‘More than mortal fervour’: Patriotism and Democracy in John Thelwall's Epic The Hope of Albion

Romanticism ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 50-61
Author(s):  
Matthew Leporati
Keyword(s):  
National Identity ◽  
Henry James ◽  
Epic Poetry ◽  
The Political ◽  
Imperial Power ◽  
Political Spectrum ◽  
John Thelwall

John Thelwall published extracts from his epic fragment The Hope of Albion (1801) during an unprecedented revival of epic poetry in Britain. The revival saw writers from across the political spectrum promoting various ideas of national identity and examining Britain's developing role as an imperial power. This article positions Thelwall's fragment alongside poems of his contemporaries, including epics by Joseph Cottle and Henry James Pye (both titled Alfred and published in 1800 and 1801). Examining how Thelwall differently revises tropes from classical and Miltonic poems, I argue that he uses the epic genre to explore how the nation could be transformed as an answer to tyranny and oppression. At the same time, formal tensions in the poem suggest the limitations of the very hope that comprises Thelwall's subject.

Return to Empire: The New U.S. Imperialism in Comparative Historical Perspective

2005 ◽  
Vol 23 (4) ◽  
pp. 339-367 ◽  
Author(s):  
George Steinmetz
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
The United States ◽  
Social Regulation ◽  
The Political ◽  
Way Of Life ◽  
British Imperialism ◽  
The Past ◽  
Imperial Power ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Political Spectrum

The widespread embrace of imperial terminology across the political spectrum during the past three years has not led to an increased level of conceptual or theoretical clarity around the word “empire.” There is also disagreement about whether the United States is itself an empire, and if so, what sort of empire it is; the determinants of its geopolitical stance; and the effects of “empire as a way of life” on the “metropole.” Using the United States and Germany in the past 200 years as empirical cases, this article proposes a set of historically embedded categories for distinguishing among different types of imperial practice. The central distinction contrasts territorial and nonterritorial types of modern empire, that is, colonialism versus imperialism. Against world-system theory, territorial and nonterritorial approaches have not typi-cally appeared in pure form but have been mixed together both in time and in the repertoire of individual metropolitan states. After developing these categories the second part of the article explores empire's determinants and its effects, again focusing on the German and U.S. cases but with forays into Portuguese and British imperialism. Supporters of overseas empire often couch their arguments in economic or strategic terms, and social theorists have followed suit in accepting these expressed motives as the “taproot of imperialism” (J. A. Hobson). But other factors have played an equally important role in shaping imperial practices, even pushing in directions that are economically and geopolitically counterproductive for the imperial power. Postcolonial theorists have rightly empha-sized the cultural and psychic processes at work in empire but have tended to ignore empire's effects on practices of economy and its regulation. Current U.S. imperialism abroad may not be a danger to capitalism per se or to America's overall political power, but it is threatening and remaking the domestic post-Fordist mode of social regulation.

scholarly journals Ties of Solidarity and the Political Spectrum: Partisan Cleavages in Reported Solidarity Activity Across Europe

2019 ◽  
Vol 63 (4) ◽  
pp. 459-474 ◽  
Author(s):  
Johannes M. Kiess ◽  
Hans-Jörg Trenz
Keyword(s):  
National Identity ◽  
Political Parties ◽  
Disabled Persons ◽  
The Political ◽  
Right Wing ◽  
Party Affiliation ◽  
European Perspective ◽  
Target Groups ◽  
Political Spectrum ◽  
Community Commitment

The strength of solidarity ties among individuals is often discussed in relation to membership within a community of equals. This assumes strong links between reported solidarity actions, political attitudes, and national identity. We ask, first, whether differences in solidarity engagement can be explained by party affiliation: Do adherents of political parties driven by right-identitarian politics and adherents of parties driven by left-redistributive politics differ considerably in terms of reported solidarity action? Second, we investigate whether such differences can be explained by the nationality of the supported groups, and third, we explore whether there is a salience of reported solidarity action and party affiliation across European countries. We examine these questions by looking at cleavages in reported solidarity action in support of three different target groups: unemployed, disabled persons, and refugees. Our findings indicate first of all that partisan affiliation matters: cleavages in solidarity behavior follow traditional ideological patterns. Second, and contrary to the exclusive-communitarian rhetoric that is found in party programs and statements of right-wing populist parties, their adherents are among those supporting both nationals and foreigners least, while adherents of left and radical left parties engage in support toward nationals and non-nationals. Third, from a comparative European perspective, we observe similar patterns of a divide between an inclusive, solidary, and cosmopolitan left and a non-solidary right with low interests in community commitment.

‘Ye English warriors’: radical nationalism and the true patriot

2018 ◽  
pp. 65-92
Author(s):  
Alison Morgan
Keyword(s):  
Eighteenth Century ◽  
National Identity ◽  
Seventeenth Century ◽  
The Political ◽  
English Revolution ◽  
Late Eighteenth Century ◽  
English National Identity ◽  
Political Spectrum ◽  
English Nationalism ◽  
Radical Nationalism

Radicalism and nationalism would appear to be unlikely bedfellows, given that they tend to be placed on opposite ends of the political spectrum; yet this section demonstrates how many of the radical poems and songs written after Peterloo are underpinned by a radical English nationalism with poets making clear distinction between the un-English characteristics of a tyrannical state and monarchy and the true English patriot fighting for lost freedoms. Although the ideology of nationalism emerged in the revolutionary fervour of the late eighteenth century, this section establishes the nature of English radical nationalism and how the championing of English national identity has resonances with the republicanism of the English Revolution and late seventeenth century, the heroes and martyrs of which, particularly John Hampden, Algernon Sidney and William Russell, were a regular presence in the radical press. Key to English national identity is the myth of the Norman yoke and the yearning for the restoration of lost rights, references to which permeate the eleven poems in this section.

The Real Nation? Michel Tremblay, Scotland, and Cultural Translatability

1995 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 5-25
Author(s):  
Jennifer Harvie
Keyword(s):  
National Identity ◽  
Political Efficacy ◽  
The Political ◽  
Michel Tremblay ◽  
The Real ◽  
Political Effects ◽  
Intercultural Exchange ◽  
Imperial Power ◽  
The Many ◽  
Intercultural Analysis

This paper explores some of the political effects of intercultural exchange through drama translation by examining the Scots translations, in text and production, of Michel Tremblay's plays. It is centrally concerned with national identity and with mapping the potential effects of translation and transculturation on the political efficacy of drama concerned precisely with language, place, and culture. Choosing as its sites of investigation Quebec and Scotland, it departs from more common intercultural analysis of imperial relations to consider some of the effects of intercultural exchange in relationships which are not strictly those of imperial power to colony. It concludes that despite these two nations' cultural similarities and sympathies, and despite the many values of intercultural exchange, the Scots Tremblay translations reconstitute the plays in ways which potentially compromise their political efficacy.

РоссияиАвстро-Венгрияв1917г.:дватипареволюции.Поматериаламроссийскойпрессы

2019 ◽  
pp. 78-103
Author(s):  
S.A. Romanenko
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
The Other ◽  
The Political ◽  
World War ◽  
Social Democrats ◽  
Left Flank ◽  
Daily Press ◽  
Other Hand ◽  
Political Spectrum

The article is devoted to the analysis of representations about AustriaHungary in Russia in political and publicists societies including Bolsheviks, Social Democrats, liberals (cadets), as well as MFA analysts from February to October. On the basis of the materials on foreign policy and the correlation of revolution and world war, from Russian daily press and journalists, which have not been studied before, the author comes to the conclusion that the representatives of the left flank of the political spectrum had neither information nor conceptually built ideas about the situation in AustriaHungary, about the perspectives for the development of revolutionary processes in the multinational state and its direction and aims. On the other hand, this was also largely characteristic of the moods of the AustroHungarian politicians, whether progovernment or opposition,Статья посвящена анализу представлений об АвстроВенгрии в России в политических и публицистических обществахв том числе большевиков, социалдемократов, либералов (кадетов), а также аналитиков МИД с февраля по октябрь. На основе материалов по внешней политике и соотношение революции и мировой войны, из российской ежедневной прессы и журналистов, которые до этого не изучались, автор приходит к выводу, что представители левого фланга политического спектра не имели ни информации, ни концептуально выстроенных представлений о ситуации в АвстроВенгрии, о перспективах развития революционных процессов в многонациональном государстве и его направленности, а также о том, что они не могли цели. С другой стороны, это было также в значительной степени характерно для настроений австровенгерских политиков, будь то проправительственные или оппозиционные, для которых цели национального движения уже в 1917 году играли гораздо большую роль, чем для русских. Для сравнительного анализа на основе архивных материалов приводятся позиции Министерства иностранных дел (Временного правительства) и Петроградского Совета.

Tribunes and Patricians: Fringe Parties in the 21st Century

2012 ◽  
Author(s):  
Harry Nedelcu
Keyword(s):  
Financial Crisis ◽  
Political Parties ◽  
21St Century ◽  
Full Text ◽  
Debt Crisis ◽  
Party Systems ◽  
Radical Right ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Spectrum ◽  
Structural Shifts

The mid and late 2000s witnessed a proliferation of political parties in European party systems. Marxist, Libertarian, Pirate, and Animal parties, as well as radical-right and populist parties, have become part of an increasingly heterogeneous political spectrum generally dominated by the mainstream centre-left and centre-right. The question this article explores is what led to the surge of these parties during the first decade of the 21st century. While it is tempting to look at structural arguments or the recent late-2000s financial crisis to explain this proliferation, the emergence of these parties predates the debt-crisis and can not be described by structural shifts alone . This paper argues that the proliferation of new radical parties came about not only as a result of changes in the political space, but rather due to the very perceived presence and even strengthening of what Katz and Mair (1995) famously dubbed the "cartelization" of mainstream political parties.   Full text available at: https://doi.org/10.22215/rera.v7i1.210

scholarly journals Who is the modern ‘traitor’? ‘Fifth column’ accusations in US and UK politics and media

Politics ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 39 (3) ◽  
pp. 347-362 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dmitry Chernobrov
Keyword(s):  
Presidential Election ◽  
International Politics ◽  
Social Trust ◽  
The Political ◽  
Right Wing ◽  
Modern Politics ◽  
Us Presidential Election ◽  
Political Spectrum ◽  
Opposition Movements ◽  
Western Politics

Accusations of treason and disloyalty have been increasingly visible in both western and international politics in recent years, from Russia and Turkey, to Brexit and the 2016 US presidential election. This article explores ‘traitor’ accusations in modern politics, with evidence from British and American newspapers for 2011–2016. Besides British and American politics, results reveal reported ‘fifth column’ accusations in over 40 countries. I identify three dominant patterns: authoritarian states describing opposition movements as a ‘fifth column’; suspicion of western Muslim populations as potential terrorists; and the use of traitor language to denote party dissent in western politics. Employed across the political spectrum, and not only by right-wing or populist movements, accusations of treason and betrayal point at a deeper breakdown of social trust and communicate collective securitizing responses to perceived threats.

A Natural Centre-Left Majority?

Politics ◽  
2003 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 21-30
Author(s):  
Robin Gray
Keyword(s):  
The Political ◽  
The Core ◽  
Post War ◽  
Political Spectrum ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Political Failure

This article concerns the relationship between policy and voter elasticity on either side of the political spectrum as an explanation of the left's post-war political failure. The core contention is that left-oriented voters are more responsive to slight deviations in policy. This is used to explain partially Labour's post-war failure to dominate power even when the ‘left's vote’ was over 50 per cent.

The 1985 Greek Election and its Background

1985 ◽  
Vol 20 (4) ◽  
pp. 488-503
Author(s):  
Nigel Clive
Keyword(s):  
Good Chance ◽  
The Political ◽  
Socialist Movement ◽  
Political Spectrum

IN EARLY 1985, MOST POLITICAL OBSERVERS WOULD HAVE forecast the probability of Constantinos Karamanlis's reelection to his second term as president, which seemed the likely prelude to the election due before the end of October 1985. This, it was assumed, would have given Andreas Papandreou's Panhellenic Socialist Movement (PASOK) a good chance to repeat the advantage which his party undoubtedly enjoyed in its convincing victory at the election in October 1981, when a significant portion of the electorate, notably from the centre of the political spectrum, felt that it could well afford the risks of voting for all that was implied in PASOK's electoral slogan ‘Change’, so long as Karamanlis remained at the helm with the special powers reserved for the president under the 1975 constitution. The outlook was consequently for an election in or before the autumn of 1985. In fact, PASOK's victory on 2 June was achieved at a different time, for quite different reasons and in quite different circumstances.

Pandemic may drive new wealth taxes in Latin America

2021 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Latin America ◽  
Social Welfare ◽  
The Political ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Latin Americans ◽  
Tax Revenues ◽  
Wealth Tax ◽  
The Government ◽  
Political Spectrum ◽  
Tax Cuts

Significance The region’s current tax and spending policies redistribute very little. The COVID-19 pandemic brought a deep and persistent recession, despite new spending, tax cuts and monetary easing aimed at limiting the damage. In December, the government of Argentina, which was particularly hard hit, passed a temporary (and additional) net wealth tax on the very richest households. Impacts OECD-led transparency efforts offer the long-sought possibility of taxing the foreign assets of wealthy Latin Americans. The pandemic will increase both existing inequalities and the need for tax revenues to finance social welfare and stimulus spending. Efforts to strengthen tax collection more broadly will likely be undertaken by governments across the political spectrum.

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