Multiethnic Parastates and Nation-Building: The Case of the Transnistrian Imagined Community

2020 ◽  
Vol 48 (1) ◽  
pp. 61-82 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ion Marandici
Keyword(s):  
Nation Building ◽  
Russian Language ◽  
Political Community ◽  
Imagined Community ◽  
The Public ◽  
Long Run ◽  
Local Media ◽  
The Russian Federation ◽  
Identity Discourses ◽  
The Public Sphere

AbstractThis article explores nation-building processes in the Transnistrian imagined community. While some scholars describe Transnistria’s nation-building strategy as a civic, multicultural project, the analysis of recent demographic and educational data corroborated with the close examination of local media content and official discourses—all point to the emergence of a distinct political culture marked by the increasing use of the Russian language in the public sphere, and the politicization of the Moldovan identity. Discourses about ethnic and national identity in the region have evolved as the Transnistrian elites reimagine the political community as part of the Russkii Mir. These circumstances suggest that, in the long run, the breakaway region might function as the southeastern frontline of Russian irredentism with the elites of the Pridnestrovska͡ia Moldavska͡ia Respublika continuing to call on the Russian Federation to annex the parastate instead of seeking a peaceful reintegration into Moldova.

‘Party in the street’: The partisan politics of space

2021 ◽  
pp. 239965442110338
Author(s):  
David Jenkins ◽  
Lipin Ram
Keyword(s):  
Public Sphere ◽  
Public Space ◽  
State Power ◽  
Public Spaces ◽  
The State ◽  
Political Community ◽  
Democratic Legitimacy ◽  
Partisan Politics ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Public Sphere

Public space is often understood as an important ‘node’ of the public sphere. Typically, theorists of public space argue that it is through the trust, civility and openness to others which citizens cultivate within a democracy’s public spaces, that they learn how to relate to one another as fellow members of a shared polity. However, such theorizing fails to articulate how these democratic comportments learned within public spaces relate to the public sphere’s purported role in holding state power to account. In this paper, we examine the ways in which what we call ‘partisan interventions’ into public space can correct for this gap. Using the example of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPIM), we argue that the ways in which CPIM partisans actively cultivate sites of historical regional importance – such as in the village of Kayyur – should be understood as an aspect of the party’s more general concern to present itself to citizens as an agent both capable and worthy of wielding state power. Drawing on histories of supreme partisan contribution and sacrifice, the party influences the ideational background – in competition with other parties – against which it stakes its claims to democratic legitimacy. In contrast to those theorizations of public space that celebrate its separateness from the institutions of formal democratic politics and the state more broadly, the CPIM’s partisan interventions demonstrate how parties’ locations at the intersections of the state and civil society can connect the public sphere to its task of holding state power to account, thereby bringing the explicitly political questions of democratic legitimacy into the everyday spaces of a political community.

scholarly journals Muḥammad ʿAbduh’s Notion of Political Adab

2022 ◽  
Vol 21 ◽  
pp. 339-364
Author(s):  
William Ryle-Hodges
Keyword(s):  
Public Sphere ◽  
Nation Building ◽  
Holistic Approach ◽  
Political Rights ◽  
The Public ◽  
Political Journalism ◽  
Good Taste ◽  
Modern Context ◽  
The Public Sphere ◽  
Discursive Field

This paper extends the emphasis on contingency and context in Islamic ethical traditions into the distinctly modern context of late 19th century Khedival Egypt. I draw attention to the way Muḥammad ʿAbduh’s engagement with Islamic ethical traditions was shaped by his practice in addressing the broad social and political questions of his context to do with nation-building and political journalism. As a bureaucrat and state publicist, he took pre-modern Islamic ethical concepts into the emerging discursive field of the modern state and the public sphere in Egypt. Looking at a series of newspaper articles for the state newspaper, al-Waqāʾiʿ al-miṣriyya, I show how he articulated an ethics of citizenship by defining a modern civic notion of adab that he called “political adab.” He conceived of this adab as the answer to the problem of how a unified nation emerges from the condition of “freedom” by which journalists and the reading public at the time were conceptualizing the politics of the ʿUrābī revolution in late 1881. This was a “freedom” of the public sphere that allowed for free speech and the power of public opinion to shape governance. ‘Political adab’ would be the virtue or situational skill, internalized in each participant in the public sphere, that would regulate this freedom, ensuring that it produces unity rather than anarchy. I argue that adab here enshrined ʿAbduh’s holistic approach to nation-building; Egypt with political rights would be a nation in which the very idea of the nation is comprehensively embedded—through adab—in people’s lives, animating their “souls”. This was a politics conceived not as a self-standing domain, but as growing out of society, becoming thereby an authentic unity and self-regulating “life”. In developing this vision, ʿAbduh was amplifying pre-modern meanings of adab implying wide breadth of knowledge, good taste, and the virtues, labelled in the paper as ‘comprehensivness,’ ‘consensus’ and ‘habitus.’ Keywords: Muḥammad ʿAbduh, Adab, Freedom, Nation, Politics, Egypt

scholarly journals A Prohibition to Receive Remuneration (Gifts) in Connection with the Performance of Official Duties as a Measure of Anti-Corruption Criminological Security

2020 ◽  
Vol 14 (5) ◽  
pp. 660-675
Author(s):  
Irina Damm ◽  
Aleksey Tarbagaev ◽  
Evgenii Akunchenko
Keyword(s):  
Public Sphere ◽  
Russian Federation ◽  
Civil Service ◽  
Legal Regulation ◽  
Civil Code ◽  
Federal Law ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Russian Federation ◽  
The Public Sphere ◽  
To Receive

A prohibition for persons holding government (municipal) positions, for government (municipal) employees, and some other employees of the public sphere who are public officials to receive remuneration (gifts) is aimed at preventing bribery (Art. 290, 291, 291.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation), and could be viewed as a measure of anti-corruption criminological security. However, the existing collisions of civil, administrative and criminal law norms that regulate this prohibition lead to an ongoing discussion in research publications and complexities in practice. The goal of this research is to study the conditions and identify the problems of the legal regulation of receiving remuneration (gifts) in connection with the performance of official duties that prevent the implementation of anti-corruption criminological security. The authors use the legal theory of security measures to analyze the provisions of Clause 3, Part 1, Art. 575 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation and Clause 6, Part 1, Art. 17 of the Federal Law «About the Public Civil Service in the Russian Federation», examine the doctrinal approaches to defining the priority of enforcing the above-mentioned norms, study the significant features of the category «ordinary gift» and conduct its evaluation from the standpoint of differentiating between gifts and bribes, also in connection with the criteria of the insignificance of the corruption deed. The empirical basis of the study is the decisions of courts of general jurisdiction. The authors also used their experience of working in Commissions on the observance of professional behavior and the resolution of conflicts of interests at different levels. The conducted research allowed the authors to come to the following fundamental conclusions: 1) the special security rule under Clause 6, Part 1, Art. 17 of the Federal Law «About the Public Civil Service in the Russian Federation», which sets a full prohibition for government employees to receive remuneration (gifts) in connection with the performance of official duties, contradicts Clause 3, Part 1, Art. 575 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation (the existing legal-linguistic vagueness of categories in Art. 575 of the CC of the RF leads to problems in law enforcement and makes a negative impact on the anti-corruption mentality of people); 2) as the concepts «gift» and «bribe» do not logically intersect, the development of additional normative legal criteria for their delineation seems to be unpromising and will lead to a new wave of scholastic and practical disagreements; 3) the introduction of a uniform and blanket ban on receiving remuneration (gifts) in the public sphere by eliminating Clause 3, Part 1, Art. 575 of the CC of the RF seems to be an effective measure of preventing bribery, and its application is justified until Russian society develops sustainable anti-corruption mentality.

(Un)Liberated and Contested Narratives

2019 ◽  
pp. 334-347
Author(s):  
Bongani C Ndhlovu
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Public Sphere ◽  
South African ◽  
Social Cohesion ◽  
Nation Building ◽  
The State ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Public Sphere ◽  
The Many ◽  
Contested Narratives

This chapter analyses the influence of the state in shaping museum narratives, especially in a liberated society such as South Africa. It argues that while the notion of social cohesion and nation building is an ideal that many South African museums should strive for, the technocratisation of museum processes has to a degree led to a disregard of the public sphere as a space of open engagement. Secondly, the chapter also looks at the net-effect of museums professionals and boards in the development of their narrative. It argues that due to the nature of their expertise and interests, and the focus on their areas of specialisation, museums may hardly claim to be representative of the many voices they ought to represent. As such, the chapter explores contestations in museum spaces. It partly does so by exploring the notion “free-spokenness” and its limits in museum spaces. To amplify its argument, the chapter uses some exhibitions that generated critical engagements from Iziko Museums of South Africa.

scholarly journals Developments in AKP Policy Toward Religion and Homogeneity

2018 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 351-374 ◽  
Author(s):  
Samuel W. Watters
Keyword(s):  
Public Sphere ◽  
Religious Belief ◽  
Nation Building ◽  
Turkish Population ◽  
State Control ◽  
Legal Scholar ◽  
The Public ◽  
State Neutrality ◽  
The Public Sphere ◽  
Turkish Language

Critics of the Turkish interpretation of secularism,laiklik, describe it as authoritarian and repressive. Indeed, rather than establish state neutrality toward religion,laiklikhistorically entailed state control of Islam, the religion of the vast majority of the Turkish population, and the exclusion of religion from the public sphere in an effort to control religious belief and identity. Many, including leaders in the ruling AKP, assert, though, that recent reforms herald a move away from this model of control toward a secularism defined by state neutrality toward religion. To determine whether this transformation is actually occurring, I evaluate, based on Turkish language sources, the recent reforms under the AKP using the framework of the secularized state described by the German legal scholar Ernst-Wolfgang Böckenförde. Because of its significant role in implementing Turkish policies toward religion, I evaluate these reforms by analyzing developments in the programming and messaging of the Directorate of Religious Affairs (Diyanet) under the AKP. I find little evidence thatlaiklikis transitioning to a state neutrality toward religion. Rather, the AKP has coupled a greater presence of religion in the public sphere with expanding state authority in religious programming and messaging. Although these reforms reflect a transformation in Turkish nation-building policies, they maintain the state control of religion that separateslaiklikfrom neutral secularism.

scholarly journals Global alternative public on Instagram: SNA-based case study of blogs about migration in Russian language

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
A.S. Smolyarova
Keyword(s):  
Public Sphere ◽  
Ad Hoc ◽  
Russian Language ◽  
Global Media ◽  
The Public ◽  
Migration Experience ◽  
The Public Sphere ◽  
Global Arena ◽  
Networked Publics

The article examines the foreign Russian-language blogosphere on Instagram through the lenses of the public sphere theory. The study revealed active cooperation of bloggers living in different countries during coverage of the coronavirus pandemic in March-April 2020. More than 4,000 Russian-speaking Instagram users commenting on posts became members of the networked publics because of this cooperation, the audience coverage of the most popular bloggers exceeded the threshold of one hundred thousand subscribers. Bloggers who initiated contributory publications on the situation with COVID-19 in their countries were points of crystallization of public discussions for people with migration experience, who are often excluded from the national public spheres of both their home countries and countries of residence. By inviting their subscribers to get acquainted with the situation in different countries, bloggers have formed a global arena that arises at the intersection of online public groups that have developed around bloggers. The main mechanism for creating such an arena is the cooperation of bloggers aimed at their own promotion and helping other bloggers in opposing the algorithms of the online platform. Collaboration in the form of a one-time publication of posts on the same topic, united by a unique hashtag and including direct links to bloggers from other countries, leads to the emergence of online ad hoc, or situational, global media in Russian. In the arena constituted by ad hoc media, Russian-speaking migrants living in different countries could discuss the measures that states were taking to defeat the pandemic. At the same time, this global networked public remains a “weak public” that has not transformed into a participatory counter-public sphere.

Sovereign Uncertainty and the Dangers to Liberalism at the Baltic Frontier

Slavic Review ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 78 (2) ◽  
pp. 336-347 ◽  
Author(s):  
Neringa Klumbytė
Keyword(s):  
Social Institution ◽  
Democratic Politics ◽  
Regional Security ◽  
Civic Life ◽  
The Public ◽  
Historical Justice ◽  
The Russian Federation ◽  
The Public Sphere ◽  
The Baltic ◽  
The Eu

A war frontier in Lithuania was engendered by the annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation in March of 2014 and the beginning of the undeclared war in eastern Ukraine. This essay explores how the new war frontier emerged in Lithuania, becoming an integral part of the public sphere and civic life. I argue that the war frontier is a social institution of sovereign uncertainty, which engenders divisive politics of historical justice, protection of the majority’s rights, and dangers to liberalism. The geopolitical insecurity and sovereign uncertainty that define this Baltic frontier are essential to understand how Lithuania can be a strong ally of NATO and the EU, a proponent of democratic politics and liberalism, a claimant to regional security expertise to lead western countries, and at the same time undermine liberal ideals of tolerance, multiculturalism, and pluralism.

scholarly journals The principle of exclusive citizenship and a foreigner's status

2021 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 15-27
Author(s):  
Predrag Terzić
Keyword(s):  
Political Institutions ◽  
Political Community ◽  
The Political ◽  
Social Significance ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Past ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Status ◽  
The Subject ◽  
The Public Sphere

The process of creating a modern state and forming political institutions corresponds to the process of transforming the subjects of the past into a community constituted on the principle of citizenship. The citizen becomes the foundation of the political community and the subject, which in interaction with other citizens, forms the public sphere. However, this does not mean that all members of the community have the same rights and obligations contained in the status of a citizen. Excluding certain categories of residents from the principle of citizenship raises a number of issues that delegitimize the existing order by colliding with the ideas of justice, freedom and equality. The aim of this short research is to clarify the principle of citizenship, its main manifestations and excluded subjects, as well as the causes that are at the root of the concept of exclusive citizenship. A brief presentation of the idea of multiculturalism does not intend to fully analytically explain this concept, but only to present in outline one of the ways of overcoming the issue of exclusive citizenship. In order to determine the social significance of the topic, a part of the text is dedicated to the ideas that form the basis of an exclusive understanding of citizenship, the reasons for its application and the far-reaching consequences of social tensions and unrest, which cannot be ignored.

scholarly journals Events At Maidan Nezalezhnosti Of Ukraine In Autumn 2013 – Winter 2014 (In View Of Different Ukrainian And Russian Printed Media)

2015 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 35-45
Author(s):  
Volodymyr Vakulych ◽  
Igor Sharov
Keyword(s):  
Mass Media ◽  
Russian Language ◽  
Front Page ◽  
The Public ◽  
Personal Attitude ◽  
Printed Media ◽  
The Russian Federation ◽  
Future Vision ◽  
The Voice ◽  
The Russian Language

Abstract The article deals with some peculiarities of highlighting sociopolitical events in Ukraine in autumn 2013 and in winter 2014 by some leading Ukrainian and Russian printed mass media and their personal attitude concerning the course of these events. Sociopolitical situation that was created in Ukraine at the end of 2013 proved that sizable gap between the public and power holders’ conscience, progress and regression. The discrepancies in the future vision of geopolitical location of Ukraine led to the mass protests that started in November 2013. The events that took place in the night from 29th to 30th of November and during January - February 2014 made the front page of all mass media, both Ukrainian and foreign, and those of the Russian Federation in particular. Great attention to highlighting the Ukrainian events during autumn 2013 and winter 2014 was paid by the journalists of the leading media, such as P. Beba, K. Matsehora, Y. Medunitsia, V. Protsyshyn – reporters of the central Executive body newspaper “Uriadovyi Kurier” (translated as “the governmental messenger”); O. Kucheriava, S. Lavreniuk – the newspaper of Verkhovna Rada “Holos Ukrainy” (translated as “the voice of Ukraine”); E. tor of Haladzhyi, D. Deriy, O. Dubovyk – the Ukrainian Russian-language newspaper “Komsomolskaya Pravda v Ukraini” (translated as “the komsomol truth in Ukraine”); P. Dulman, E. Hrushyn – the Russian language newspaper “Rossiyskaya Gazeta” (translated as “the Russian gazette”); A. Zakharova – the Ukrainian Russian-language newspaper “Segodnia” (translated as “today”). At the same time the events related to the sociopolitical protests that were covered in all mass media had some tonal marking: positive to the authority, negative to the authority, negative to the opposition, reserved to the opposition, negative to MIA (Ministry of Internal Affairs), positive to MIA, negative and positive to the participants of the mass protests, neutral, etc.

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