scholarly journals Moving Labor Heroes Center Stage: (Labor) Heroism and the Reconfiguration of Social Relations in the Yan'an Period

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-24
Author(s):  
Nicola Spakowski
Keyword(s):  
Social Relations ◽  
Mao Zedong ◽  
Symbolic Order ◽  
Socialist Society ◽  
Charismatic Leader ◽  
The Core ◽  
History Of ◽  
Western Scholarship ◽  
The Masses ◽  
Direct Encounter

Abstract Labor heroes are an important phenomenon in the history of socialist China, but they have received only little attention in Western scholarship. This article investigates the labor heroes of the Yan'an period as the pivot in the Chinese Communist Party's (CCP) attempt at reconceptualizing society, establishing new social relations and creating a socialist subjectivity. It reveals the new symbolic order constructed in the official media, primarily Jiefang Ribao (Liberation Daily), and highlights the relation between labor heroes (as representatives of the “masses”), intellectuals, and Mao Zedong in the construction of new hierarchies. In particular, it shows how the CCP chose work as the fundament of socialist society and the core of a new concept of “collective heroism”; how the stage of the first labor hero assembly was used to orchestrate Mao Zedong as a charismatic leader; and how labor heroes and writers, through direct encounter, redefined their respective place in society.

The Body of the King: Reappraising Singhasari Period Syncretism

2007 ◽  
Vol 38 (1) ◽  
pp. 27-53 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas M. Hunter
Keyword(s):  
Personal Values ◽  
The Body ◽  
Symbolic Order ◽  
Historical Sources ◽  
Status Hierarchy ◽  
The Core ◽  
Religious System ◽  
History Of ◽  
Core Line

This article argues for a reassessment of the history of the Singhasari period based on disambiguating diverse historical sources that have often been combined to produce a seamless narrative, when in fact the textual record is marked by conflict, contradiction and ambiguity. The author proposes a basic division between the perspective of kakawin literature, which represents the interests of royal and priestly actors with a large stake in maintaining a fixed symbolic order, and literature in Middle Javanese, which reflects the more personal values that arose among young royals competing for favourable position in the core-line status hierarchy. The author further claims that symbolic initiatives of Krtanagara (1265–92 CE) that led to his identification as ‘the god Shiva-Buddha’ were not aimed at producing a syncretic religious system, but rather a politico-religious hegemony that had profound effects on the shape of statecraft during the Majapahit era.

Receptions of the Past: Commemoration, Racism, Desire

Somatechnics ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 288-303
Author(s):  
Michael Connors Jackman
Keyword(s):  
Critical Point ◽  
Social Relations ◽  
White Privilege ◽  
Body Politic ◽  
The Body ◽  
Race And Racism ◽  
Lesbian And Gay ◽  
The Past ◽  
History Of

This article investigates the ways in which the work of The Body Politic (TBP), the first major lesbian and gay newspaper in Canada, comes to be commemorated in queer publics and how it figures in the memories of those who were involved in producing the paper. In revisiting a critical point in the history of TBP from 1985 when controversy erupted over race and racism within the editorial collective, this discussion considers the role of memory in the reproduction of whiteness and in the rupture of standard narratives about the past. As the controversy continues to haunt contemporary queer activism in Canada, the productive work of memory must be considered an essential aspect of how, when and for what reasons the work of TBP comes to be commemorated. By revisiting the events of 1985 and by sifting through interviews with individuals who contributed to the work of TBP, this article complicates the narrative of TBP as a bluntly racist endeavour whilst questioning the white privilege and racially-charged demands that undergird its commemoration. The work of producing and preserving queer history is a vital means of challenging the intentional and strategic erasure of queer existence, but those who engage in such efforts must remain attentive to the unequal terrain of social relations within which remembering forms its objects.

Perfection Makes Practice

2006 ◽  
Vol 23 (3) ◽  
pp. 98-100
Author(s):  
Muhamad Ali
Keyword(s):  
Social Relations ◽  
Muslim Community ◽  
Beliefs And Practices ◽  
Psychological Dimension ◽  
South Sulawesi ◽  
Complex Dimensions ◽  
History Of Religions ◽  
History Of

Studies of Islam in Southeast Asia have sought to better understand its multifacetedand complex dimensions, although one may make a generalizedcategorization of Muslim beliefs and practices based on a fundamental differencein ideologies and strategies, such as cultural and political Islam.Anna M. Gade’s Perfection Makes Practice stresses the cultural aspect ofIndonesian Muslim practices by analyzing the practices of reciting andmemorizing the Qur’an, as well as the annual competition.Muslim engagement with the Qur’an has tended to emphasize the cognitiveover the psychological dimension. Perfection Makes Practice analyzesthe role of emotion in these undertakings through a combination ofapproaches, particularly the history of religions, ethnography, psychology,and anthropology. By investigating Qur’anic practitioners in Makassar,South Sulawesi, during the 1990s, Gade argues that the perfection of theQur’an as a perceived, learned, and performed text has made and remade thepractitioners, as well as other members of the Muslim community, to renewor increase their engagement with the holy text. In this process, she suggests,moods and motivation are crucial to preserving the recited Qur’an and revitalizingthe Muslim community.In chapter 1, Gade begins with a theoretical consideration for her casestudy. Drawing from concepts that emphasize the importance of feeling andemotion in ritual and religious experience, she develops a conceptualizationof this engagement. In chapter 2, Gade explains memorization within thecontext of the self and social relations. She argues that Qur’anic memorizershave a special relationship with its style and structure, as well as with thesocial milieu. Although Qur’anic memorization is a normal practice for mostMuslims, its practitioners have learned how to memorize and recite beautifullysome or all of the Qur’an’s verses, a process that requires emotion ...

THE CORE AND PERIPHERY OF THE CURRENT CULTURE OF ARTISTIC CREATION ABOUT THE GREAT PATRIOTIC WAR IN THE STUDENTS’ VIEWS

2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 130-149
Author(s):  
Elena N. NARKHOVA ◽  
Dmitry Yu. NARKHOV
Keyword(s):  
Historical Memory ◽  
Soviet Period ◽  
Russian Society ◽  
Student Culture ◽  
The Core ◽  
Musical Works ◽  
Great Patriotic War ◽  
History Of ◽  
Current Student ◽  
Historical Periods

This article analyzes the degree of demand for works of art (films and television films and series, literary and musical works, works of monumental art) associated with the history of the Great Patriotic War among contemporary students. This research is based on the combination of two theories, which study the dynamics and statics of culture in the society — the theory of the nucleus and periphery by Yu. M. Lotman and the theory of actual culture by L. N. Kogan. The four waves of research (2005, 2010, 2015, 2020) by the Russian Society of Socio¬logists (ROS) have revealed a series of works in various genres on this topic in the core structure and on the periphery of the current student culture; this has also allowed tracing the dynamics of demand and the “movement” of these works in the sociocultural space. The authors introduce the concept of the archetype of the echo of war. The high student recognition of works of all historical periods (from wartime to the present day) is shown. A significant complex of works has been identified, forming two contours of the periphery. Attention is drawn to the artistic work of contemporary students as a way to preserve the historical memory of the Great Patriotic War. This article explains the necessity of preserving the layer of national culture in order to reproduce the national identity in the conditions of informational and ideological pluralism of the post-Soviet period. The authors note the differentiation of youth due to the conditions and specifics of socialization in the polysemantic sociocultural space.

THE ROOTS OF MODERN CAPITALISM: A MARXIST ACCOUNTING HISTORY OF THE ORIGINS AND CONSEQUENCES OF CAPITALIST LANDLORDS IN ENGLAND

2004 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-56 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rob Bryer
Keyword(s):  
Social Relations ◽  
Pivotal Role ◽  
Archival Research ◽  
Accounting History ◽  
Agricultural Revolution ◽  
Historical Literature ◽  
Modern Capitalism ◽  
History Of ◽  
Industrial Revolutions

A major debate neglected by accounting historians is the importance of landlords in the English agricultural revolution. The paper uses accounting evidence from the historical literature to test Marx's theory that, from around 1750, England's landlords played a pivotal role by adopting and then spreading the capitalist mentality and social relations by enclosures and changes in the management of their estates and tenants. It gives an accounting interpretation of Marx's theory of rent and argues that the available evidence supports his view that the conversion of English landlords to capitalism underlay the later stages of the agricultural revolution. The conclusion explains the linkages in Marx's theory between the agricultural and industrial revolutions, and calls on accounting historians to conduct archival research into the agricultural roots of modern capitalism.

The Struggle of My Life

2018 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Student Community ◽  
The Social ◽  
Freedom Fighters ◽  
Intractable Problems ◽  
History Of ◽  
National Life ◽  
The Common ◽  
Primary Focus ◽  
The Masses ◽  
Freedom Movement

The present work, The Struggle of My Life: An Autobiography of Swami Sahajanand Saraswati, is an English translation of Sahajanand’s autobiography, written in Hindi, Mera Jeevan Sangarsh. It carries an introduction by the translator which briefly deals with the Swami’s life and legacy. It needs to be emphasized that this is not an autobiography in the common run. Its primary focus is not on Swami’s persona; its central theme is the cause of the freedom movement in general and in particular, of the peasant movement under his leadership. It tells of the life and legacy of one of the most uncompromising and fearless freedom fighters and peasant leaders. It covers the social and political history of one of the most crucial periods of our national life, 1920–47. Today, when the Indian peasantry is faced with a number of intractable problems, it reminds them of the struggles of the peasants of yesteryears and the kind of trials and tribulations they went through. It is also remarkable that despite his vast learning and command over Sanskrit, Swami chose to write in simple, colloquial Hindi. That only speaks for his total identification with the masses. Both the teaching and student community as well as general readers would find this book useful, interesting and intellectually stimulating.

Indexicality of Grammar: The Case of Japanese Transgender Speakers

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hideko Abe
Keyword(s):  
Gender Identity ◽  
Gender Identity Disorder ◽  
Grammatical Gender ◽  
Core Structure ◽  
Subject Positions ◽  
Transgender Identity ◽  
The Core ◽  
History Of ◽  
History Of Scholarship ◽  
Grammatical Structures

This article discusses how the intersection of grammatical gender and social gender, entwined in the core structure of language, can be analyzed to understand the dynamic status of selfhood. After reviewing a history of scholarship that demonstrates this claim, the discussion analyzes the language practices of transgender individuals in Japan, where transgender identity is currently understood in terms of sei-dōitsusei-shōgai (gender identity disorder). Based on fieldwork conducted between 2011 and 2017, the analysis reveals how individuals identifying with sei-dōitsusei-shōgai negotiate subject positions by manipulating the specific indexical meanings attached to grammatical structures.

The Politics of Humanism

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joseph O. Baker
Keyword(s):  
Social Relations ◽  
Social Reform ◽  
Political Efficacy ◽  
Secular Humanism ◽  
History Of

While the varieties of humanist expression vary across cultural and historical contexts, all forms of humanism are necessarily related to politics by virtue of outlining ethical positions on matters of social relations. Tracing the history of humanism broadly, as well as secular humanism specifically, this chapter identifies recurring continua of conflict about the politics of humanism. There is a general, inherent tension between individualist and collectivist dimensions of humanism, which is manifest in specific disputes about orientations toward society (philosophical vs. applied humanism), religion (exclusivist vs. ecumenical humanism), ethics (scientistic vs. humanitarian humanism), and politics (libertarian vs. socialist humanism). There are also disputes within humanism that arise around the preferred strategy for managing the stigma of secularity between those who favor separatist subcultures and those who favor normalization through social reform. Ultimately a broad-based conception of humanism offers the greatest possibilities for political efficacy. In conclusion, the article outlines some of the important aspects of humanism and politics in need of further research.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document