National Story Research Articles

Medical Ethic about Vaccine Testing on African Prostitutes in <i>The Old Drift</i>

The Old Drift is a historical and fictional novel with magical realism to tell the decades-spanning story of African nations. It revealed kaleidoscopic variety of issues like family, generation, ethnical, national, and environmental problems through the description of several generations’ lives. This article will discuss the main issue of this novel: the problem of vaccine testing on African prostitutes. This essay explores Namwali Serpell’s novel The Old Drift through the lens of the interdisciplinary approach to provide the view on medical ethic and highlight the dehumanization of vaccine testing choosing African prostitutes as targets to fight against AIDS epidemic, which is full of ethnical and racial discrimination in this novel.

The Risks and Benefits of National Stories

AbstractAuthoritarian nationalism is on the rise in many countries around the world, threatening liberal democracies. Many on the left rightly fear that any and all celebrations of national identities risk heightening these dangers. It is questionable, however, whether illiberal nationalism can be defeated politically without some reliance on progressive stories of national identity that advance themes of equality, freedom, and inclusion in ways that resonate with many of the traditions in which those whom progressives seek to mobilize have been raised.

Alter (Narrating) The Story of Nation: The Fluidity of 1971 War Narratives in Anglophone Pakistani Fiction

Alter (Narrating) The Story of Nation: The Fluidity of 1971 War Narratives in Anglophone Pakistani Fiction

Reflections on Geography, Technology and the Flux of Opportunity: Reassessing the Rise and Decline of British Economic Power: A Note

In this paper author reconsiders analysis he presented of rise and decline of British economic power in Reflections on Geography, Technology and Flux of Opportunity: Reassessing Rise and Decline of British Economic Power, arguing for six insights British history in this respect affords that appear of more general relevance. 1. It is to be expected that a major historical event will not just be a national story, but part of a broader, global history in its origins, context and consequences. 2. A significant dimension of former is that it is never just what one actor does right in competitive international arena, but what others do wrong. 3. In considering major economic developments it is not enough to look at geography, or technology, but rather necessary to look at way in which technologies on the productivity frontier open up new potentials in particular geographical contexts (or fail to do so), and this comprehensively. 4. While orthodox economists' free market pieties (and disdain for economic history incessantly debunking them) make them loathe to admit it, government support matters enormously in industrial development. 5. Past success carries a later price. 6. Single events rarely, if ever, initiate or deflect a long historical trend by themselves, though they may slow or accelerate such a trend.

Creating Cultural and Historical Imaginaries in Physical Space: Worldbuilding in Chinese Theme Parks

Theme parks are fascinating texts built on spatial narratives and detailed storyworlds. Worldbuilding and subcreation are literal in these spaces, but they likewise contain symbolic experiences that represent cultural and historical imaginaries. China is one of the largest markets in the global theme park industry. The design ethos in many parks is to represent fantasy versions of reality or depict cultural beliefs. This article offers analysis of examples in Chinese parks that signify simulated place or culture (for example, Splendid China’s parks), a romanticized historical time (the Songcheng parks), local stories (Sunac Land parks), and national cultural stories (the Fantawild Oriental Heritage model). Each of these spaces presents narratives and immersive environments that have the power to engage visitors on physical, sensual, conceptual, and emotional levels. They are second worlds to play in, imagine in, and to consume fantasy in while also providing a shifting model of theme park experience.

Overseas Dissemination of Ancient Chinese Costume Culture from the Perspective of Cultural Confidence

Since the reform and opening-up, China has actively followed overseas costume trends and bidden farewell to the era of uniforms. It has gone through evolution from collective imitation to physical liberation to the advocacy of diversified individuality to this new age, where the Chinese culture of costume is radiant with self-confidence. The culture of ancient Chinese costume has a long history with extensive and profound connotations. This paper, from the perspective of cultural confidence, adopts the propagation mode of ‘5W’ to discuss the overseas dissemination of ancient Chinese costume culture, the specific content of Chinese-foreign exchange, and theoretical approaches in the theoretical framework of communication based on the case of ‘American Tour of Innovative Design Works of Ancient Chinese Costume Culture’, organised by Jiangnan University in 2018, in a bid to serve as a reference for the narration of the national story, the communication of a national voice and the creation of a national image.

The American Short Story and the Decennial Census

ABSTRACT This essay places the opening scene of William Faulkner’s “Go Down, Moses” in the context of many other short stories from the 1840s on about encounters with a census-taker, some from the point of view of the person being questioned, others from that of the enumerator. It begins by reading these as constituting a distinctive and enduring strand of local-color fiction and, as such, a counterpoint to the national story told by the government, but then goes on to explore some ways in which the aims of the Census Bureau and those of short story might overlap.

National identities, non‐human animals and climate change: How to dismantle the discourses that govern our lives

AbstractClimate justice involves social and discursive practices shaped by representations deeply rooted in the common sense of societies. Different conditions of social life lead to categorize in different ways the term, including and excluding features according to convenience, necessity, proximity, etc. In this process, our representation of the world plays a central role. As citizens of modern countries, our lives are constrained by different discourses. The most important ones are national stories: they not only define the identity of the Nation but our identity as citizens.In this commentary, I examine how, relatedly, ideologies of national identity can promote or detract from decolonial climate action and I also suggest some links between climate justices and anti‐hegemonic movements.

Germany, Nationhood, and the Holocaust, 1500–2000

A proper understanding of a nation’s identity over time requires tracing how a modern sense of belonging can derive from the symbolic reservoir of society and how cultural symbols can change their meaning in history. This research agenda becomes significantly more challenging when it involves a national group’s experience across hundreds of years from the early modern period to the present. Such is the task of Smith’s Germany: A Nation and Its Time in its attempt to tell the story of nation and nationalism in Germany from 1500 to 2000.

City on a Hill: A History of American Exceptionalism. By Abram C. Van Engen

City on a Hill: A History of American Exceptionalism. By Abram C. Van Engen

The Role of Public Parks in Telling the Nation's Story

In this paper, we discuss the role of public parks in telling the nation’s story via statues, memorials, and monuments. We ground our discussion in affect theory, which addresses the affective responses statues, memorials, and monuments elicit in visitors. Of particular note is affective dissonance, which suggests that a statue, memorial, or monument may evoke a variety of conflicting affective responses. The way in which visitors reconcile these conflicting affective responses shapes their public memory of significant events in our nation’s history. As more is learned about the checkered past of individuals venerated in statues, memorials, and monuments, how should public park administrators respond? We provide several examples of statues, memorials, and monuments that are controversial in nature, and discuss how public park administrators have responded to the challenge of telling the nation’s story through the reinterpretation of events. We also consider the complexity of the management implications, focusing in particular on who should be driving the decisions made. We then discuss the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama, as a good object lesson in how to deal with the affective dissonance involved in recasting public spaces. In so doing, we underscore the importance of frame theory in educating visitors about the preservation, modification, or removal of existing statues, memorials, or monuments.

The story of America: the Kerner report, national leadership, and liberal renewal, 1967-1968

ABSTRACT Long remembered for its warning that the United States, divided by racism, was becoming “two societies, one black, one white – separate and unequal,” the report of the Kerner commission (National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders) made a landmark contribution to public debate in 1968. The paperback edition quickly became a bestseller that year, and even though it failed to influence Lyndon B. Johnson’s embattled presidency, it found a wide readership. This article examines the report in context, approaching it as an example of political narrative writing at a time when centrist, “establishment” liberals attempted to reconcile their rhetorical ideal of a democratic national purpose with the realities of racism. It considers how the report reframed the national story by positioning racial justice as the central test of democracy. And it assesses how far, in that light, it succeeded in renewing the idea of liberal national leadership.

Kliometrie a národní příběh. Zajatci z wehrmachtu jako vojáci československého zahraničního vojska za druhé světové války

Studie na případu československĂŠ zahraničnĂ­ armĂĄdy za druhĂŠ světovĂŠ vĂĄlky prezentuje moĹžnosti kvantitativnĂ­ch přístupĹŻ v historiografii, a předevĹĄĂ­m naznačuje, Ĺže numerickĂĄ zpracovĂĄnĂ­ majĂ­ potenciĂĄl i pro zkoumĂĄnĂ­ hlubĹĄĂ­ch souvislostĂ­ a tak „měkkĂ˝ch“ pojmĹŻ, jako jsou předsudky při vnĂ­mĂĄnĂ­ „druhĂ˝ch“ nebo procesy formovĂĄnĂ­ obrazu rĹŻznĂ˝ch dějinnĂ˝ch fenomĂŠnĹŻ v kolektivnĂ­ paměti. Autor uvĂĄdĂ­, Ĺže do československĂ˝ch vojenskĂ˝ch jednotek formovanĂ˝ch na ZĂĄpadě v letech 1939 aĹž 1945 vstoupily tĂŠměř tři tisĂ­ce ČechoslovĂĄkĹŻ, kteří předtĂ­m určitou dobu slouĹžili v německĂŠm wehrmachtu. To představovalo aĹž třicet procent početnĂ­ho stavu, kterĂŠho tyto jednotky dosĂĄhly na konci vĂĄlky. V květnu 1945 tedy tĂŠměř kaĹždĂ˝ třetĂ­ československĂ˝ vojĂĄk měl za sebou sluĹžbu v německĂŠ uniformě. Tato skutečnost vĹĄak nezapadala do ideovĂŠho formovĂĄnĂ­ novĂŠ nĂĄrodnĂ­ identity, zaloĹženĂŠho předevĹĄĂ­m na obrazu „celonĂĄrodnĂ­ho boje“ za svobodu a příběhu odvěkĂŠho konfliktu s němectvĂ­m. Synergie cĂ­lenĂŠ a přirozenĂŠ marginalizace „shora“ i „zdola“ pak měla za nĂĄsledek tĂŠměř naprostĂŠ potlačenĂ­ tohoto fenomĂŠnu v kolektivnĂ­ paměti českĂŠ společnosti jako celku. ZahraničnĂ­ odboj byl prezentovĂĄn ve striktně nĂĄrodnĂ­m duchu a vojĂĄci zahraničnĂ­ch jednotek představovĂĄni coby typičtĂ­ zĂĄstupci českĂŠho, respektive slovenskĂŠho nĂĄroda. BĂ˝valĂ˝m zajatcĹŻm z wehrmachtu se ani v publikovanĂ˝ch pamětech a vzpomĂ­nkĂĄch veterĂĄnĹŻ odboje nedostalo pozornosti, kterĂĄ by odpovĂ­dala jejich celkovĂŠmu počtu a vĂ˝znamu. Autor s pomocĂ­ kvantitativnĂ­ch metod zkoumĂĄ, zda ĹĄlo v tomto případě pouze o dĹŻsledek zĂĄměrnĂŠ marginalizace, nebo zda za tĂ­mto „vytěsněnĂ­m“ mohly bĂ˝t i jinĂŠ dĹŻvody. Detailně mapuje rozsah a chronologii zařazenĂ­ těchto muŞů v rĂĄmci rĹŻznĂ˝ch jednotek a doklĂĄdĂĄ, Ĺže k nim nastupovali ve větĹĄĂ­m počtu aĹž od lĂŠta 1944 a mnozĂ­ z nich se do konce vĂĄlky nestačili dostat na frontu. To se bezpochyby odrazilo i ve vnĂ­mĂĄnĂ­ veterĂĄnĹŻ, kteří se s nimi prakticky nemuseli setkat a netuĹĄili, jak vĂ˝znamnĂ˝m rekrutačnĂ­m zdrojem jsou prĂĄvě bĂ˝valĂ­ zajatci z wehrmachtu.

Story incentive: the effect of national stories on voter turnout

AbstractThis article contends that an important driver of turnout is the national stories embraced by citizens. We suggest the notion of ‘story incentive,’ whereby adopting a group’s story components – those that connect the past, the future, and prominent national characters – motivates individuals to participate in that group’s political activities. Leaning on narrative theories and studies on voter turnout, we develop and test hypotheses regarding the effect of story components on the likelihood of voting. Our measurements of story incentives are based on election surveys and encompass Denmark, Israel, the Netherlands, the UK, and the US. The results support the main story-incentive hypothesis. We discuss the theoretical ramifications of the connection between adherence to national stories and voter turnout.

Review

Review

عاقبة المنذَرین فی قصص المرسلین (دراسة دعویة تحلیلیة) Missionaries in Missionary Stories (An analytical advocacy study)

ملخص البحث عاقبة المنذرين في قصص المرسلين (دراسة دعوية تحليلية) هدفت الدراسة إلى تجلية موقف الإسلام من مخالفة أمر الله ورسله لما له عاقبة وخيمة في الدنيا والآخرة وأن الأخلاق السيئة تنهى حياة صاحبها نهاية مرة وأن قصص الأمم السابقين تزيدنا يقينا وإيمانا وتحقق لحياتنا السعادة وتنير لنا الطريق. ومن أهم النتائج: إن أصحاب الإيمان العميق، والخلق القويم، والغيورين على طهارة النفوس وأعراض الناس، يستميتون في الذب عن دينهم، وعن کل ما أمر الله تعالى بالدفاع عنه، کما اقتضت حکمة الله – سبحانه- أن تکون عقوبته العادلة للمجرمين متناسبة مع جرائمهم وقبائحهم، يؤکد ذلک، أن قوم لوط (u) حين قلبوا الأوضاع، وترکوا ما أحله الله لهم، وانغمسوا فيما حرمه -سبحانه- کانت العقوبة متسقة مع قبائحهم، حيث عاقبهم بأن جعل ما هو الأعلى إلى الأسفل وما کان عزيزا أصبح ذليلا. Abstract Research Summary The study aimed to clarify the position of Islam towards violating the Cause of God and His Messengers because it has a dire consequence in this world and the hereafter, and that bad morals end the life of its owner once and that the stories of previous nations increase our certainty and faith and achieve happiness in our life and enlighten us the way. Among the most important results: Those who have deep faith, righteous manners, and those who are zealous over the purity of souls and the honor of people are desperate to deflect their religion, and for everything that God Almighty has commanded to defend, as the wisdom of God - glory be to Him - required that His just punishment for criminals be proportionate to their crimes And their ugliness, confirms this, that when the people of Lot - peace be upon him - turned the situation, and left what God permitted them, and indulged in what He forbade Him - the punishment was consistent with their ugliness, as He punished them by making what is higher down and whoever dear became humiliated.

Hybridity, National Identity, and the Smartphone in the Contemporary Union of Myanmar

Hybridity, National Identity, and the Smartphone in the Contemporary Union of Myanmar

New Zealand and the Colombo Plan in the long 1950s

This article suggests that the Colombo Plan provided significant ways for New Zealand governments to engage cautiously with the process of decolonisation in Asia and to perform New Zealand to the world. The Colombo Plan facilitated New Zealand’s experience of post-war conference diplomacy when Wellington hosted the annual meeting of the Colombo Plan’s Consultative Committee in 1956, New Zealand’s first such international diplomatic meeting of this kind. One well-promoted aspect of New Zealand’s involvement in the Colombo Plan was its sponsorship of Asian students. In addition, having promoted themselves as ‘the empire’s dairy farm’ in the interwar years, New Zealand governments offered milk as development assistance and as a means of connecting Asia’s needs with their own national story. Through the long 1950s the Colombo Plan was helpfully suggestive to New Zealand politicians and civil servants interested in what the changing international landscape meant for their role in a decolonising world; and as a case study, it is also suggestive for what it offers to historians of development more generally.

The Shapeshifting Self: Narrative Pathways into Political Violence

In the wake of numerous terror attacks around the globe, academic and popular discourse on radicalization has witnessed exponential growth in publications that, sadly, have not resulted in a coherent or consensus definition of the concept, nor have they determined its causality and effects. In this article, we use the term three-pronged process of radicalization by narrative to denote an ongoing process of meaning-making, adaptation, and coping, and argue this process to be inherently linked with the social, cultural, and ideological construction and reconstruction of the identity arch-story of individual lives. We suggest that, in some cases, the ceaseless process of social interaction of identity narratives eventuates in what we define as the Shapeshifting Self, by coherently fusing stories of personal loss, rupture, or trauma together with the counterparts of movements and national stories of sociopolitical engagement. At the endpoint of the process, violent engagement is perceived by the self as legitimate and even necessary for the psychological well-being of the perpetrator. By applying this approach to the Jewish-Israeli context, we aim to illustrate the socioculturally situated contingencies associated with the process of radicalization by narrative.

Electing Economics: Election Law's Efficiency-Convergence Dilemma

We are facing a moment of unique reflection in American democracy. Data suggests that marginalized communities feel persistently ignored by political actors—on a bipartisan basis. The scale of wealth inequality is soaring to unprecedented heights. Domestic indifference to foreign interference in our elections has poisoned public confidence in the political process. Mass reckonings with institutionalized racism and police violence have rocked major cities, facing deep and violent resistance from the President and the federal government. A global pandemic disproportionately devastated Black and Brown communities, and the federal government’s response prioritized economic liberty over health and safety. Americans are reconsidering the nature of our relationship to the federal government, and the pressure for reform may now exceed any moment since the New Deal. In this setting, Iowa’s dramatic failure to efficiently administer the Democratic Presidential Caucus hardly seems worthy of a footnote in the history of 2020. Yet, at the time, it became a national story. Iowa’s failure to administer an efficient election was new—but election law’s marriage to economic efficiency is much older. Understanding the depth of efficiency’s roots in the law of democracy requires turning back to that same New Deal era. The conflict between the American Legal Realists and the laissez faire Lochnerism of the Supreme Court laid the groundwork for efficiency’s lasting role in law—and for the century of criticism that sprung up to contest it. Efficiency—and specifically, the conceptions of efficiency proffered by Chicago School Law and Economics and Virginia School Public Choice Theory—emerged victorious from those contests. But, we are facing a moment of unique reflection, and in such a moment, an opportunity arises. By looking back through efficiency’s rise, we can chart a course forward. This article offers a framework with which to do so: the efficiency-convergence dilemma. Part I builds the efficiency-convergence, outlining the intellectual history of efficiency’s role in election law. Part II builds the dilemma, highlighting critical legal theory and heterodox economics traditions that contour the normative concerns with the efficiency-convergence. Part III presents the framework. I develop a typology of efficiency arguments within election law, derived from novel primary source analysis of the legislative history for the Voting Rights Act and the National Voter Registration Act, along with case law and scholarship across election law. I theorize that this typology demonstrates an efficiency-convergence dilemma, functioning to institutionalize racial subordination as a neutral principle undergirding legal thought in the law of democracy. I offer a series of critiques for this efficiency-convergence, built from the critical theories discussed. Finally, Part IV offers two normative implications of the efficiency convergence. The first is to look outside the law, developing an operationalized definition of equity based on similar research in public health and public policy. The second is to highlight election law scholarship that bucks the efficiency convergence, charting a path forward. I present one such path: reimagining the right to vote as a constructive right implemented through constitutional conventions and norms and protected as an instrumental right.