What we do in the Shadows... Rapports de force/rapports de France dans quelques romans de Jean-Christophe Grangé

2021 ◽  
pp. 145-156
Author(s):  
Isabelle-Rachel Casta
Keyword(s):  
Social Norms ◽  
Balance Of Power ◽  
Serial Killers ◽  
The Past ◽  
Full Speed ◽  
Special Atmosphere

Middlebrow author, Jean-Christophe Grangé is little studied as such, but his novels (widely read) nonetheless draw a strange map of France: the police, the seat and visible embodiment of official power, is regularly overwhelmed by a shifting and disparate sects, camarillas, more or less occult organizations or all-powerful paramilitary groups, in line with the apocalyptic thought of the illuminists of the eighteenth century.The France of the balance of power is fantastically present, crisscrossed at full speed by movements precisely described and timed, but totally improbable by their very ease.There is therefore realism - the Brittany of Lontano, the rue Goujon de Miserere, the cathedral Notre-Dame du Serment des Limbes... and at the same time immersed in a “liquidity” of actions and journeys which properly belong to the dream. Spectrography of an overexposed unreality, Grangé's romantic universe could be summed up by the leitmotif that runs through most of the meetings and exchanges, like an isotopy: “I'll be there in less than an hour”. This curialized “power” of the sects of the bizarre, of the hellish returns of the past, of the ill-liquidated ghosts of (de) colonization is embodied in several figures of Evil, serial killers or sorcerer's apprentices (La forêt des mânes) which never ceases. to undermine the official instruments of democracy. The juxtaposition of the licit and the paranormal, the realistic and the wacky, creates the special atmosphere of this universe where the swarming and deadly “below” undermines and corrupts more and more the orderly and brilliant “above” of social norms, and where savagery winds infinitely in the signs of modernity.

“Product Not Available in Pre-War Quantities – but Quality Remains the Same”: Remarks on Advertisements as Historical Sources

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Magdalena Saryusz-Wolska
Keyword(s):  
Social Norms ◽  
Economic History ◽  
Second World War ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
World War ◽  
Historical Sources ◽  
The Past ◽  
German Press ◽  
Post War ◽  
Second World

The article focuses on advertisements as visual and historical sources. The material comes from the German press that appeared immediately after the end of the Second World War. During this time, all kinds of products were scarce. In comparison to this, colorful advertisements of luxury products are more than noteworthy. What do these images tell us about the early post-war years in Germany? The author argues that advertisements are a medium that shapes social norms. Rather than reflecting the historical realities, advertisements construct them. From an aesthetical and cultural point of view, advertisements gave thus a sense of continuity between the pre- and post-war years. The author suggests, therefore, that the advertisements should not be treated as a source for economic history. They are, however, important for studying social developments that occurred in the past.

scholarly journals The Power of Nations: Measuring What Matters

2018 ◽  
Vol 43 (2) ◽  
pp. 7-44 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Beckley
Keyword(s):  
Goodness Of Fit ◽  
Balance Of Power ◽  
The United States ◽  
Important Variable ◽  
World Politics ◽  
Great Powers ◽  
Military Power ◽  
The Past ◽  
Policy Analysts ◽  
Leading Journals

Power is the most important variable in world politics, but scholars and policy analysts systematically mismeasure it. Most studies evaluate countries’ power using broad indicators of economic and military resources, such as gross domestic product and military spending, that tally their wealth and military assets without deducting the costs they pay to police, protect, and serve their people. As a result, standard indicators exaggerate the wealth and military power of poor, populous countries, such as China and India. A sounder approach accounts for these costs by measuring power in net rather than gross terms. This approach predicts war and dispute outcomes involving great powers over the past 200 years more accurately than those that use gross indicators of power. In addition, it improves the in-sample goodness-of-fit in the majority of studies published in leading journals over the past five years. Applying this improved framework to the current balance of power suggests that the United States’ economic and military lead over other countries is much larger than typically assumed, and that the trends are mostly in America's favor.

scholarly journals Indo-US Civil Nuclear Deal & Pakistan Security

2017 ◽  
Vol 01 (02) ◽  
Author(s):  
Tauqeer Hussain Sargana ◽  
Mujahid Hussain
Keyword(s):  
Nuclear Weapons ◽  
Balance Of Power ◽  
Strategic Partnership ◽  
Similar Treatment ◽  
The Past ◽  
Political Landscape ◽  
Strategic Objective ◽  
Strategic Stability ◽  
Qualitative Research Methodology ◽  
Method Approach

The ‘Indo-US civil nuclear cooperation’ has casted negative shadows over Pakistan’s security with that of strategic stability in South Asia. This paper makes the point that the emergence of strategic partnership between Indian and US has served bilateral objectives while impacting deeply on the geo-political landscape of Pakistan’s strategic interests. The fundamental strategic objective of Pakistan has been to resist Indian hegemonic role in the region. To achieve such a balance the country has not only joined security alliances in the past but had to detonate its nuclear weapons in reaction to Indian attempt to outburst the ‘balance of power’. Due to Indo-US nuclear cooperation, suddenly Pakistan came under stress as it allowed India to feed its civilian reactors by importing fuel from international market with that of using domestic fuel in its military reactors. This not only allowed India to fix energy shortfall but also sustain its nuclear weapons program. Pakistan contrary to that was set-aside and denied the similar treatment as of India. Therefore, this paper has made an attempt to objectively analyze the premises of Indo-US nuclear cooperation and highlight security implications for Pakistan. The study is deductive in nature and has used mixed method approach with qualitative research methodology.

Epilogue

2021 ◽  
pp. 283-290
Author(s):  
Sviatoslav Dmitriev
Keyword(s):  
Social Norms ◽  
Moral Character ◽  
Educational Needs ◽  
Literary Texts ◽  
Classical Greece ◽  
The Past ◽  
Political Realities ◽  
Traditional Image

The epilogue sums up the steps and ways in which Demades’s traditional image emerged and developed as a rhetorical construct reflecting the educational needs, social norms, and political realities of later centuries. His lack of rhetorical schooling—and method—meant that Demades’s oratory was successful only because of his flattery and subservience. All of this was entirely logical to the pepaideumenoi, who saw one’s oratorical style as corresponding to his moral character: Demades’s oratory, manners, politics, and looks were all thoroughly corrupt. This Demades was juxtaposed with Demosthenes and Phocion, whose images also underwent a rhetorical reinterpretation; each of them furnished students over many centuries with positive and negative examples, molding later perceptions of the past. The rhetorical Demades illustrates the limits of our vision of classical Greece, which we mostly know from much later literary texts that projected the values and interests of subsequent generations.

3. Realism

2021 ◽  
pp. 66-102
Author(s):  
Georg Sørensen ◽  
Jørgen Møller ◽  
Robert Jackson
Keyword(s):  
International Relations ◽  
Thomas Hobbes ◽  
Research Programme ◽  
Balance Of Power ◽  
The Past ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Offensive Realism ◽  
Classical Realism ◽  
Defensive Realism ◽  
Power Concept

This chapter examines the realist tradition in international relations (IR), which is best seen as a research programme with several approaches using a common starting point. It highlights an important dichotomy in realist thought between classical realism and contemporary realism, including strategic and structural approaches. After describing the elements of realism, the chapter discusses the international thought of three outstanding classical realists of the past: Thucydides, Niccolò Machiavelli, and Thomas Hobbes. It then analyses the classical realist thought of Hans J. Morgenthau, along with strategic realism, neorealism, and neoclassical realism. Special attention is devoted to the defensive realism of Kenneth Waltz and the offensive realism of John Mearsheimer. Furthermore, the chapter looks at the recent theoretical debate among realist IR scholars concerning the relevance of the balance of power concept and it shows that realists often disagree among themselves. The chapter concludes with an overview of how the different realist theories treat international and domestic factors.

The Double Confrontation of Grassroots Unionism in Argentina

2014 ◽  
Vol 42 (2) ◽  
pp. 12-29 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cora Cecilia Arias ◽  
Nicolás Diana Menéndez ◽  
Paula Dinorah Salgado
Keyword(s):  
Collective Bargaining ◽  
Urban Space ◽  
Buenos Aires ◽  
Social Reality ◽  
Balance Of Power ◽  
Social Conflicts ◽  
The Past ◽  
History Of ◽  
Political Scene

Social conflicts in Argentina over the past decade have retrieved the essence of the capitalist dispute: the struggle between capital and labor as situated in the workplace and no longer across urban space as it was in the 1990s. In this context, both institutionalized and alternative union expressions regained their centrality for analyzing social reality. The revitalization of collective bargaining and the consequent repositioning of unions on the labor and political scene activated grassroots dynamics that sometimes challenged existing union structures. Few experiences of resistance were able to alter the balance of power as much as the workers’ organization of the Buenos Aires subway. This organization was able to achieve such gains because of a combination of the strategic importance of the subway to the city’s production and reproduction, the fact that the privatization of the firm was a time-limited concession rather than a direct sale, the union tradition and workers’ awareness of lost rights, and the incorporation of new workers with a history of political militancy. Los conflictos sociales en Argentina durante la última década han recuperado la esencia de la disputa capitalista: la lucha entre el capital y los trabajadores como situado en el lugar de trabajo y ya no a través del espacio urbano, como lo fue en la década de 1990. En este contexto, las dos expresiones sindicales institucionalizadas y alternativas recuperaron su centralidad para el análisis de la realidad social. La revitalización de la negociación colectiva y la consecuente reposición de los sindicatos sobre el escenario laboral y político activan dinámicas de base que a veces desafiaban las estructuras sindicales existentes. Pocas experiencias de resistencia fueron capaces de cambiar al equilibrio de poder tanto como la organización de trabajadores del metro de Buenos Aires. Esta organización fue capaz de lograr tales ganancias debido a una combinación de la importancia estratégica del metro para la producción y reproducción de la ciudad, el hecho de que la privatización de la empresa fue una concesión de tiempo limitado más bien que una venta directa, la tradición sindical y la conciencia de los trabajadores de los derechos perdidos, y la incorporación de nuevos trabajadores con antecedentes de militancia política.

A Multi-Bloc Model of The International System

1961 ◽  
Vol 55 (4) ◽  
pp. 780-798 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roger D. Masters
Keyword(s):  
International System ◽  
Balance Of Power ◽  
Second World War ◽  
Nation State ◽  
Abstract Model ◽  
Hierarchical Systems ◽  
World War ◽  
The Past ◽  
Nation States ◽  
Second World

This essay will attempt to define an abstract model of the international system (or, more precisely, a model of the structure of that system), as a supplement to the types presented by Morton A. Kaplan. Before attempting such a construction, it is well to show the utility of the “multi-bloc system” as an alternative to his six models. Kaplan's “balance-of-power” and “unit veto” systems are essentially defined in terms of nation-states as “actors”; and his “universal” and “hierarchical” systems have essentially but one “actor,” though in the former the nation-state subsists as an administrative and local political unit. The two “bipolar” models (“loose” and “tight”) have, by definition, two major bloc “actors,” with uncommitted nation-states on the margin and an “international actor” such as the U.N. playing a limited role in the former model. It is true that his “unit veto” system may have blocs instead of nation-states for “actors,” but by this very token the difference between a system with a multiplicity of states and one with a multiplicity of blocs is not suggested by Kaplan's typology.The possibility of an international system composed of a multiplicity of blocs has been considered by a number of writers in the past few years. Even before the end of the Second World War, Walter Lippmann wrote:The question is whether some sixty to seventy states, each acting separately, can form a universal organization for the maintenance of peace. I contend that they cannot, and that single sovereign states must combine in their neighborhoods, and that the neighborhoods must combine into larger communities and constellations, which then participate in a universal society.

scholarly journals Strategic Triangles and Balancing in World Politics

2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
pp. 23-43
Author(s):  
D. A. Degterev ◽  
M. S. Ramich
Keyword(s):  
International Relations ◽  
Composite Index ◽  
World Order ◽  
Balance Of Power ◽  
World Politics ◽  
Modern World ◽  
The Past ◽  
Regional Conflicts ◽  
Buffer States

Trilateral diplomacy is a common format of interaction in international relations, which forms various configurations of the balance of power within the framework of triangles. The concept of a “triangle” is characterized by ambivalence, has a variety of characteristics and principles of formation.The article provides an overview of the theoretical discourse on strategic triangles, as well as of practical examples of trilateral diplomacy of the past and present day. The main characteristics of strategic triangles and the features of changes in their configuration are identified (the case of USA–PRC–USSR triangle). Classification of both symmetric and asymmetric triangles (unicenter and bicenter) are given, the concept of buffer states, as well as regional conflicts with the participation of a great power as a defender, are presented.The most influential countries at the global and regional levels, forming geopolitical triangles, are identified basing on the Composite Index of National Capability (CINC). The concept of pivot states is analyzed permitting to indicate relatively small but geopolitically important countries, forming triangles together with influential states.The main strategic triangles of the modern world order are analyzed, presenting mostly countries of Asia (China, Japan, India), Russian Federation, USA and EU. The main trends of global competition based on geopolitical triangles in the XXI-st century are identified.

scholarly journals Nostalgia Causes a Preference for Regressive Social Change

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew Baldwin ◽  
Abhay Alaukik ◽  
Joris Lammers
Keyword(s):  
Social Norms ◽  
Gender Equality ◽  
Positive Emotion ◽  
Preliminary Evidence ◽  
Causal Connection ◽  
Psychological Benefits ◽  
The Past ◽  
Humor Studies ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Shed Light

A broad literature demonstrates that nostalgia – a positive emotion associated with sentimental longing for the past – offers many psychological benefits for the individual. In contrast, we present seven studies showing that nostalgia, measured and manipulated, is associated with increased support for regressive social norms and policy. In the first four studies, we show that nostalgia is associated with opposition to smoke-free laws, preference for unsafe cars, expressions of benevolent sexism and opposition to gender equality, and enjoyment of sexist, racist, and other politically incorrect humor. Studies 5 and 6 establish a causal connection between nostalgia and regressive social norms. Lastly, Study 7 shows preliminary evidence that nostalgia causes these preferences through perceptions of the past as sacred. These findings shed light on a darker side of nostalgia and highlight how progressive policies can be undermined by a longing for the past.

Medieval Mediterranean Literature

PMLA ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 124 (2) ◽  
pp. 600-608 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sharon Kinoshita
Keyword(s):  
Middle Ages ◽  
Art History ◽  
Balance Of Power ◽  
The Political ◽  
Radical Politics ◽  
Political Unconscious ◽  
The Past ◽  
Mediterranean Studies ◽  
Fredric Jameson ◽  
Point Of Departure

Always historicize!—Fredric Jameson, The Political UnconsciousEurocentricity is a choice, not a viewpoint imposed by history. There are roads out of antiquity that do not lead to the Renaissance; and although none avoids eventual contact with the modern West's technological domination, the rapidly changing balance of power in our world is forcing even Western scholars to pay more attention to non-Latin perspectives on the past.—Garth Fowden, Empire to CommonwealthThe last decade or so has seen an explosion of interest in “mediterranean studies.” a half century after the original publication of Fernand Braudel's La Méditerranée et le monde méditerranéen à l'époque de Philippe II (1949), scholars in a number of disciplines have once again found the Mediterranean a productive category of analysis, as evidenced in a proliferation of conferences, edited volumes, journals, and study centers. This renewal of Mediterranean studies is part of an upsurge of interest in “oceanic studies,” or, alternatively, “the new thalassology” In recent years, as Kären Wigen writes,[h]istorians of science have documented the discovery of longitude and the plumbing of underwater depths; historians of ideas have mapped the conceptual geographies of beaches, oceans, and islands; historians of labor and radical politics have drawn arresting new portraits of maritime workers and pirates; historians of business have tracked maritime commerce; historians of the environment have probed marine and island ecologies; and historians of colonial regimes and anticolonial movements alike have asserted the importance of maritime arenas of interaction. (717)In the field of medieval literature, on the other hand, “Mediterranean studies” has found much less purchase. An MLA database search for the keywords “Mediterranean” and “medieval” or “Middle Ages” yields a total of thirty-two entries, over half of which treat topics in intellectual or art history. Taking that asymmetry as a point of departure, this essay explores the different ways “medieval Mediterranean literature” might be conceived; how it would relate to the study of the medieval Mediterranean in other disciplines; and what linguistic, thematic, and theoretical modifications or challenges it would offer to the field of literature as currently configured.

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