Socio-political Approach Research Articles

Violence as a Coercive Tool to Establish State Control in Harold Pinter’s One for the Road

After Harold Pinter became a member of PEN and Amnesty International in the early 1980s, he grew interested in global politics and started to openly speak up against human rights violations present in several countries of the world. Then, in 1984, he published One for the Road, which is considered his first overtly political play. Taking place in an unnamed country and historical period to preserve its universality, the play portrays the torture and violence practised by totalitarian regimes against political dissidents. This study examines the use of various forms of violence in the text and analyses their role as the means to establish state control over nonconforming individuals, break their will and coerce them into submission. For this purpose, a socio-political approach is used by employing the Norwegian sociologist Johan Galtung’s theory on violence. The detailed analysis of the play reveals that tyrannical systems dehumanise and debase noncomplying citizens using political ideology as an excuse so that imprisoning and torturing them becomes justifiable.

Climate disasters and the difficult human/nature relationship

Environmental disasters are concrete examples of the difficult coexistence between man and nature and expose the fragility of ecosystems and the urgent need to rethink the development model of contemporary society. With a socio-political approach, the text analyses the relationship between man and nature and the environmental tragedies caused by global warming, denouncing the development process of industrialised societies and questioning the environment destroyed by the diversity of human actions. It discusses extreme weather events that have resulted in major environmental disasters, both in Brazil and in other countries, and provides quantitative data on the victims of these disasters. It reveals the unequal distribution of income and space that exposes the most vulnerable populations to the rigours of climate change and argues that man's predatory relationship with nature is the driving force behind environmental degradation and is based on the unethical interests of the market. He concludes on the importance of urban planning, the projection of more humane spaces and obedience to environmental protection laws.

How Does The Public Respond To The Impact Of Carbon Tax Implementation Planning In DKI Jakarta?

Implementing a carbon tax is a policy to overcome the impact of carbon emissions on the decline in environmental quality. Implementing carbon tax policies can have complex impacts in various fields, such as economic, environmental, social, and political. This research analyzes the public's open response to the impact of carbon tax implementation. The research uses a qualitative and S-O-R method to analyze the public's response to the carbon tax. Data collection methods are carried out through interviews, observation, and documentation. The criteria for selecting sources (informants) in this research are people in DKI Jakarta who have an NPWP (Tax ID number), owners, and users of motorized vehicles, as well as academics in the field of taxation. Data analysis was done in data reduction, display, and conclusion. The analysis results in this research show that most people respond to implementing the carbon tax by agreeing with income redistribution as a reduction in rates for other types of taxes. In the environmental aspect, there is a positive response to implementing a carbon tax in reducing the impact of carbon emissions. Various responses highlighted the principles of justice regarding social inequality between social groups and the need to evaluate policy instruments in socio-political aspects. Public approval for implementing a carbon tax considering economic changes and environmental awareness still underlines the need for a fairer socio-political approach.

Religious Moderation in Constantinople in the Resolution of Political Conflicts in the 14th Century

The Islamic conquest of Constantinople in the 14th century is a captivating historical episode in history that continues to intrigue historians. It stands out due to the involvement of two major world religions - Islam and Christianity. Furthermore, this conquest marked the end of the Roman civilization. One notable aspect of this conquest was the harmonious relationship between Muslims and Christians, which persisted before and after the event. This study aims to explore the implementation of religious moderation in Constantinople to resolve political conflicts. Adopting a historical methodology, the research collects data through extensive documentation and literature studies, employing a socio-political approach. The findings highlight that religious moderation played a crucial role in conflict resolution during the 14th century in Constantinople. The concept of religious moderation was not only applied before the conquest, but also after it. Before the conquest, the value of moderation was demonstrated through peaceful negotiations between the Islamic kingdom and the Catholic prelate in Rome. Several treaties were agreed upon, emphasizing the importance of faith and peaceful dialogue over resorting to military confrontation. Following the conquest, Sultan Muhammad al-Fatih exemplified religious moderation by engaging in negotiations with the inhabitants of Hagia Sophia. They agreed an agreement allowing Christians to continue practicing their faith despite being under Islamic rule. Additionally, al-Fatih displayed respectful treatment towards the prelate and Christian warlords, further exemplifying the value of moderation. The findings of this study shed light on the significance of religious moderation in resolving conflicts and offer a fascinating insight into the history of Constantinople during this period

The Political Movement of The Unity of Ulama Throughout Aceh (Pusa) and Its Implications on Social and Political Life in Aceh 1939-1962

The All Aceh Ulama Association (PUSA) is where reformist clerics from Aceh gather. PUSA was born based on their concerns about the socio-religious conditions in Aceh, which were trapped in rigid Islamic practices, so there had to be a breakthrough to change the education system in Aceh to make it more advanced. Since the first PUSA congress in 1940, this organization began to serve as a forum for conveying people's aspirations so that PUSA was actively involved in a series of political events in Aceh. The written discussion focuses on the period from 1939, the year of PUSA's formation, until 1962, the end of PUSA's political influence. This research is a social history study, so a socio-political approach is used to analyze the PUSA political movement. Meanwhile, the four method steps in research are heuristics, verification, interpretation, and historiography. The research results show that the political action carried out by PUSA aims to fight for Aceh to be free from all forms of colonialism and to implement Islamic Sharia. Some forms of PUSA political movements include holding a congress in Sigli, diplomacy with Japan, carrying out a rebellion against the Dutch, eradicating feudal practices and uleebalang power, and fighting for Aceh's rights in national politics in the DI/TII rebellion.

The Magic of Media and Culture

The Magic of Media and Culture

Lesson Learn The Leadership Period of Admiral Keumalahayati for the Development of Maritime Defense Strategy

Aceh is one of the provinces in Indonesia which is located at the tip of Sumatra Island. History records that Aceh has a strategic position which is the starting point for trade from the sea. Both national and international traders use Aceh as a transportation route. The maritime history of the Kingdom of Aceh can be preserved and published, such as the story of Admiral Keumalahayati. The purpose of this research is to take lessons from the story of Admiral Keumalahayati's leadership for the development of a maritime defense strategy. This study uses qualitative methods and uses a socio-political approach to determine the character of leadership and historical methods to determine the journey of Admiral Keumalahayati's leadership. The results showed that Admiral Keumalahayati had been the leader of the Inong Bale Troop (widow woman), conducting diplomacy with countries that wanted to cooperate with the Kingdom of Aceh. Admiral Keumalahayati was the first female warlord to become the navy leader of the Kingdom of Aceh. This maritime history ultimately has a significant role in overcoming several problems related to Indonesia's position as the world's maritime axis country.

La dialéctica de la plurinacionalidad como crítica del Estado-nación liberal

El artículo estudia la dialéctica como camino de indagación de la plurinacionalidad y su contraparte el vetusto Estado-nación monoétnico ecuatoriano. Indaga: 1) ¿cuál es el fundamento ontológico de la plurinacionalidad? y 2) ¿por qué la plurinacionalidad como planteamiento socio-político niega la homogeneidad del Estadonación liberal y su correlato el colonialismo externo-interno? Se plantea que el fundamento ontológico de la plurinacionalidad se halla en la sociedad comunitaria (o ser social) y que en su praxis socio-política niega la fetichización del Estado-nación liberal, determinado como instrumento del colonialismo externo-interno de la sociedad. La investigación concibe y aplica el análisis dialéctico de la realidad concreta y la ley de contradicción universal, como inherentes del ser social y del pensamiento que refleja dicha realidad. El estudio concluye que: 1) la dialéctica comprende la categoría de totalidad y es útil para el análisis y explicación de la sociedad en su conjunto, de las partes al todo y del todo a las partes, en mutua interrelación universal; 2) la sociedad comunitaria es una objetivación ontológica de la plurinacionalidad y se manifiesta en la diversidad étnicacultural del Ecuador, con temporalidades históricas distintas, y en contraposición a la formación económicosocial colonial y republicana; y 3) la fetichización del Estado-nación liberal como instrumento del colonialismo externo e interno de la sociedad ecuatoriana aún está vigente y continua cumpliendo esa misma función a través del procesamiento de la colonialidad del poder, la invisibilización ontológica del otro (alter) y la diferenciación colonial racista.

Resisting the Surge of Salafism among Malay and Javanese Muslims: The Dynamics of the Tarekat Naqshbandiya and Qadiriya wa Naqshbandiya in Promoting Peaceful Islam in Riau Sumatera

This article examines the role of two Sufi orders, the Naqshbandiya order and the Qadiriyya wa al-Naqshbandiya order, in the social and cultural transformation of Malay and Javanese Muslims in contemporary Sumatra, specifically in the Malay Riau region. Socio-political approach is employed in order to analyze the internal and external dynamics of the actors involved in the object of study. The argument presented in this article states that, the Naqshbandi order or ‘Malay Riau Muslim tarekat’ has played a vital role in the social and cultural transformation of Malay Muslims by promoting a peaceful and moderate interpretation of Islam. However, the more legalistic and rigid interpretation of Islam from Saudi Arabia has promoted the Naqshbandi order to adopt a more Shari‘a-oriented approach which has gradually eroded the spiritual essence of the order’s culture and given way to more radical Islamic beliefs in the Malay Riau region. In response, the Qadiriya wa al-Naqshbandiya order continues to represent the authentic Javanese Muslim traditions and beliefs, propagating the original heritage of Malay Islamic tradition and culture. This article found out that the ethnicity embedded in the followers of tarekat may influence the orientation of a particular sufi order.

When the world depends on effective public health intervention – and public health does not deliver

The COVID-19 crisis offers both special opportunities and challenges for Public Health. The initial management of the pandemic was dominated by virologists, supported by epidemiologists who did not always meet indispensable scientific requirements. Interdisciplinary and complex Public Health concerns and expertise, however, did not have tangible impact in the COVID-19 debate. Public Health is universal and goes beyond health security as social and other upstream determinants of health play a central role. As an explicitly political concept Public Health must safeguard its broad socio-political approach and obviate all tendency towards biomedical reductionism.

Jewish Toronto’: street naming policies and practices in the north of Metropolitan Toronto

This article deals with street naming policies and practices with regard to the Jewish urban community in the north of Metropolitan Toronto, Canada. It highlights the linguistic landscape as a cultural and symbolic expression of a Jewish-Israeli minority group in Vaughan, a city in North Toronto. The Jewish nomenclature is also examined viewing Toronto’s multicultural- cum-pragmatic street naming policies. While such a display of Jewish toponymy is almost non-existent in Toronto itself, the creation of ‘Jewish Toronto’ in the north of the metropole is the product of both ‘Jewish’ and ‘Canadian-Torontonian’ factors. This article analyzes these two factors and their related characteristics in terms of demography, sociopolitical approach, religiocultural identity, economy, and municipal by-laws. It concludes that the development of a Jewish toponymic culture as an ethnic-minority culture in the public domain of northern Metropolitan Toronto is a result of a bipartite process. This process has been enabled by the aspirations of the minority group, on the one hand, and the flexibility and tolerance inherent in the multicultural policies of the majority group/ government, on the other.

Effect of Fragility on Growth and Poverty in Nigeria: A Disaggregate State-Level Analysis

Why some nations are wealthier than others are one of the most contentious and enigmatic questions in international development economics. This has necessitated plausible explanations for the reasons behind Africa's poor development record over the past 50 years. Among other factors, fragility arising from different conflicts in African countries has been ranked as a key factor that undermines the development of the continent. Nigeria found itself in this set due to growing conflicts in different parts of the country. Consequently, fragility worsened the country’s development due to the huge associated economic and social costs. More so, conflict-affected countries are characterized by the worst socio-economic outcomes. Hence, existing studies have been preoccupied with the understanding of the relationship between fragility and economic growth as well as fragility and poverty. To provide evidence in the context of Nigeria, this paper, therefore, empirically investigated the fragility-growth nexus, as well as the fragility-poverty nexus, in a sample of 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) in Nigeria. We further considered the macroeconomic and socio-political relationships in fragile and non-fragile states of Nigeria. Using data covering the period between 2011 and 2015, both the static approach (Ordinary Least Squares, Fixed Effect, and Random Effect) and the dynamic approach (Difference and System Generalized Method of Moments) were explored to provide answers to some key questions in the study. The results showed that the neoclassical and socio-political approaches complement each other. Specifically, fragility significantly weakened economic growth and further worsened poverty levels among the states. This suggests that conflict-related fragility creates an unstable environment that discourages economic activities and aggravates hunger among the population. More so, the results indicated that only debt enhances economic growth while income reduces poverty in both fragile and non-fragile states. Hence, conflict resolution is crucial to addressing conflicts in different parts of the country. Also, the country needs to explore various strategies (security infrastructure, and human capital) to overcome fragility, enhance economic growth, and combat poverty.

The existence of the Ahmadiyya in Indonesian democracy: a struggle for survival in the midst of the Islamic-movement competition

This article attempts to portray the competition of forces in the Indonesian democratic system, with the Ahmadiyya movement as the test case for the “contestation”. This article takes into account the reformation era as the landscape of the study, since this era opens a relatively wider opportunity for many entities to freely express their ideas and actions. Exploring the socio-political approach, this study comes up with the following findings: first, in the sociological domain, as predicted by Dawam Rahardjo, moderates defeat radical Indonesian Islam as the former outnumber the latter. However, in the political domain, as pointed out by Martin van Bruinessen, since the moderate Islam is just a silent majority, then the radical Islam wins the competition - marked by the issuance of the SKB Tiga Menteri, because the factor at work in the winning of this political competition is more on the “logic of power”, rather than the “power of logic”. The victory of the radical Islam in the political domain in turn implies at the failure of the Ahmadiyya movement in its struggle for survival in Indonesia.

“I Need Ammunition, Not a Ride”: The Ukrainian Cyber War

The Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 has shown that cyberwarfare is integral to modern military strategies. Although the Russian army has developed cyber capabilities and capacities over the years, Ukraine has quickly created a new and innovative cyber defence that includes public and private actors. Using online communication platforms to reach out to populations, internally and externally, has been instrumental for military success. Inventive thinking has enabled the actors to utilise the online space and develop new computing tactics to defend the country. The intense online presence of Ukrainian President Zelenskyy stands in clear contrast to Russian President Putin. President Zelenskyy is mastering online communication and is speaking directly to the people. Because of his constant use of virtual communication platforms, new public and private resistance movements have formed based on civic activism and a defiant stance against Russian aggression. Various non-governmental groups of hackers, hacktivists and activists have created a structure of resistance, where each has taken on a role in a nodal system depending on skills and engagement levels. This article will focus on how the Ukrainian leadership has been able to carry out a successful speech act that has activated numerous online users internally and externally. This speech act has enabled a new form of online civic activism where online actors fight with the military forces — but mostly without being employed by the state. Within the first 40 days, this activism has proven beneficial to the existing military force to defend Ukraine. The article investigates Ukraine’s role in the David and Goliath fight and how Ukraine’s initiatives have helped develop its cyber defence. The research is based on secondary sources predominately based on grounded theory, where the data collected are critically compared with theoretical content. All data is theoretically sampled and analysed based on the established socio-political approaches deriving from discourse analysis. The timeframe for this research is the first 40 days of the conflict, starting on February 24 2022.

Saving Indian Villages: British Empire, the Great Depression and Gandhi’s Civil Disobedience Movement

This article traces an intricate relationship between Mahatma Gandhi’s call for Civil Disobedience (1930–1933) and the global economic slump of the 1920s experienced by Britain and colonial India. I argue that the economic hardships faced by Indians (particularly the peasant classes) forced Gandhi to revisit his sociopolitical approach to India’s nationalist movement. Despite the chronological overlap of the Great Depression (1929–1931) with Gandhi’s Civil Disobedience Movement (1930–1933), the relation between these two major events has not been adequately explored in recent scholarship. I propose to contextualize the changes in Gandhi’s economic ideas and political strategy (often against contending ideological trends) leading to his defence of Indian peasant interests during the Gandhi–Irwin Pact and the Second Round Table Conference. Gandhi’s increasing awareness of the economic crises and Britain’s severe opposition to granting financial autonomy to India pushed Gandhi in the direction of charting a new path for economic self-reliance. This, I suggest, resulted in his nation-wide popular movement for reviving the Indian village economy in the form of the ‘Constructive Programme’ (1934–1948) in subsequent years.

Toward a Socio-Political Approach to Promote the Development of Circular Agriculture: A Critical Review.

Under the dual pressure of ensuring global food security and coping with the effects of climate change, many countries have proposed projects of circular agriculture to mitigate the vulnerability of agricultural systems. However, due to the different utilizations of agricultural resources in different countries, there are still some important limitations and obstacles to the promotion of agricultural recycling technologies. This review discusses global circular agriculture projects from a social science perspective. We found that (1) current research on circular agriculture is concentrated in the field of natural sciences with a focus on technological upgrading, neglecting social, political and economic research; (2) top-down circular agriculture projects rely on infrastructure and technical inputs for management, which undermines the focus on public participation and is limited by the timing and intensity of state intervention; (3) the development model led by enterprises or associations relies on cooperation and benefit games with farmers, and its sustainability depends largely on changes in the regulation of the agricultural waste utilization system. Based on this, this review argues that circular agriculture projects are not only technical issues in the field of natural sciences, but also strongly influenced by social development. For future research, we strongly recommend cross-disciplinary cooperation, not limited to technology development.

Dearabization of Islamic Government during the Abbasid Dynasty

The Arabization movement was one of the government's political models during the Umayyad Dynasty. Arabization, known as ta'rib became a characteristic of the administration of the Umayyad dynasty, which influenced the socio-political life of Arab Muslims, the Mawali, and Dzimmi groups. The influence of social strata became a feature of the Arabization movement at that time. During the Abbasid dynasty, this movement began to fade, especially the problem of social strata that prioritized Arab Muslims. The Abbasid dynasty, from the point of view of Islamic civilization, generally continued the reign of the Umayyad dynasty, but some aspects of government changed, especially the issue of Arabization. This study focuses more on the impact of the reduced priority of Arab Muslims during the Abbasid dynasty. The demise of the Abbasid dynasty gave a new face to the development of politics, economy, government administration, education, and law enforcement aspects. This research is a type of qualitative research using qualitative descriptive analysis. This type of research is historical research with a socio-political approach to government. The qualitative method used in this study uses historical research methodology, namely heuristics, verification, interpretation, and historiography. Based on the heuristic aspect, the researcher used a literature study. The results of this study indicate that the existence of Dearabization had a significant impact on the reign of the Abbasid dynasty. The policies taken by the caliphs of the Abbasid dynasty gave a new color to the development of politics, economy, government administration, education, and law.

Nizamul Mulk dan Madrasah Nizamiyah Relasi Lembaga Pendidikan dan Penguasa (Madrasah dan Otodoksi Pendidikan)

Islamic educational institutions are always developing in line with the needs and changes of society. The development of society is marked by the progress of science and the need to preach Islam. In the 5th century Hijriyah, at the time the madrasa was founded, the scientific development of the community, especially Muslims, could be said to have reached a perfect stage, because almost all knowledge, both al-ulum an-naqliyah and al-ulum al-aqliyah, had been compiled and systematized. Reviewing Nizhamiyah using library research through various reference sources, journals, relevant books. In this study, it is explained that nizamiyah is an educational institution in the form of a madrasa, this madrasa was founded in the city of Baghdad, founded by a prime minister who has great attention to science and education in addition to political and religious factors that use the modern system. By using a socio-political approach, this study seeks to trace the birth of the Nizhamiyah madrasa with a multi-motivation background. With its teacher council based on the Shafi'i madhhab, the Nizamiyya madrasa is seen as the embodiment of the triumph of the theological-dogmatic movement that works hand in hand with the Sunni school of thought to balance the dominance of the Mu'tazilah-Hambali ideology and the dominance of the Shi'ites. So that the subjects of study are Asy'ariyah and fiqh-oriented. The realm of "intellectualism" is lost in the educational process of this madrasa. However, Nizhamiyah is still understood as the most important Islamic educational institution and a model in the study of the social history of Islamic education.

SOCIO-POLITICAL APPROACHES TO THE FORMATION OF REPRESENTATIVE BODIES

This article discusses socio-political approaches to the formation of representative bodies. . In the structure of any state, such basic parts consist of three; it is necessary to pay attention to the useful aspect for each type of legislative state structure. The perfect condition of the state structure depends on the excellent functioning and functioning of these parts; the fact that different types of state structure differ from each other stems from the logic that these parts have different structures.

The savvy and cheerful employee innovation champions: The roles of political skill and trait‐positive affect in employees' championing and salary levels

As successful innovations depend on how much support an innovation can receive, champion and promote, role theories have investigated characteristics of certain individuals, who promote innovations. Taking an employee‐driven innovation approach, this study enlarges the lens to also include nonmanagerial employees. Compared with champions and people in promotor roles, nonmanagerial employees' championing has received little attention in research. We help in filling this gap by analysing longitudinal questionnaire data from 152 employees from a Danish branch of a global IT consultancy company, who replied to all three questionnaire waves. We investigated how stable championing is across time and examined the relationship between political skills, positive affect, championing behaviour and employee salary level. The findings reveal that employees' level of championing is rather stable. Moreover, the higher level of political skill employees report to have, the more they engage in championing. High levels of positive affect strengthen this relationship between political skill and championing. Additionally, the results reveal a relationship between the level of championing behaviour and the employee's salary band level. This study adds to the extant research in champion and promoter role theories by showing that a sociopolitical approach is also relevant for a broader range of employees.