bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Absence of kin discrimination in the hatchlings of a lizard, Calotes versicolor (Agamidae)
Authors: Ammanna Veena H.F. , Saidapur Srinivas K. , Shanbhag Bhagyashri A.
Published: November 2012

Laboratory born Calotes versicolor hatchlings were reared for 15 days in pure or mixed sibships or singly in isolation and then tested for their kin discrimination ability. As C. versicolor orients itself visually, visual displays like push-ups, gular extensions, and distance between the test individuals were used as indicators of arousal/aggression towards the opponents (familiar vs. familiar/unfamiliar sib or non-sib). The hatchlings exhibited aggressiveness towards unfamiliar sibs as well as non-sibs in the form of push-ups and gular extensions; they also remained at a longer distance from each other. In contrast, they did not exhibit such behaviors against familiar individuals regardless of their relatedness, and stayed closer to each other. In tests involving once familiar individuals, sib, or non-sib reared together for 15 d from hatching and then separated for 7 or 30 d, the lizards showed aggressiveness towards each other following 30 d separation. A greater number of push-ups and gular extensions were exhibited by the test individuals after 30 d separation compared to those separated for 7 d. Thus, in this non-social lizard, there is no kin discrimination. An early dispersal of hatchlings in this species may have led to a loss of kin discrimination. However, familiar individuals are recognized as long as they continue to remain familiar thereby suggesting a ‘dear enemy phenomenon’.
Sovereign Immunity, Insolvent States and Private Bondholders: Recent National and International Case Law
Authors: Mola Lorenza
Published: November 2012

Abstract

This article deals with issues of sovereign immunity from foreign jurisdiction and enforcement, with respect to attempts by private bondholders to recover judicially their credit against a foreign State defaulting on its sovereign debt. It seeks to clarify these issues also in the broader context of cases where a foreign State relies on its insolvency situation as a plea to escape from recovery actions brought by private creditors on the basis of State contracts. In the case where the bonds may qualify as an “investment” under the relevant investment treaties, ICSID and other investor-State tribunals’ awards and their follow-up become relevant too, as shown in the Argentinian crisis and its moratorium on foreign debt. The article reviews recent case law issued by national courts where creditors have brought a claim or tried to have their judgment enforced. In the light of this, it critically highlights the recent bondholders’ practice of refusing the offer made by the ‘insolvent’ State under its debt restructuring plan while seeking to recover their outstanding debt through judicial means.
Preventive Diplomacy by Intergovernmental Organizations: Learning from Practice
Authors: Babbitt Eileen F.
Published: November 2012

Abstract

Conflict prevention is enjoying a renaissance in international policy circles. However, the official machinery of the international community presently offers few institutions with a specific mandate to address the causes of political violence at an early stage. One such multilateral mechanism dedicated solely to the prevention of conflict is the High Commissioner on National Minorities (HCNM) of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE). Over two decades, the office has developed a significant track record of effectiveness against which to examine the preventive efforts of other intergovernmental organizations. In this article, we examine the prevention efforts of the HCNM in Georgia, Macedonia, and Ukraine and compare these with the preventive diplomacy of three other intergovernmental organizations (IGOs): the Organization of American States (OAS) in Guyana, the Commonwealth in Fiji, and the UN in Afghanistan, Burundi, and Macedonia. Our findings offer some useful and surprising insights into effective prevention practice, with implications for how IGOs might improve preventive diplomacy in the future.
Conflict Prevention in the Commonwealth: The 2000 Fiji Coup
Authors: Collins Craig , Fraenkel Jon
Published: November 2012

Abstract

The Republic of Fiji experienced three armed coups in less than twenty years – 1987, 2000, and again in 2006 – symptoms of inter-communal tensions in the country and a political, economic and social system unable to manage them. The Commonwealth, through the good offices of its Secretary-General, was the lead international actor in responding to the crisis that followed the 2000 coup. The following study provides an overview of the Commonwealth as an institution, with a focus on its conflict prevention capacity, through the lens of its actions in Fiji at the time. It seeks to identify the nature and impact of Commonwealth engagement, highlighting potentially useful lessons regarding the institution, the individuals who acted on its behalf, and the efficacy of their actions.
Enforced Disappearances of Persons as a Violation of Jus Cogens: The Contribution of the Jurisprudence of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights
Authors: Augusto Antônio , Trindade Cançado
Published: November 2012

The consolidation of the international regime of absolute prohibitions (belonging to the domain of jus cogens) of torture, summary and extra-legal executions, and enforced disappearances of persons has counted on the contribution of the case-law of contemporary international tribunals, such as, notably, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACtHR). The jurisprudential construction of the IACtHR to this effect has taken place mainly in the period 1999–2004. The IACtHR began by addressing issues pertaining to its competence ratione temporis, duly distinguishing their bearing on responsibility and jurisdiction. The IACtHR singled out the aggravating circumstances surrounding enforced disappearances of persons, bringing about the enlargement of the notion of victim (comprising the next of kin). The IACtHR duly acknowledged and asserted the absolute prohibitions of jus cogens in the conformation of an international legal regime against grave violations of human rights and international humanitarian law (such as enforced disappearances of persons). The IACtHR became the first contemporary international tribunal, in this connection, to sustain that the enlarged material content of jus cogens encompasses nowadays the victims’ right of access to justice lato sensu, properly understood as the imperative of the realisation of objective or material justice.
Why the Prohibition of Enforced Disappearance Has Attained Jus Cogens Status in International Law
Authors: Sarkin Jeremy
Published: November 2012

This article examines the question whether jus cogens includes the prohibition of enforced disappearances, and why this is important. It surveys the meaning, context, development, status and position of jus cogens as well as enforced disappearance in international law, including their relationship to each other. It surveys the status of enforced disappearance in international law in general, as well as in international human rights law, international humanitarian law and international criminal law. The article scans the historical developments of international law, including developments over the last few decades, to indicate that the prohibition against enforced disappearance has attained jus cogens status. The legal framework is examined, including the jurisprudence that has emanated from a variety of sources. Specific treaties that deal with enforced disappearance are reviewed including the Declaration on the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance, the Inter-American Convention on Forced Disappearance of Persons, the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC) and the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance (ICED). What jus cogens is, what the controversies are that surround it, the different ways that it is understood within different schools of thought, and how these issues impact on whether the prohibition of enforced disappearance has attained jus cogens status are studied. The historical developments around enforced disappearances are examined in some detail to determine what its status is, particularly in relation to state practice, so as to determine whether it is jus cogens.
The Protective Principle of Jurisdiction over War Crimes and the Hollow Concept of Universality
Authors: Garrod Matthew
Published: November 2012

At the end of World War II, the prosecution by the Allies of thousands of enemy war criminals in Europe and the Far East, and the creation of International Military Tribunals at Nuremberg and Tokyo, are seen by many as a landmark in the development of international criminal law. This development is widely asserted to have given rise to universal jurisdiction over war crimes for the prosecution of perpetrators of gross human rights offences. By using primary research, the purpose of this article is to challenge the perceived emergence of universal jurisdiction and to show that it has been allowed to develop as a myth, a hollow concept. The article seeks to provide an alternative view, by arguing that jurisdiction over war crimes is better explained as an important development of the protective principle, which was exercised collectively by some Allies, for the punishment of a ‘common enemy’.
Judging International Criminal Justice in the Occupied Territories
Authors: Malekian Farhad
Published: November 2012

Analysing the philosophy of criminal justice and international criminal jurisdiction is indeed very complex. At a minimum, one has to be familiar with both common law and civil law systems. Examining the Gaza Strip situation is also simultaneously a very sophisticated task. It needs, to some extent, an understanding, not only of natural and positive law, but also of many principles and cultural heritages of, at least, two ethnic groups, the Palestinians, and the Jews. It is not certainly a question of religious theories, but the potentiality of rightful co-existence. It also requires understanding why these very two old groups have been, since the creation of Israel, constantly suffering from serious armed conflicts. The Gaza crimes are some of the most recent recognized crimes committed against the population of occupied territories. The intention of this article is to re-examine the historical creation of the State of Israel, the influence of the politicians of the United Kingdom in its creation, the murder of European Jews and the killing of physical and psychological integrity of Palestinians under the authority of Israeli governments. The article deals with some of the most significant norms of international criminal law and human rights law that ought to be respected in national or international conflicts regardless of the target of attack. It deals with the concept of criminal responsibility of individuals under the law of international criminal courts.
Local Border Traffic – European Union and Member States’ Perspective (based on Polish Experience)
Authors: Dubowski Tomasz
Published: November 2012

Abstract

In December 2006 the European Parliament and the Council adopted a regulation concerning the rules on local border traffic (LBT). It may seem that this interesting mechanism remains outside the main stream of consideration devoted to the EU migration policy sensu largo. LBT appears to be, however, an important factor determining the whole system of Union’s external borders and a significant element of border relations between the Member States and third countries as well. At the same time LBT should be perceived multi-dimensionally and may be treated as one of these EU law institutions which concentrates in itself the tangential points of spheres seemingly distinct. In this article LBT will be analysed from two different perspectives: from the perspective of the Union and its area of freedom, security and justice (AFSJ) as well as its external action. It will be also analysed from the perspective of the Member States and their bilateral relations with neighbouring countries. The latter issue will be illustrated by Polish experience in this respect, which may tell something more about LBT eastern dimension.
The Role of Third Countries in EU Migration Policy: The Mobility Partnerships
Authors: Reslow Natasja
Published: November 2012

Abstract

Third countries are actors in EU external migration policy, not merely passive recipients of policy proposals. In order to understand policy outcomes, it is necessary to understand why third countries decide to participate (or not) in EU migration policy initiatives. The conditionality model provides an explanation which focuses on the domestic preferences of and processes in the third countries. In 2007, the EU introduced the Mobility Partnerships. These partnerships are intended to be the framework for migration relations between the EU and third countries in Eastern Europe and Africa. The Cape Verdean government decided to sign a Mobility Partnership because the benefits of this cooperation with the EU outweighed the costs. The Senegalese government refused to sign because the Mobility Partnership would have implied significant, unacceptable costs.
Export of Study Grants and the Lawfulness of Durational Residency Requirements: Comments on Case C-542/09, Commission v the Netherlands
Authors: Hoogenboom Alexander
Published: November 2012

Abstract

In Commission v the Netherlands (export of study grants) the Court has rendered an important judgment which has ramifications for the lawful use of durational residency requirements imposed on students wishing to export maintenance grants for study purposes as a means to balance the promotion of student mobility on the one hand and Member States’ desire to protect their educational budgets. Moreover, the judgment also addresses the legal position of frontier workers and migrant workers as regards access to social advantages in the state of employment, and more generally as regards the use of residency requirements for the purposes of assessing the link between the individual and the host society in EU law. Overall the conclusion seems to be that the Court is seeking to clarify its existing position while simultaneously developing new and more extensive obligations for the Member State in its relations with EU nationals of other Member States.
The Objective of Directive 2003/86 Is to Promote the Family Reunification of Third Country Nationals
Authors: Hardy Julien
Published: November 2012

Abstract

This paper provides an analysis of the objective attributed by the CJEU to Directive 2003/86 in the Chakroun (C-578/08) decision and its impact on Member States’ margins of manoeuvre. The Court indeed stated that ‘(. . .) the margin for manoeuvre which the Member States are recognised as having must not be used by them in a manner which would undermine the objective of the directive, which is to promote family reunification, and the effectiveness thereof’.1 Astonishingly enough, this part of the judgement has not stirred much reaction from commentators and Member States. After an analysis of the meaning of ‘promoting’, and of the rationale and value of the CJEU’s position, I will expose the impact that it might have on the margins of manoeuvre of Member States while implementing the directive. All this should help to grasp the Court’s statement, and as a matter of consequence, to gauge the compliance of national legislations and practices.
Some Notes on Corruption in Indonesia: A Cultural-Religious Perspective
Authors: Singgih Emanuel Gerrit
Published: November 2012

Abstract

After an introduction sketching some phenomena of corruption in the administration of Indonesia the author shows why it is almost impossible to remove corruption from Indonesian society. He discloses how the concepts of shame (gengsi) and sacrifice (rejeki) still motivate people both in society and in the church. After a delineation of the various cultural and religious backgrounds of these concepts including the cultures of the Batak, the Javanese and the Chinese he makes a plea for a return by the churches to the principle of preferential option for the weak and the poor. That will be the only way of removing corruption from Indonesian church and — hopefully — also society.
Casting Out Demons in Zimbabwe: A Coded Political Posturing
Authors: Dube Zorodzai
Published: November 2012

Abstract

Casting out demons in Zimbabwe is a daily practice among Pentecostal churches. While previous studies by theologians linked demon exorcism to evil spirits, in this study I argue that casting out demons in Zimbabwe is a coded protest against Mugabe and his government. My theoretical perspective develops from Frantz Fanon and James Scott.
The Hereafter in the Yezidi Beliefs
Authors: Arakelova Victoria , Amrian Tereza
Published: November 2012

The concept of the Afterlife is not explicitly articulated in the syncretic system of Yezidism. The paper is an attempt to reconstruct, as far as possible, the idea of the Hereafter among the Yezidis, based on all available data—popular beliefs, legends about deities, saints and other characters related to the sphere of life after death, as well as certain loci from the Yezidi lore (Qawl-ū-bayt’), containing either direct information on or allusions to the ideas of the Beyond ever existed in the Yezidi tradition.
Memory, Performance, and the Sayings of Jesus
Authors: Kloppenborg John S.
Published: November 2012

Much has been made in recent years of the oral/aural context in which the early Jesus movement was born, as both a needed adjustment to earlier models for understanding early Jesus tradition based principally on models of literary transmission and often as a surreptitious means to insinuate the faithfulness of oral transmission. This paper begins by reviewing recent memory studies, both cognitive and anthropological, and then assesses the proposals of Kenneth Bailey and James D.G. Dunn of faithful oral transmission of Jesus materials. It concludes with a test case, Q 6.37, concluding that even in the case of the stable transmission of aphorisms, there is profound and significant transformation of meaning, due to the pressures exerted by the transmissional context.
What Can the Churches Say Together about the Church?
Authors: Kinnamon Michael
Published: November 2012

This article explores the extent of consensus between the churches, as expressed mainly in the multilateral texts of the World Council of Churches, with regard to the nature of the Christian Church and its unity. Twelve major points of agreement are identified, but an issue with regard to their reception is also flagged up. The churches and the ecumenical instruments are urged to reflect upon and to act on this remarkable convergence.
Relations between the Orthodox and the Anglicans in the Twentieth Century: A Reason to Consider the Present and the Future of the Theological Dialogue
Authors: Stathokosta Vassiliki El.
Published: November 2012

Taking as a starting point the Patriarchal Encyclical of 1902-4, which celebrates one hundred and ten years in 2012 (1902-2012), attention is given to its contribution to Anglican-Orthodox dialogue. A decisive landmark in Anglican-Orthodox relations and in the formation of the Ecumenical Movement was the visit of the Greek Church delegation to the USA and England in 1918 and the discussions with Episcopalians and Anglicans on Christology and Triadology (‘Trinitarian theology’) as well as ecclesiology. The process of this dialogue is examined here through the evaluations of three distinguished Greek Orthodox figures, carefully chosen as representative of their time, and in the light of such innovations as the ordination of women. This study emphasizes that the ecclesiological and theological proximity of Orthodoxy and Anglicanism is a solid basis for the continuation of their theological dialogue. The documents of Moscow (1976), Dublin (1984) and the Cyprus Statement (2006) prove that there is sufficient common ground to continue a fruitful discussion.
Documenta inedita
Authors: Grazia Grazzini Maria
Published: November 2012

Discorso sopra la Chimica is an early seventeenth-century manuscript on alchemy written by the Florentine priest Antonio Neri, best known as the author of the first published treatise on glassmaking – L’Arte Vetraria (1612) – which was widely read for centuries. The Discorso shows a different face of Neri, that of the alchemist with a profound knowledge of Paraselsian doctrine, dedicated to the transmutation of metals, and an advocate of iatrochemistry. This picture is apparently incompatible with that of the technical glassmaker and the champion of knowledge based on experience. However, even in his Discorso the author affirms the value of experimental practice, and the experimentum has the all-important benefit of legitimizing the validity of alchemical doctrines. Knowledge does not come from reading the books of the sages of antiquity, but from the “practice of many experiences.” This emphasis on experimentation constitutes a unique feature of the Discorso. It was perhaps the ‘modernity’ of Neri’s discussion of alchemy that made the manuscript the object of plagiarism. Careful comparison reveals that an entire chapter of Prodromo, written by the Jesuit Francesco Lana Terzi in 1670, was copied from Neri. In the Discorso old and new are intertwined and validate one other, showing how Neri was a quintessential representative of his time, when scientific models that now appear irreconcilable coexisted, often forming a complex web.

In this paper I discuss Antonio Neri and the background to his important work, reflecting on its impact and what it tells us about a fascinating and complex period in the birth of modern science. This is followed by a translation of the complete text of Discorso sopra la Chimica.
Domestic Constraints on the Rise of Chinese Public Diplomacy
Authors: Wang Yiwei
Published: November 2012

Summary

Chinese public diplomacy — considered to be the continuation of its internal affairs — is booming unlike anywhere else in the world. Yet its rise is being hampered by several domestic constraints that are identity-related, institutional, societal and cultural in nature. This contribution aims to shed light on the domestic dilemmas that could hamper the rise of Chinese public diplomacy. It first explains what Chinese public diplomacy entails and the initiatives that have been undertaken by the Chinese government in this field. It then focuses on the different kinds of domestic pressures that are challenging the rise of Chinese public diplomacy, and briefly touches upon the case study of Chinese public diplomacy towards Europe, while suggesting paths to overcome these challenges. The author suggests that in order for Chinese public diplomacy to reach its full potential, China needs to overcome its domestic constraints, and to this end, the Chinese government needs to stimulate the collaboration of Chinese domestic non-state actors with international civil society around shared values.
The Impact of ‘Intermestic’ Non-State Actors on the Conceptual Framework of Public Diplomacy
Authors: La Porte Teresa
Published: November 2012

Summary

The concept of public diplomacy has traditionally been understood in state-centric terms and has been closely related to a state’s foreign policy. Despite conceptual evolution towards more dialogue and networking with different players, some authors continue to envisage public diplomacy as a state pursuit. The impact of globalization on politics, however, has provoked the emergence of an array of non-state organizations that have progressively increased their influence, power, legitimacy and credibility in the global arena. They may act complementary to or independent from states, and sometimes even challenge the role of the state. This article proposes an alternative approach to the concept of public diplomacy that can include non-state actors’ independent actions. The article explores three main conditions for non-state organizations that could contribute to broadening the conceptual framework of public diplomacy: emphasis on the object of the action; legitimacy to develop public diplomacy initiatives based on effectiveness; and a progressive disappearance of borders between the domestic and international dimensions (as so-called ‘intermestic’ actors attempt to do). These preconditions are examined in the following two scenarios: defending citizens’ interests before international institutions; and explaining and implementing international institutions’ policies locally.
What Is Old? What Is New? A Reconsideration of Garments and Wineskins
Authors: Henderson Suzanne Watts
Published: November 2012

Abstract

This essay explores the view of Torah implicit in Mark 2:21-22. Setting aside a priori assumptions about the sayings’ preference of the new over the old garment and wineskins, as well as the widespread view that the images correspond to Judaism (and Torah), this study probes both the sayings’ language and setting in Mark’s Gospel and, more tentatively, Mark’s community. In short, we find the following: first, a close reading of the sayings themselves reveals more interest in preserving the “old” than many have recognized; second, their narrative setting in Mark suggests that the sayings pertain more to questions of discipleship than to opposing salvation-historical eras; and third, situating Mark 2:21-22 within the writer’s socio-historical context brings to light their apparent aim, which is to promote within Mark’s beleaguered community the kind of deliberate alignment with Jesus’ messianic mission that befits their identity as “community of the new age.”
The Political Economy of Eating Idol Meat: Practice, Structure, and Subversion in 1 Corinthians 8 through the Sociological Lens of Pierre Bourdieu
Authors: Lim Sung Uk
Published: November 2012

Abstract

This paper intends to delve into the political economy of the symbolic practice of eating idol meat in 1 Corinthians 8 from a Bourdieuian perspective. My contention is that Paul attempts to undermine the Roman socioeconomic system by substituting a dietary habitus of abstention for a dietary habitus of consumption. In Bourdieu’s view, the Roman colony of Corinth can be seen as a religious field consisting of a conflict over different capital between the strong and the weak. Through rhetorical strategies, Paul enables the weak to subvert the hierarchical structure as embodied in the practice of idol meat consumption, while simultaneously urging the strong to surrender the claim to their authority. Thus, while deconstructing an old, colonial habitus of consumption, Paul reconstructs a new, postcolonial habitus of abstention.
Art and Sermons: Dominicans and the Jews in Florence’s Santa Maria Novella
Authors: Debby Nirit Ben-Aryeh
Published: November 2012

This paper analyzes perceptions of the Jews by the Dominican friars in latemedieval Florence and focuses on the encounter between the Christian and Jewish worlds as manifested in Santa Maria Novella church in the oral and visual traditions. The intention is to examine the representations of Jews in a particular context, that of an Italian urban society in the late fourteenth century, especially in the context of mendicant activity, by studying both preaching and art in that context.The article shows the similarities and differences between the visual and the verbal in relation to the different media discussed, and analyzes the complexity of the Dominican perception of the Jews.
Forgetting Lutheranism: Historians and the Early Reformation in Poland (1517–1548)
Authors: Nowakowska Natalia
Published: November 2012

This article reconstructs and explores the problematic historiography of the early Reformation in the lands of the Polish Crown, a significant locus of Lutheranism in the reign of King Zygmunt I Jagiellon (1506–1548). The eighteenth, nineteenth, and early-to mid twentieth centuries produced a sizeable literature on early Lutheranism in Poland, fuelled by Polish-German conflict, minority politics, and Stalinist state sponsorship. Since the 1960s, however, scholarship in Polish and German has had very little to say about Lutheranism in the lands of the Polish Crown before 1548. It is argued that the discrediting of Ostforschung after World War Two, coupled with the rise of a new Polish nationalist reading of the Reformation from the 1960s (which rejected Lutheranism as German, and un-Polish), have led to a deliberate twentieth-century “forgetting” of the Polish kingdom’s Lutheran past, which impoverishes our understandings of the European Reformations.
Has the ‘Responsibility to Protect’ Been a Real Change in Humanitarian Intervention? An Analysis from the Crisis in Libya
Authors: Jubilut Liliana L.
Published: November 2012

Abstract

One of the most relevant axiological clashes in the international arena occurs between the concepts of sovereignty and human rights. This clash involves the questions of legality and legitimacy and is highlighted in the practice of humanitarian intervention. An attempt to bridge this gap was made in 2001 with the doctrine of the ‘responsibility to protect’ – adopted in 2005 by the UN. It proposes doctrinal, practical and ethical shifts in the treatment of humanitarian interventions, bringing along a more holistic approach with the proposal of responsibilities to react, to prevent and to rebuild. 7 years after its adoption and in light of the recent development of the military action against Libya, where the ‘responsibility to protect’ was called upon for the first time, the present article analyses the doctrinal, practical and ethical aspects of the ‘responsibility to protect’ aiming to verify whether the doctrine has been a real change in humanitarian interventions.
“The Legitimacy to Legitimise”: The Security Council Action in Libya under Resolution 1973 (2011)
Authors: Antonopoulos Constantine
Published: November 2012

Abstract

The power of the Security Council to adopt military measures for the maintenance of international peace and security has never been implemented as originally envisaged by the text of the UN Charter. The Council never acquired armed forces permanently at its disposal and under its command and control and it adopted the practice of authorisation of force leaving coalitions of willing States or regional organisations to implement it by conducting an operation under their command and resources with minimum control by the Council. The mandate of the operation in an enabling resolution is in principle a safeguard against abuse but its interpretation lies primarily (but not exclusively) with the participating States. The SC action in Libya intended to protect civilians (humanitarian intervention). Moreover, it revealed the real dimensions of humanitarian intervention and the vagaries of responsibility to protect: a suspension of the substance of Article 2(4).
Exposed and Concealed Sexuality: Virgin Records in the Eighteenth-Century Ashkenazi Protocols of Amsterdam
Authors: Rädecker Tsila
Published: November 2012

Abstract

This article analyses the documentation of the accidental loss of virginity in the eighteenth-century Ashkenazi Community records of Amsterdam. By revealing the interplay between theology and Jewish Community life, various aspects, such as the economization and the institutionalization of virginity, come to the fore. Furthermore, the virgin records show that conflicting notions of physical and spiritual virginity were decontextualized and used to serve the community’s purposes. In short, documentation of virginity, although based on a rich rabbinic tradition, gives insight into the readaption and creation of theological concepts to accommodate the social and financial interests of Jewish families, especially the mercantile elites.
Media and Democracy in Turkey: Toward a Model of Neoliberal Media Autocracy
Authors: Akser Murat , Baybars-Hawks Banu
Published: November 2012

This paper reveals the ways in which media autocracy operates on political, judicial, economic and discursive levels in post-2007 Turkish media. Newsmakers in Turkey currently experience five different systemic kinds of neoliberal government pressures to keep their voice down: conglomerate pressure, judicial suppression, online banishment, surveillance defamation and accreditation discrimination. The progression of restrictions on media freedom has increased in volume annually since 2007; this includes pressure on the Doğan Media Group, the YouTube ban, arrests of journalists in the Ergenekon trials, phone tapping/taping of political figures and the exclusion of all unfriendly reporters from political circles. The levels and tools of this autocracy eventually lead to certain conclusions about the qualities of this media environment: it is a historically conservative, redistributive, panoptic and discriminatory media autocracy.
On the Limits of Oppositional Humor: The Turkish Political Context
Authors: Dinç Enis
Published: November 2012

The present work analyzes the articulation of humor as an oppositional discourse in the Turkish political context, with particular focus on the current controversies between humorists and the Turkish government. It first deals with current debates between satirists and the government, showing how discourses of oppositional humor are created by the media. By pointing out the similarity among the descriptions and statements on the oppositional nature of humor made by some political satirists and intellectuals, the work questions the validity of these statements by looking at the interpretations of humor in different historical periods and cultural domains in Turkey. The final part of this work undertakes a textual analysis of the aforementioned depictions of the way in which humor challenges existing power structures, as conveyed by some of its producers. It highlights the contradictions of this articulation. Two conclusions are derived from this work. First, the oppositional nature of the humorist discourse represents only a partial and ideal reading of it; therefore it cannot be taken as universal. Second, the oppositional nature of the discourse of humor should be reconsidered and studied by specific cases and contexts.
Contributions of deaf people to entomology: A hidden legacy
Authors: Lang Harry G. , Santiago-Blay Jorge A.
Published: November 2012

Despite communication challenges, deaf and hard-of-hearing individuals made many new discoveries during the emergence of entomology as a scientific discipline. In the 18th century, Switzerland’s naturalist Charles Bonnet, a preformationist, investigated parthenogenesis, a discovery that laid the groundwork for many scientists to examine conception, embryonic development, and the true, non-preformationist nature of heredity. In the 19th century, insect collectors, such as Arthur Doncaster and James Platt-Barrett in England, as well as Johann Jacob Bremi-Wolf in Switzerland, developed specialized knowledge in several insect orders, particularly the Lepidoptera. In contrast, the contributions to entomology of Fielding Bradford Meek and Leo Lesquereux in the United States stemmed from their paleontological studies, while the work of Simon S. Rathvon and Henry William Ravenel in economic entomology and botany, respectively, was derived from their strong interests in plants. These and other contributors found ways to overcome the isolation imposed upon them by deafness and, as a group, deaf and hard-of-hearing scientists established a legacy in entomology that has not been previously explored.
Federalism in the Baltic: Interpretations of Self-Determination and Sovereignty in Estonia in the First Half of the Twentieth Century
Authors: Piirimäe Kaarel
Published: November 2012

The objective of this article is to challenge the widespread interpretation of interwar East Central Europe as a hotbed of excessive nationalism, by establishing a longue durée of federalist thinking in Estonia in the first half of the twentieth century. By focusing on personal continuities from the founding years of the Estonian Republic into the 1940s, it is possible to detect a remarkable persistence of ‘idealist’ visions about intra and interstate federalism that had been internalized by Estonian statesmen before and during the First World War and earlier. Apart from establishing the continuity of federalist thought the article analyzes the political discourse in which the concept of national self-determination was picked up. The primary framework for Estonian thinkers on nationality was the debate that developed within the all-Russian socialist movement in the context of the nationality problems of the multinational Western provinces and Congress Poland. The discourse on territorial and cultural autonomy within a federative Russia, demands that came to the fore in 1905, developed only after the idea of self-determination entered the thinking of Estonian radicals. Until late 1917, asserting the right to self-determination by no means meant separation from Russia. Even after 1917 Estonian politicians imagined the future republic as part of a regional league or union relinquishing part of its sovereignty to a supranational authority, plans that foundered on the incompatibility of national interests by 1920. Although the experience had not been encouraging, Baltic politicians resuscitated federalist concepts in the early period of the Second World War, as they tried to envisage a new structure for a cooperative and autonomous East Central Europe, within a restored Europe.
Transcultural Chukotka: Transfer and Exchange in Northeastern Asia, 1900-1945
Authors: Sablin Ivan
Published: November 2012

In the 1920s – 1940s the indigenous peoples of Chukotka, the northeastern extremity of Asia, were subjugated by the Soviet Union. This article takes a transcultural look at this process and seeks to explore what interactions shaped the region in pre- and early Soviet periods and what was exchanged through these interactions at different times. The cultural flows under study include those of material objects, diseases, language, institutions and ideas. A great deal of attention has been paid to the reception of exchange in indigenous communities, which was reconstructed based on memories and literary works of indigenous people of Eskimo, Chukchi and Even origin. The article aims to incorporate the case of Chukotka, which was subject to “socialist colonization”, into international cultural and social discourse and seeks to test transcultural methodology in a non-capitalist context.
Failing Promises of Democracy: Structural Preconditions, Political Crisis and Socioeconomic Instability in Bosnia and Herzegovina
Authors: Džihić Vedran
Published: November 2012

This paper departs from the thesis that the notion of democracy in Bosnia and Herzegovina has been damaged dramatically during the 17 years after the war. The paper explores major factors that contribute to the crisis of democratic rule in Bosnia and thus focuses on a) structural problems of the constitution agreed to at Dayton and the resulting dysfunctional government, b) a permanent political crisis based on the instrumentalization of ethno-nationalism paired with c) prolonged socio-economic problems. As the paper shows the combination of all these factors results in a hybrid form of governance best described as electoral democracy or electoral ethnocracy. Such a system has a specific kind of its own logic and functionality; it is able to satisfy certain needs of constituencies while neglecting others, thus creating a permanent crisis in the country and leaving it in limbo.
Idea(l)s on e-democracy and direct online citizenship
Authors: Oblak Črnič Tanja
Published: November 2012

The idea of electronic democracy implies a form of democracy which would develop as the result of the implementation of new communication technologies within existing democratic processes. Ideas of electronic democracy are not always accompanied by positive associations, but come also with apprehension of the probable dangers for existing democratic processes. This paper addresses the question of technological democratization through two interrelated steps. First, it focuses on the history of e-democracy and its implementation in different models of democracy. Then, in the second part, it reveals the main proponents of e-democracy as an idea that could transform the existing representative democratic system. Since many obstacles, that are not only technologically driven, the text here extracts the critique of such intentions and beliefs. However, communication technologies seem to be effective tools for citizens to select governors and participate in the formation of laws and policies. By enabling immediate insight into governmental work and into decisions made by other political institutions, an informed electoral body can be formed. In this context, the last section presents a new Slovenian governmental tool which can be understood as an effective bridge between different paradigms on e-democracy.
Middle East Legal and Governmental Pluralism: A View of the Field from the Demos
Authors: Tully James
Published: November 2012

The article addresses the following question: Can a people change their form of government and law and bring them permanently under their shared democratic authority by nonviolent, participatory democratic means? It examines this question through the example of the nonviolent Egyptian Spring. It also addresses the questions of whether this is a new form of the right of self-determination of peoples as well as an alternative to the current models of transitional justice. The means used to address these questions are adapted from the methods of legal and political pluralism, the politics of nonviolence and participatory democracy. Its objective is to place the nonviolent Egyptian Spring in the broader context of nonviolent and democratic regime transformation since Decolonization.
Imperial confrontation or regional cooperation?: Bulgarian migration and Ottoman-Russian relations in the Black Sea region, 1768-1830s
Authors: Robarts Andrew
Published: November 2012

The Black Sea region from 1768-1830s has traditionally been characterized as a theater of warfare and imperial competition. Indeed, during this period, the Ottoman and Russian empires engaged in four armed conflicts for supremacy in the Balkans, the Caucasus, and on the Black Sea itself. While not discounting geo-strategic and ideological confrontation between the Ottoman and Russian empires, this article - by adopting the Black Sea region as its primary unit of historical and political analysis - will emphasize the considerable amount of exchange that took place between the Ottoman and Russian empires in the Black Sea region in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. Building upon a case study of Bulgarian migration between the Ottoman and Russian empires and as part of a broader discussion on Ottoman-Russian Black Sea diplomacy this article will detail joint Ottoman-Russian initiatives to control their mutual Black Sea borderland.
Typological constraints on verb integration in two Australian mixed languages1,2
Authors: Meakins Felicity , O’Shannessy Carmel
Published: November 2012

Gurindji Kriol and Light Warlpiri are two mixed languages spoken in northern Australia by Gurindji and Warlpiri people, respectively. Both languages are the outcome of the fusion of a contact variety of English (Kriol/Aboriginal English) with a traditional Australian Aboriginal language (Gurindji or Warlpiri). The end result is two languages which show remarkable structural similarity. In both mixed languages, pronouns, TMA auxiliaries and word order are derived from Kriol/Aboriginal English, and case-marking and other nominal morphology come from Gurindji or Warlpiri. These structural similarities are not surprising given that the mixed languages are derived from typologically similar languages, Gurindji and Warlpiri (Ngumpin-Yapa, Pama-Nyungan), and share the Kriol/Aboriginal English component. Nonetheless, one of the more striking differences between the languages is the source of verbs. One third of the verbs in Gurindji Kriol is derived from Gurindji, whereas only seven verbs in Light Warlpiri are of Warlpiri origin. Additionally verbs of Gurindji origin in Gurindji Kriol are derived from coverbs, whereas the Warlpiri verbs in Light Warlpiri come from inflecting verbs. In this paper we claim that this difference is due to differences in the complex verb structure of Gurindji and Warlpiri, and the manner in which these complex verbs have interacted with the verb structure of Kriol/English in the formation of the mixed languages.
Looting Tibet: Conflicting Narratives and Representations of Tibetan Material Culture from the 1904 British Mission to Tibet
Authors: Myatt Tim
Published: November 2012

This paper presents new research regarding the contentious issue of looting during the Younghusband Mission to Tibet of 1904. For the first time, it presents translations from Tibetan texts that not only catalogue items looting from Tibet, but also build a narrative of the mission from a Chinese and Tibetan perspective. It discusses the 'mind of the mission' by outlining the social and cultural milieu that formed the backdrop for the British officers and men who found themselves in Tibet, and explores the position of the 'archaeologist' to the Mission. It shows how items looted from Tibet are now represented in British museums and collections, and compares these to the 'Memorial Hall of the Anti- British' in Gyantse.
The Younghusband-Waddell Collection and Its People: the Social Life of Tibetan Books Gathered in a Late-colonial Enterprise
Authors: Diemberger Hildegard
Published: November 2012

In this paper I follow the social life of the Tibetan books belonging to the Younghusband-Waddell collection. I show how books as literary artefacts can transform from ritual objects into loot, into commodities and into academic treasures and how books can have agency over people, creating networks and shaping identities. Exploring connections between books and people, I look at colonial collecting, Orientalist scholarship and imperial visions from an unusual perspective in which the social life and cultural biography of people and things intertwine and mutually define each other. By following the trajectory of these literary artefacts, I show how their traces left in letters, minutes and acquisition documents give insight into the functioning of academic institutions and their relationship to imperial governing structures and individual aspirations. In particular, I outline the lives of a group of scholars who were involved with this collection in different capacities and whose deeds are unevenly known. This adds a new perspective to the study of this period, which has so far been largely focused on the deeds of key individuals and the political and military setting in which they operated. Finally, I show how the books of this collection have continued to exercise their attraction and moral pressure on twenty-first-century scholars, both Tibetan and international, linking them through digital technology and cyberspace.
Writing History: The Expedition of Colonel Francis Younghusband in Ge Fei's Work
Authors: Dhondup Yangdon
Published: November 2012

This article focuses on a novella written by Ge Fei, a Han Chinese writer known for his experimental or avant-garde writings. Set in Tibet, Encounter reconstructs from different perspectives the British expedition to Tibet. This paper attempts to show that, although Encounter may depart on the surface from the other works written by Ge Fei, it nevertheless remains true to the author's preoccupation with notions of time and history.