Phenomenon Sui Generis Research Articles

What Does It Mean to Study Korean Religion(s)?

When we study Korean religion, we face two sets of basic questions. First, what do we mean by “religion”? How broad should be the range of phenomena that we want to include in our study? Should we study Korean religion as a single organic unity or as a plurality of diverse traditions? Above all, the classical question whether or not religion is to be regarded as a phenomenon sui generis needs to be addressed one way or another by any scholar engaged in the study of Korean religion. Second, what do we mean by “Korean” in studying Korean religion(s)? How strongly should we stress its/their Korean identity? Is there a distinctive Korean character underlying all Korean religions or Korean religious culture in general, past and present? In addressing these issues, we need the wisdom to avoid two extremes of essentialism and radical nominalism. Apart from these methodological issues, we need to pay more attention to the rich and dynamic religious world of Korean society today than has been accorded to it thus far. Closer analysis of the interaction between various religious traditions and groups is another area that has been neglected in the study of Korean religion. Finally, it is always worth remembering that we study Korean religion as much for the spiritual values and insights it may have for today’s world as for its importance in deeper understanding of Korean society and culture, the primary concern of Korean studies in general.

Leninist beneficiaries? Pre-1989 legacies and the radical right in post-1989 Central and Eastern Europe. Some introductory observations

A central topos in the study of Central and Eastern European contemporary politics in general, and of its radical right politics in particular is the emphasis on the extraordinary relevance of history and geography. In fact, the entire transformation process after 1989 is often clothed in terms of historical and geographical categories, either as a “return of history” or a “return to Europe”, or both. In these various scenarios, the radical right claims a prominent place in this politics of return, and the study of this current echoes the more general concern, in the analyses of the region, with historical analogies and the role of legacies. Sometimes analogies are drawn between the post-1989 radical right and interwar fascism, in terms of a “Weimarization” of the transformation countries and the return of the pre-socialist, ultranationalist or even fascist past – the “return of history”. Others argue that since some Central and Eastern European party systems increasingly resemble their Western European counterparts, so does the radical right, at least where it is electorally successful – the “return to Europe”. According to yet another line of thought, the radical right in the region is a phenomenon sui generis, inherently shaped by the historical forces of state socialism and the transformation process and, as a result and in contrast to Western Europe, ideologically more extreme and anti-democratic while organizationally more a movement than a party phenomenon. In all these approaches, the key concepts of “legacies” and the radical right are often underspecified. This volume takes a closer look at the intersection of history or particular legacies, and the mobilization of the radical right in the post-1989 world of the region, while attempting to provide a sharper focus on key concepts. Regardless of the different approaches, all contributions show that with the radical right, a peculiar “syncretic construct” (Tismaneanu) has emerged in Central and Eastern Europe after 1989, which is derived from both pre-communist and communist legacies.

“If there is nothing beyond the organic...”

When, in turn-of-the-20th-century America, Alfred L. Kroeber continued the work of Franz Boas, in establishing anthropology as an academic discipline in the US, he defined culture as a phenomenon sui generis. For this he asked geneticists to enter into a coalition against hereditarian thoughts prevalent at that time in the US. To goal was to make room for anthropology as part of academia and distinct from other disciplines. To this end, he crossed the boundary to biology in order to build the boundary and developed the concept of culture in close connection to the concept of heredity: culture as independent of biological heredity (culture as superorganic) and, at the same time, culture as heredity of another sort. I will first summarize the shifting boundaries of anthropology at the beginning of the 20th century. I will then present Kroeber’s ideas on culture and show how the changing landscape of concepts of heredity influenced his views. The historical case serves to derive two general conclusions: that the concept of culture can play different roles in explaining human existence; that genetics and the concept of hard inheritance did not have an unambiguous unidirectional historical effect on the vogue of hereditarianism at that time; on the contrary, it helped to establish culture in Kroeber's sense.

Zielonka's theory of the European Empire: A Challenge to Theory and Practice of European Integration

CESAA 16TH ANNUAL EUROPE ESSAY COMPETITION 2008 POSTGRADUATE CATEGORYThe emergence of new theory to account for the sui generis phenomenon of European integration has produced a myriad of responses, challenging traditional approaches and creating new debates. This essay analyses just one of these responses, that is Zielonka’s model of Europe as a polycentric neo-medieval empire. He argues that Europe is developing into a body with soft border zones, multiple identities, divided loyalties and sovereignties with a multiplicity of overlapping institutions. Although the suggestion of a flexible and pluralistic Europe is not a new one, the way in which Zielonka presents this concept as an original and inventive model for European governance is worthy of further research and debate.

Al-Qaeda and Anarchism: A Historian's Reply to Terrorology

This article situates al-Qaeda and similar jihadi movements within the category of anarchism. In so doing, it challenges the central pillar of the terrorology paradigm: the notion that terrorism is useful as an independent unit of analysis. The article takes a two-fold approach; in the first part, it offers a five-part definition of anarchism, based on the literature in the fields of history, political science, and sociology. Anarchism is distinguished by five characteristics: First, anarchism is an episodic discourse which provides its adherents with a prescription for action and which has been consistently available to, but only sometimes adopted by, political actors in the modern world. Second, anarchism makes for itself the claim of being defensive in nature. Third, anarchism is anti-systemic; i.e., the target of anarchist grievances is the very system (the nation-state system, capitalism) anarchists view as the source of oppression. Fourth, by “othering” the source of oppression, anarchists delineate, either implicitly or explicitly, an ideal counter-community. Finally, unlike the disarticulated domain of, for example, scientific socialism, the discursive field of anarchism draws heavily from the specific cultural milieu from which it springs. The second part of the article examines al-Qaeda and similar movements in terms of these five characteristics, contrasts al-Qaeda with other organizations (Hamas, Hizbullah) which have often been conflated with al-Qaeda under the terrorist rubric, and argues that, based on those characteristics, al-Qaeda does not represent a new or sui generis phenomenon, but rather fits squarely into the anarchist mold.

Lobbying in the European Union: From sui generis to a comparative perspective

This article reviews the literature on lobbying in the European Union. After initial surveys of the landscape of non-governmental actor participation, theoretical investigations have focused on the modes of network governance and later on the phenomenon of Europeanization. Yet studies have increasingly moved away from considering EU lobbying as a sui generis phenomenon. Normalizing the study of interest group participation in the EU and understanding the opportunities and constraints that are characteristic for it has led more and more scholars to adopt a comparative perspective. The most interesting parallels exist between Washington and Brussels, but unfortunately there have been very few attempts to explore the connection between the American literature on lobbying and EU studies. This article makes a first step towards such a comparison and points to concepts common in comparative politics that could provide considerable insight into the study of EU lobbying.

Category Formation and the History of 'New Age'

Based on theories of category formation (Baird) and genealogy (Foucault and Asad), and writing myself reflexively into the field, I question the consensus view that there is (or ever was) a viable social or religious ‘movement’ called ‘New Age’. Through a brief review of secondary sources, I disaggregate and historicise the field, drawing attention to signs of incompleteness, heterogeneity and cultural diffusion in preference to the dominant argument for a sui generis phenomenon. Within the field, I trace connections between Alice Bailey's discourse and Findhorn colony practice to illustrate one particular ‘New Age’ genealogy. I argue that ‘New Age’ is better represented as an expression of contemporary Anglo-American ‘popular religion’, a (re)conceptualisation that encourages more fruitful comparative historical and ethnographical analyses. Finally, I identify an emergent ‘second wave’ of ‘New Age’ studies, characterised by a concern for localised and contextualised representations.

The Curious Side of Modern Czech Nationalism

The essay deals with some specific aspects of the Czech national idea and movement which set it apart from other national movements in Central Europe. It points out the contradictions inherent in the self-image of the Czechs and in their interpretation of their own history. It also draws the attention of the reader to the original contributions to the theories of nation developed by Czech thinkers, espe- cially T. G. Masaryk and his disciples. Czech Sociological Review, 2001, Vol. 9 (No. 2: 225-234) The building process of the modern Czech nation was similar to the nation-building proc- esses everywhere in Central and Eastern Europe: an ethnic group was brought to the awareness of its collective identity ('awakened') by an elite which eventually presented claims in its name to constitutional and international recognition. The 'totem', that is, the principal identity sign in this case, as in most other cases in the region, was the 'tongue', the specific Czech language. Yet there were notabler differences, to the point that the birth of the modern Czech nation can be viewed as a phenomenon sui generis, a kind of his- torical curiosity. It is possible to ascertain such differences in several aspects. Cautious beginnings The first generation of the Czech 'awakeners', active at the turn of the 19th century, did not have any explicitly political goals in mind and was rather sceptical on this subject. Many saw the population, the existence of which they wished to bring to the attention of the European public, as a precious historical and cultural relic rather than a political agent. The Czechs in their view had a great past, but there was ambiguity about their fu- ture. The Czech ethnic group was situated the farthest west of all Slavic tribes and was virtually encircled by German-speaking elements. In Austria, of which it formed a part, the official language was German. German was adopted by all Czech classes above the peasantry, since its command was the condition for social advancement. Objectively, the chances of the emergence of a self-contained Czech nation were not very favourable at that time. To some contemporary observers it even appeared that, given the geopolitical location of the Czech group, it was likely to end up inside a German nation-state - when such a state would be created - in circumstances similar to those reserved for the Basques in France, or the Irish, Scots, and Welsh peoples in England/Great Britain; that the Czechs would ultimately be identified as tschechisch sprechende Deutsche, Czech- speaking Germans, similar to the tiny Slavic group of Sorbs living in Saxony who also referred to themselves as wendische sprechende Deutsche. On the German side, this expectation prevailed even in the circles that otherwise were sympathetic to the efforts to preserve Czech language and culture. It persisted until the revolutionary wave of 1848/49 and its aftermath. In his analysis of Slavism in Bohe-

The economic approach to human behaviour under scrutiny: an overview of arguments for the autonomy of social action

The article reviews and re-examines some arguments against the treatment of social action within the economic approach as an extension of economic behaviour/rationality and thus against its denial of the specific, irreducible nature of the extra-economic. A major argument is that social action is a sui generis phenomenon that cannot be reduced with theoretical impunity to its economic modalities. Social action is characterized by substantial autonomy relative to economic behaviour/rationality. Arguments about the autonomous character of social action seek to remedy the indiscriminate extension of the economic approach beyond the field of economy to all human behaviour construed as consistent utility maximization. These arguments adduce certain classes of factors (socio-psychological, socio-cultural, socio-systemic and others) contributing toward the autonomy of social action. In addition, the economic-approach treatment of the human actor as Homo economicus is reversed by conceiving the economy as a domain of social action of which economic behaviour is a special case.

Manufacturing Religion: The Discourse on Sui Generis Religion and the Politics of Nostalgia

In this new book, author Russell McCutcheon offers a powerful critique of traditional scholarship on religion, focusing on multiple interrelated targets. Most prominent among these are the History of Religions as a discipline; Mircea Eliade, one of the founders of the modern discipline; recent scholarship on Eliade's life and politics; contemporary textbooks on world religions; and the oft-repeated bromide that is a sui generis phenomenon. McCutcheon skillfully analyzes the ideological basis for and service of the sui generis argument, demonstrating that it has been used to constitute the field's object of study in a form that is ahistoric, apolitical, fetishized, and sacrosanct. As such, he charges, it has helped to create departments, jobs, and publication outlets for those who are comfortable with such a suspect construction, while establishing a disciplinary ethos of astounding theoretical naivete and a body of scholarship to match. Surveying the textbooks available for introductory courses in comparative religion, the author finds that they uniformly adopt the sui generis line and all that comes with it. As a result, he argues, they are not just uncritical (which helps keep them popular among the audiences for which they are intended, but badly disserve), but actively inhibit the emergence of critical perspectives and capacities. And on the geo-political scale, he contends, the study of religion as an ahistorical category participates in a larger system of political domination and economic and cultural imperialism.

O valor da afinidade: parentesco e casamento entre os Pirahã<a NAME="top1"></a>

Nossa intenção neste trabalho é problematizar a questão da afinidade e seu valor entre os Piranhã. Num primeiro momento do trabalho, apresentatremos a terminologia de parentesco procurando menos interpretá-la do que problematizá-la, buscando perceber o que ela nos fala sobre a afinidade. Após descrevermos quais as questões que esta terminologia coloca, entraremos no campo do casamento, tanto no que se refere à exploração do valor da categoria terminológica para cônjuge quanto a uma análise que nos revele quais são, de fato, os tipos mais freqüentes de união entre os Piranhã. Ainda neste ítem, abordaremos a questão da constituição do casal e da família boem como o fenômeno sui generis da instituição do "preço da Noiva" e suas implicações na construção de um modelo de afinidade.

Über die Natur der Arten und monophyletischen Taxa

On the Nature of Species and Monophyletic TaxaThe biological species problem does not belong to the philosophical dispute about universals. The species category denotes a class of individual biosystems. Typological as well as nominalistic species concepts are special versions of the class concept of species. There are different kinds of species in nature. Monophyletic higher taxa are “closed phyletic communities of nature” (Ax), and ‐ more general ‐ “historical groups” (WILEY). They are an ontological phenomenon sui generis.

Sui generis phenomena and disciplinary axioms: Rethinking Pals' proposal

Daniel Pals and I have made independent arguments for the resolution of the debate over reductionism in religious studies with the adoption of appropriate ‘disciplinary axioms’. This paper undertakes a critical review of Pals' proposal, suggesting that his axiomatic conception of the sui generis nature of religious phemomena is substantively inadequate because he misconceives the theoretical grounds for axiom adoption in the social sciences. An argument is advanced, by comparison, for the advantages of an alternative formulation which demarcates religious phenomena in terms of ‘references to the transcendent’.

The development of handedness in children

Direction and degree of handedness were assessed in children aged 3 to 9 years old, in transverse and longitudinal studies, using a 10‐item performance battery. Item analysis revealed a single underlying factor with a bimodal distribution. Direction of handedness appears to be more or less fixed by the age of 3. Degree of handedness increases at least over the range 3 to 7 years, and perhaps more slowly from 7 to 9. Degree of handedness increased more rapidly in left‐handers than in right‐handers. Degree of handedness showed no correlation with reading ability or general intelligence. The theoretical implications of these findings are discussed, and interpreted in terms of a hypothesis whereby degree of handedness is a phenomenon sui generis.

Resistance to Innovation in the Sociology of Law: A Response to Greenberg

The conventional understanding of law in everyday life gives a central place to legal rules. In this view-held by most lawyers as well as laypersons-legal cases come into being because someone's conduct has apparently run afoul of one or more legal rules, and cases are solved when the correct rules have been applied. The conventional approach also makes much of human motives, those of offenders, other citizens, and legal officials. These elements of conventional thought about law-rules, conduct, and psychology-have characterized much of the sociology of law as well. Because of their tendency to accept what are essentially folk conceptions of law, sociologists for many years failed to generate their own theory of the legal process. The critique of Donald Black's innovative theory of law in the present issue of this journal, written by sociologist David Greenberg, dramatically illustrates conventional thought and its pitfalls. While his theory is not the only alternative to the conventional view of law, Donald Black has developed the most systematic sociological approach now available. Black does not use legal rules to explain behavior but treats these rules as among the problems to be explained. Nor does Black invoke an eclectic melange of common-sense variables, such as legal rules, individual psychology, and the conduct of offenders, to explain the nature and application of the law. Instead, he has created a distinctively sociological theory of law in which variation in legal life is related to its location and direction in social space. Black's theory does not conceive of law as a phenomenon sui generis but orders, predicts, and explains law as an instance of social behavior. Furthermore, Black states his * I am grateful to M.P. Baumgartner, Donald Black, Mark Cooney, and Calvin Morrill for providing me with numerous helpful suggestions for revisions in an earlier draft of this paper.

Tactile hallucinations: conceptual and historical aspects.

A brief historical analysis of the general concept of hallucination is presented and the suggestion is made that it emerged as the unwarranted generalisation of a perceptual model that was meant to apply only to vision and the "distance senses". Against this background the evolution of tactile hallucinations is considered and its interaction with 19th century psychological theory explored. It is concluded that tactile hallucinations are sui generis phenomena which do not fit the conventional model and whose clinical identification rests on criteria so far unclear. A brief review of their taxonomy and diagnostic usefulness is presented. Some wider implications are drawn which should be relevant to the general concept of hallucination.

Intonation und Prosodie (Intonation and Prosody)

Abstract The modern understanding of prosody and its correlation to intonation on the basis of the author’s Moscow Laboratory experimental data is given in this article. Intonation is not subjected to prosody; the latter is also regarded as the lingual phenomenon sui generis. The hypothesis on communicative, lingual and psychological substance of prosody is proposed.

West Indian Family Organization

West Indian Negro society is bounded by poverty and color frustration. The island of Jamaica is taken as typical of society in the Caribbean. The family or domestic group in this society can be regarded as a phenomenon sui generis. Four types can be distinguished: Christian family, faithful concubinage, maternal, or grandmother, family, and keeper family. These familial forms exhibit a marked degree of stability. But they can be regarded as indicative of the disequilibrium inherent in the society. The contemporary family structure of the Negro in the New World is the result of plantation slavery rather than of a West Arican tradition.

SOME BIOLOGICAL ASPECTS OF THE POPULATION PROBLEM

Summary1. The logistic curve which Pearl has applied to the growth of populations of the fruit fly is the law of an experiment carried out under certain restrictions. The assumptions from which the law can be deduced are assumptions whose biological significance is problematical. Their sociological relevance is obscure. There is no sound reason to believe that the decline in European birth‐rate is the expression of a universal law governing the growth of populations. No known biological data conflict with the view that the declining fertility of European communities is a phenomenon sui generis.2. Occupational, statistics from all countries where the birth‐rate has fallen indicate a differential decline. To estimate the genetic significance of differential fertility existing methods are inadequate, and new methods for the detection of genetic differences in social behaviour are required. There are some indications that differential fertility is an ephemeral feature of present‐day conditions because the decline of the birth‐rate is extending to the labouring classes. On this view civilisation appears to be faced with the alternative of devising new incentives to parent‐hood or facing extinction through a progressive decline of population.3. There is insufficient reason to believe that improvement in infant welfare has significantly diminished the expectation of life in the later age groups—or that it is likely to do so in the immediate future.