The Languages of Peace During the French Religious Wars

ABSTRACT

The desirability of peace was a common topos in sixteenth-century political rhetoric, and the duty of the king to uphold the peace for the benefit of his subjects was also a long-established tradition. However, the peculiar circumstances of the French religious wars, and the preferred royal policy of pacification, galvanized impassioned debate among both those who supported and those who opposed confessional coexistence. This article looks at the diverse ways in which peace was viewed during the religious wars through an exploration of language and context. It draws not only on the pronouncements of the crown and its officials, and of poets and jurists, but also on those of local communities and confessional groups. Opinion was not just divided along religious lines; political imperatives, philosophical positions and local conditions all came into play in the arguments deployed. The variegated languages of peace provide a social and cultural dimension for the contested nature of sixteenth-century French politics. However, they could not restore harmony to a war-torn and divided kingdom.     

Fear and Rumour in the People's Republic of China in the 1950s

ABSTRACT

The article explores the nature of popular fears during the early years of the People's Republic of China by examining two types of rumour: those of a ‘secular’ type that told of China's defeat in the Korean War, a third world war or an imminent nuclear attack; and those of a ‘supernatural’ type that told of demons out to snatch vital organs or the end of the world. These rumours testified both to the resilience of ancient cosmological beliefs and values and to their capacity to fuse with elements of ‘modern’ politics. The article asks what they tell us about the relationship of the party-state to the populace.     

Conceit and Capacities of the Vulgar Sort: The Social History of English as a Language of Politics

The growth of England from Norman-Angevin colony to imperial power began with the social development of a national community that conducted its arguments in English. In this sense vernacularization was the constituting process of English history. This article connects the history of language to constitutional history, and affirms recent calls for an approach that transcends conventional boundaries between late medieval and early modern periods, and between intellectual, cultural, social, demographic, economic, political and constitutional histories. Vernacularization is seen as a movement from below. It is linked in various ways to traditions and customs of resistance and rebellion that are seen as having shaped the history of England from the thirteenth century to 1649.     

The Almohads and the Qur’ān of Uthm ān: The Legacy of the Umayyads of Cordoba in the Twelfth Century Maghrib

The sixth/twelfth century geographer, al-Idrīsī, alludes to the presence of the so-called Qur’ān of Uthmān in the great Mosque of Cordoba and a ceremony in which it was brought out and paraded daily after the Umayyads proclaimed themselves caliphs in 317/929-30. Around 552/1157, the same Qur’ān appeared in the processions of the Almohads, a Ma?mūda Berber dynasty from the High Atlas mountains, who also claimed to be caliphs. Ibn ?ā?ib al-?alāt, al-Marrākushī and the unknown author of the ?ulal al-mawshiyya, who describe the Almohad parades, all mention the Qur’ān's Uthmānic antecedents and possession by the Umayyads. Using this as a starting point, this paper will explore the image the Umayyads projected in the Maghrib, and the later significance of Cordoban Umayyad prototypes to the ruling Mu’minid dynasty of the Almohads. This contributes to a larger discussion of the evolution of a paradigm of imperial power in the Islamic west and its manipulation to legitimise a succession of dynasties whose actual origins, ambitions and praxis diverged widely.     

St Francis of Assisi and Islam: A Theological Perspective on a Christian-Muslim Encounter

In 1219 an encounter took place between a Christian from Italy, Francis of Assisi, and the Muslim Sultan of Egypt, al-Malik al-Kāmil. This meeting took place at Damietta in northern Egypt during the progress of the Fifth Crusade. Over a period of perhaps three weeks, religious dialogue took place between Francis and al-Kāmil, after which time the Sultan had Francis escorted safely back to the Christian camp. It is possible to discern from the writings of Francis after his return from Egypt that the meeting had had a deep religious impact upon him, realised in the latter years of his life. It can be said that both Francis and al-Kāmil experienced through their encounter what the Christian theologian Bernard Lonergan has spoken of as a conversion into a new horizon. The historical encounter between Francis and the Sultan witnesses to the fact that through religious conversion, it is possible for members of different religious faiths to arrive at a common vision of universal peace and reconciliation.     

The Prince of Wales Versus Clark Gable

ABSTRACT

In the 1920s and 1930s Americans avidly consumed news of Edward, Prince of Wales, through a variety of media: mass circulation newspapers and magazines, radio, the gramophone and film. This article argues that the Prince of Wales' popularity in the United States between the wars sheds light on key changes in the meaning of citizenship following mass enfranchisement in the Anglo-American world. It argues also that media representations of the Prince of Wales contributed to the creation of an Anglophone culture of celebrity, which would become a primary means by which Britons and Americans came to know each other in the inter-war years.     

The cross-cultural transfer of educational technology: A myth

This paper argues that technologies can never be transferred from one culture to another. The implementation by Costa Rica of the Open University system of technologies developed in England is used as a case in point. The paper focuses on the non-applicability of using the term “transfer” with its attendant connotations, to signify the implementation of similar technologies in different cultures; differentiates between system specific and culture specific problems in the process of this implementation: and discusses the interaction of three cultures in the process of “transferring” a system of technologies from one of these cultures to another. The Open University system of technologies is described as it exists in England and the system specific problems of these technologies are delimited. The system of technologies is then “transferred” to Costa Rica and the culture specific problems discussed as seen by two evaluators from yet a third culture (the United States). The expectations of individuals from all three cultures (English, Costa Rican and U.S.) are raised in tight of these culture specific problems.     

The impact of intercultural contact on host families

This paper reports the results of programmatic research focusing upon the host family component of the Council of International Programs (CIP) exchange program that brings human service professionals to the United States each year. The study shows that four major dimensions of intercultural contact identified in intercultural literature (personal development, intimacy, international networks, and better understanding of foreign affairs) are clearly promoted through the CIP host family experience. The study supports the usefulness of a host family component as part of intercultural exchange programs.     

The Affair of the Plan De L'Olivier

ABSTRACT

In France, the Revolution of 1848 reshaped politics as it drew heretofore excluded groups into politics. In Montpellier, these changes provoked contests over the place of new citizens in the body politic and urban space. In August 1848 tensions reached their zenith as royalist residents of a lower-class neighbourhood clashed with the forces of order. Moreover, they defended their neighbourhood from intrusions on the part of their political opponents. Not only did these struggles concern the issue of command over space, but they also showed that the purportedly uncouth men intended to take part in the formulation of politics too.     

Images of life in America: The impact of American T.V. in Israel

The present study sets out to uncover young Israelis' perceptions of the American reality using the postulates and methodology of the cultivation analysis approach to mass communication. The comparison of the perceptions of “light” and “heavy” T.V. viewers with measures of the actual reality reveals that heavy viewers demonstrate a strong and consistent tendency to paint a rosier picture of life in the U.S., in terms of wealth and standard of living, even when other factors (age, gender, residence and ethnic group) are held constant. The findings of this study have methodological implications concerning the study of media effects as well as theoretical implications regarding the ongoing debate on “media imperialism.”     

The United States of America: “A culture of war”

Following a discussion of the concept of war – its definitions, historical origins, 20th–21st century examples, and immediate and legacy costs and consequences – the question of the United States as an empire is explored. The evidence indicates the United States meets all qualifications to be considered an “empire,” specifically a global empire seeking hegemonic economic, political, and cultural control of the world. This evidence includes a worldwide system of military bases, an extensive military–industrial–congressional complex that shapes domestic and foreign policies and actions, and an extensive national security system that now endangers and threatens the legal rights of its own citizens. At the core of U.S. pursuit of empire is a historic commitment to the beliefs in “manifest destiny” and American “exceptionalism.” It is proposed that the process and consequences of much of this are rooted in the existence of a U.S. “culture of war” that dominates U.S. domestic and foreign policies, and their destructive implementation across the world. A “culture of war” is an interlocking system of national meanings, beliefs, behaviors, institutions, and identities that consider violence and war necessary and justifiable in the pursuit of U.S. hegemonic global interests. Given the continuous pursuit of violence and war by the U.S. in the clear absence of security and survival threats, popular views that human beings are instinctually programmed to engage in war appears untenable. A general systems model of the socialization of a “culture of war” in the United States is presented to demonstrate the critical elements and processes involved in its development. The possibility of countering the building of a “culture of war” with building a “culture of peace” is shared in the article's closing section.     

Ethnic categorization of immigrants: The role of prejudice, perceived acculturation strategies and group size

People usually perceive immigrants from different national origins as similar to each other, and thus as belonging to a limited number of ethnic out-groups [Sporer, S. L. (2001a). Recognizing faces of other ethnic groups: An integration of theories. Psychology, Public and Law, 7, 36–97, Sporer, S. L. (2001b). The cross-race effect: Beyond recognition of faces in the laboratory. Psychology, Public Policy and Law, 7, 170–200.]. In this study, we examine how host nationals (i.e., Italians) categorize immigrants and how prejudice and perceived acculturation strategies influence this process. In our research, photographs of male faces of members of 16 immigrant groups were shown to the participants (N=305). They were asked to identify the national origin of each person on the photographs. In line with the expected over-inclusion into more numerous and more devalued out-groups, the researchers found that (a) participants who perceived Albanians or Moroccans to be the most numerous, were most likely to categorize immigrants as belonging to these groups; and (b) this over-inclusion effect was most pronounced when participants were prejudiced toward these groups and when they perceived them as wanting to maintain their cultures of origin.     

The effects of economic development and modernization in resolving traditional-modern attitudinal conflict

Experts point out that development changes societies in ways so profound that they cannot be anticipated by the participants in the experience. This article analyses the effects of rapid economic development on traditional life styles and the resolution of ensuing attitudinal conflict. Previous studies of traditional-modern (T-M) problems encountered in the process of modernization are reviewed and modernization theories and methodological problems are discussed. Evidence is presented for a T-M model based on studies in West Africa, Australian aborigines, Hong Kong Chinese, Japanese, and Alaskan Eskimo, identifying certain independent variables which are held to influence modernization: the nature of traditional ecologies, e.g., agricultural, pastoral, or hunting/fishing societies, the severity of socialization and the nature of traditional authority systems. The analysis confirmed that development does change societies in profound ways, uprooting cultures, altering environments and modifying individuals physically and psychologically. However, it was also postulated, based on T-M research, that hunting, fishing and the main pastoral societies are generally more highly resistant to change, do not want change and may be better off without it. In contrast, most agricultural and mixed agricultural-pastoral societies are not only more susceptible to modern change, they can usually derive the most benefit from it and also in most cases want change.     

The mirror image phenomenon in the context of the Arab-Israeli conflict

This investigation evaluated whether the mirror image could be confirmed and extended to include an ally and an enemy's ally. At the time of the 1973 Arab-Israeli War, 50 Arab students (chiefly from the confrontation states) who were attending Pakistani universities completed five semantic differental scales (brave-coward, honest-deceitful, kind-cruel, peaceful-agressive and dependable-unreliable) on two matricss: (1) Self-image and Enemy-image, (2) Ally-image and Enemy's Ally-image. Fifty Israeli students at Hebrew University also completed the scales. Thus, both groups rated Americans, Arabs, Israelis and Russians for the appropriate categories. Results confirm the mirror image from both Arabs and Israelis and its extension to Ally-image and Enemy's Ally-image. The data are somewhat clearer for the Arabs. Ratings for Israelis' Ally (Americans) are about as high as Self. The discussion offers possible explanations of the results.     

Media and criticism in China: The case of the “cultural revolution”

This paper analyzes the role of the media in China during the cultural revolution 1966–1976. In particular, the authors examine the two elements that contributed to the ease with which the “Gang of Four” subverted the media to their own political ends. They contend that the media's history and culture were the two principal elements which allowed the “Gang of Four” to usurp both media and state power. Criticism represented a special cultural genre that established the legitimacy of one group to remove another from power. The authors demonstrate the inherent possibility of usurpation of the media when truth is dominated by personality.     

The learning of modern culture

In October, 1976, a survey was conducted among 1,621 sixth grade pupils located in 30 rural and 30 urban randomly selected East Javanese elementary schools. The purpose of the study was to determine the effects of pupil background characteristics, the home learning environment, school and classroom organizational characteristics, the physical environment of the classroom and the school, teacher characteristics, the classroom learning environment and rural-urban factors upon the acquisition of modern orientations among Indonesian elementary schoolchildren. The study was also designed to develop reliable and valid measures of the key variables used in the conceptual model. The results indicated that reliable and valid instruments could be generated from survey data; specifically, satisfactory scales were developed for the measurement of the following concepts: the home learning environment, the school physical environment, the classroom physical environment, teacher pedagogy, teacher quality, individual modernity, and fifteen characteristics of the classroom learning environment. Correlational and multiple regression analyses showed that individual modernity, the learning outcome, was influenced by both social and educational learning determinants. The most powerful predictors of modernity in the positive direction were class size, the home learning environment, the personal development and relationship dimensions of the classroom learning environment, and the school physical environment. Pupil age and teacher pedagogy (innovativeness) were negatively associated with the criterion. The results also show that modernizing forces are disproportionately concentrated in the urban area. In the multiple regression, the learning determinants accounted for a large enough portion of the variance in the learning outcome (R² = .262) to be statistically significant from zero at the .001 level. The study shows that the learning of modern culture is a complex phenomenon which is influenced by a wide variety of factors.     

Belonging here, not there: The case of attaining European passports by grandchildren of Holocaust survivors

The paper presents findings obtained from interviews conducted with sixty Israeli grandchildren of Holocaust survivors, discussing their views regarding Israel and Europe as expressed by their intentions to live in Israel and acquire European citizenship. Analysis of the interviews revealed that the majority view Israel as the place in which they choose to live because of family and cultural bonds, as well as from the long-lasting impact of the Holocaust. Others felt less anchored and viewed the opportunity to immigrate to their forefathers’ European homelands more positively. Their reasons were based either on the unstable Israeli security situation, compounded by the anxieties elicited by the memory of the Holocaust, or as a result of perceiving Europe as a gateway to the globalized world and its financial gains.The emerging image of Europe for this third generation vacillates between two poles, each anchored in a different time and cultural frame. The first is the “Europe of the Holocaust”; image which emerged as a result of the events that took place on European soil during the period 1933-1945 together with current anti Semitism. The second is “Europe of the Globalized world”, that is, the Europe of the era beginning in the late 1980s, with its ever-expanding social, cultural and economic boundaries. Moreover, the willingness of the third generation to openly discuss the option of either staying or leaving Israel, represents a significant change in attitude from the first and second generation of Israeli Holocaust survivors. The change is seen, as part of a process of maturation of the Israeli identity which allows for multi voices to be heard on issues of belonging and citizenship.