion. The spatial and discursive segregation of San Salvador into ‘political’ and ‘criminal’ realms promotes a preference for liberal security discourse and the exclusive local truce process that undermined the ‘social’ truce. City-wide inclusion is required to overcome the politics-crime divide and provide a platform to unite social justice advocates.