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The document is a response to a paper by Gruber, Block, and Montemayor (GBM) on the topic of time. The author admires GBM's inventive experiments but raises concerns about the philosophical foundations of their ideas. They discuss the use of James Hartle's IGUS model to incorporate subjective experience of time within a 4D Minkowski spacetime framework. The author suggests that thinking in terms of second-order cybernetics and considering a wider range of features could help address the problem GBM is discussing. They also question the assumption that our theories of physics and cosmology can provide a straightforward temporal worldview. The author proposes a dual-aspect monist view, where both subjective and objective time arise from a deeper structure. They believe that the resolution to GBM's problem lies in this deeper domain. [Extracted from the article]

In 2022 the Johns Hopkins University purchased an annotated copy of the Epigrammata Antiquae Urbis (Rome, 1521), the earliest published collection of inscriptions from Rome. A paleographical comparison shows that the annotator was the Servite friar Alessandro Totti (1498–1570), a little-studied Brescian antiquarian. The present study confirms him as the source of numerous papers within Vat. lat. 5237 (a composite epigraphic manuscript assembled by Aldo Manuzio the Younger), and sheds light on his exchange of antiquarian information with Ottavio Pantagato, Paolo Manuzio, and his son Aldo Manuzio. The analysis of Totti's annotations in the Epigrammata , written in the 1550s, reveals not only his detailed study of Rome's inscriptions, but also his interest in two of the most heated antiquarian debates at the time: Roman chronology as attested by the discovery of the Fasti Capitolini, and the identification of the 35 Roman tribes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

But Marcocci and McManus offer more open-ended narratives in which humanism emerges as a multi-directional and polyfocal phenomenon. Both Marcocci and McManus thus illustrate what a global history of Renaissance humanism could look like and how historians today can turn to Renaissance humanist culture to write global intellectual history and I vice versa i . [Extracted from the article]

Paper and parchment were used for the production and repair of musical instruments from the 16th century onwards. Today, several layers of reused materials such as binder's waste can be found in instruments. This makes them carriers of materials of bibliographical and fragmentological interest. Based on the analyses of 96 lute instruments the reinforcing material is described and put into context with current approaches of the study of fragments and the material history of the objects. The use of vellum and reuse of parchment manuscripts was mainly common during the 16th century and for instruments made of materials of high density. Paper in the form of blank folios, reused prints, manuscripts, music staves and notes, or drawings can be found as material for the production and repair of lutes in all periods. The content or the exact edition of the reused prints or manuscripts could be identified in several cases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims at re-evaluating two of Hungarian artist Dóra Mauer's films, the video work PROPORTIONS (1979) and the 16mm film TIMING (1973/80). Both films follow a rigid structure. In PROPORTIONS, Maurer uses a paper roll to compare her own body measures repeatedly; in TIMING, she repeatedly folds a white linen to compare the rhythm of her arm movements. Through her use of paper and the gesture of folding, the two films can be read as references to the very origin of the term format , as coined in early letterpress printing. When the notion of format is understood as a determination of a ratio and, as such, as an indexical reference to given social relationships (Summers, 2003), these films unfold sociocultural and political meanings. The present paper traces this spectrum of meaning through the pointed inclusion of historical discourses surrounding early motion studies, the art scene in socialist Hungary in the 1970s, and early time experiments before the advent of precision clocks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When the PRC was first establishing diplomatic missions around the world Ambassador Panikkar reported to Nehru about Yuan Zhongxian, who would be the PRC's first ambassador to India, and the preparations being made for the embassy in India: "The women members of the mission have been given special courses in deportment. Devaki Panikkar got the opportunity to live in China because of her father's position, but she obviously did not see herself as an extension of him or of the Indian embassy in China. The China-India relationship in the late 1940s and the early 1950s is often viewed through the lens of "Hindi-Chini bhai bhai" (Indian and Chinese brotherhood) but attention to gendered language in the Nehru Papers archive highlights the extent to which the relationship was both fostered and troubled by women. While the Chinese authorities took the delegation to the case to show how gender roles were changing in China, Singh found it was more evidence of the lack of individuality in China. [Extracted from the article]

Mirror studies have uncovered evidence for self-awareness in several non-human animals; however, this approach has not been extended to invertebrates. Here, we examined mirror responses of Polistes paper wasps, insects with high social cognitive abilities. We used a highly replicated design, exposing wasps to mirror self-recognition (MSR) test stimuli (mirror, facial marking) and several control stimuli (non-reflective surfaces, invisible marks, and sham marks). We found that nest-founding queen wasps respond to mirrors with increases in antennation and touching over non-reflective surfaces. Visible marks also resulted in more exploratory behaviours (antennating and touching the mirror), but decreases in self-directed behaviours typically used as indicators of MSR. While this experiment does not support the notion that wasps possess self-awareness, it shows that wasps respond to subtle alterations in their visual environment and appearance with exploratory behaviour. This work thus increases our understanding of insects' cognitive abilities, suggesting high levels of perceptual richness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This essay explores a collection of over two thousand "travel patents" issued during the sixteenth century by the chanceries of the Republic of Venice and the Order of St. John of Rhodes and Malta. Far from being the equivalent of modern passports, these papers were ad hoc concessions of exceptional travel rights. The article's systematic comparative approach shows that magistrates in Venice and Malta used travel patents to promote the circulation of valuable people and goods in response to both exceptional and recurring mobility needs. However, these letters were not only an expression of princely desire to "control the legitimate means of movement," but also tokens of a convergence of administrative and individual interests that worked together, from above and from below, to address contingent mobility challenges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the contours of debt and labor in the early twentieth-century Persian Gulf pearl dive. It examines the barwa , a declaration exchanged by nakhoda s (dhow captains) about the amounts that divers owed and the terms by which they might be hired out. By looking both through and at the barwa, we find a window into the Indian Ocean maritime bazaar, and into the artifacts through which mobile and itinerant laborers were bound to the dhow and its captain. Maritime actors used these papers to navigate the boundary between person and property, and between free and unfree, all within a changing commercial and legal world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Our project seeks to analyze the interactions and exchanges between China and India in this age of decolonization through the pages of the Nehru Papers. Although the members of our group have all been engaged in the study of China and India, for many of us, the types of documents that comprise the Nehru Papers vary significantly from the kinds of materials we otherwise work on. Some years ago, the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library (NMML) in New Delhi declassified the post-1947 materials within the Jawaharlal Nehru Papers collection. [Extracted from the article]

This essay introduces readers to the recent discovery of the personal papers of Grand Steward Tajima Michiji. These documents capture the post-surrender reflections of Hirohito, Japan's Shōwa Emperor, and record him speaking on such issues as his war responsibility, as well as the culpability of prewar politicians such as Konoe Fumimaro and General Tōjō Hideki. In August 2019, Nippon Hoso Kyokai (Japan Broadcasting Corporation) (NHK) announced that it had gained privileged access to the papers. Acting on advice from scholars, it then released extracts from Tajima's audience records. Drawing not on the Tajima papers themselves, but on what the NHK has made available, the documents demonstrate that Hirohito, after Japan's surrender, experienced anguish and over the war and its outcome. He continued as emperor because he accepted "moral responsibility" for the war that required him to help his nation and its people endure occupation and reconstruction. This article also describes Hirohito's postwar reflections on several issues, such as Japanese field officers and subordinates in the 1930s initiating without authorization acts of aggression, the Rape of Nanjing, and Japan's postwar rearmament. While the Tajima papers will not resolve the ongoing debate over the emperor's responsibility for Japan's path of aggression before 1945, they do provide valuable insights about his role in and reaction to events before, during, and after World War II. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The International Criminal Law Review is inviting submissions for volumes 24 and 25, which will be published in 2024 and 2025. The journal is seeking articles that provide a comprehensive examination of international criminal law and justice from a multidisciplinary or interdisciplinary perspective. This includes topics such as international and domestic law, landmark cases, and sociological and historical aspects of international crimes. Submissions can be made online through Editorial Manager, and while there is no strict deadline, articles submitted by June 1st typically receive faster review. For any inquiries, contact the Editor-in-Chief, Professor Caroline Fournet, at iclaeditor@gmail.com. [Extracted from the article]

The adoption of paper in the Middle East changed literacy practices and improved economic performance, yet current accounts remain unhelpful for understanding why and how it happened. This paper offers a new analysis of the long-term factors behind the adoption of paper in the Middle East, combining insights from economic theory, economic history and evidence from quantitative studies. The paper establishes a long-term trend in the price of writing material and books in the Middle East, and suggests an explanation based on economic factors which led to a decline in the price of inputs in paper production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article focuses on two aspects of Isaac Bashevis Singer's life and work from 1923 to 1935. First, it outlines his early career in Warsaw, focusing on his essays and tracing his efforts to establish a literary career independent from that of his older brother, Israel Joshua. Second, it considers Singer's emigration from Warsaw, with a focus on his brother's efforts to get him out, as found in personal correspondence. Along the way, I expose gaps between Singer's memoirs and details found in letters, especially relating to historical circumstances leading him to obtain a tourist visa to the United States in 1935. The article delineates a tension between Singer's establishment of a position within Yiddish literature in Warsaw distinct from his brother's, and the need to leave the city in order to survive, adding Israel Joshua's own voice to the testimony from this period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Crop raiding has been reported in many parts of Punjab as a result of an overabundance of nilgai antelopes (Boselaphus tragocamelus) and farmers are constantly battling to save their crops. In the present study, various management strategies such as physical deterrents (nylon rope, nylon net and garden net), visual repellents (scarecrow and reflective ribbon), chemical repellents (different concentrations of Neelbo and Ecodon (based on ricinoleic acid) applied by spraying, soaking jute rope, soaked in wood shavings packed in plastic bags and paper cups) and biological deterrents (bioacoustic device and different concentrations of faecal solution of horse, tiger and Himalayan black bear) were evaluated to minimize the damage caused by nilgai. Nylon net was the most promising method, providing complete protection against nilgai, which can be used for protecting crops at vulnerable stages with a one-time cost. The nylon rope and garden net provided partial protection from nilgai damage. The bioacoustic device and reflective ribbon were also effective for a short period of time. Neelbo was found more effective as chemical repellent against nilgai. The faecal solution of horse and Himalayan black bear remained effective as repellent for 10 days. It is thus concluded that while comprehensive damage prevention may be difficult, animal management devices can help reduce nilgai damage at vulnerable stages of the crop. The employment of a range of management devices at the proper time can be part of a cost-effective system to keep nilgai damage at acceptable levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Boris Hessen's 'The Social and Economic Roots of Newton's Principia ' (see https://doi.org./10.1163/1569206X-00002041) is considered a pioneering work in the historiography of the natural sciences. For some, it marks the founding moment of the 'externalist' approach to this field of study. Previously, Hessen published another paper on Newton entitled 'Preface to Articles by A. Einstein and J.J. Thomson', which, some maintain, bears a stronger resemblance to works in the 'internalist' camp of the historiography of the natural sciences. For decades, scholars have puzzled over why Hessen chose to argue for, seemingly, diametrically opposed positions. In this paper, however, I argue that Hessen does not advance two different historiographical methods, but a single, dialectical-materialist approach that accounts for the 'unity in opposition' of the external and internal dimensions of natural-scientific theory. I draw from Hessen's two papers on Newton, his previously untranslated writings, as well as selections from the secondary literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the Saudi government's refusal to introduce paper currency until 1956 against the backdrop of two developments: First, the composition of a number of treatises written by Muslim scholars in the late Ottoman and early Saudi Hijaz and Najd permitting use of the medium; second, the unsuccessful effort by several Muslim entrepreneurs to create formal banking facilities in the Hijaz between the 1920s and 1950s. Throughout these decades, as the Saudi regime repeatedly claimed that paper currency violated Islamic orthodoxy because it was a bearer of interest, these scholars argued forcefully for the medium's legitimacy by mobilizing the legal sources of their particular school of law (madhhab). This contrast reflects how the religious politics of the kingdom departed from both Ottoman precedents and other contemporary Islamic contexts in which paper currency was widely assimilated via the assent of Muslim legal scholars. The regime's tepid support for, or outright obstruction of, the creation of formal banking facilities that issued paper currency further exacerbated this divergence. In the end, because of such inconsistency it required technocratic institutions like the IMF and ARAMCO to introduce paper currency and a formal banking system into the kingdom from the mid-1950s. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses a call for papers for a conference on the topic of "Magic and Mischief: Text and Practices in Philosophy, Theology, and the Sciences." The conference aims to explore the persistence of magical thinking and practices in various aspects of society, including popular culture, politics, and religious discourse. It questions the notion of secularization and highlights the historical entwinement of esoteric and magical thinking with the development of disciplines such as philosophy and the sciences. The conference invites papers from various disciplines to contribute to the exploration of these spiritual and esoteric agencies. [Extracted from the article]

This document is a book review of "Juristische Glossierungstechniken als Mittel rechtswissenschaftlicher Rationalisierungen, Erfahrungen aus dem europäischen Mittelalter – vor und neben den großen 'Glossae ordinariae'" edited by S. Lepsius. The book contains papers presented at a conference in Munich in 2017, discussing the editing of glosses to the Liber Augustalis. The papers cover various aspects of gloss production in the late Middle Ages, including editing commentaries and the relationship between main texts and glosses. The review recommends specific articles as informative introductions to the study of medieval glosses and commentaries. Overall, the book provides valuable insights for those interested in editing and studying glosses in medieval law texts. [Extracted from the article]

This article analyses the private library book sale catalogue of paper-cutting artist (knipkunstenaar) Johanna Koerten (1650-1715), one of the most famous artists in the Dutch Republic. The study draws on data gathered for the ERC-funded MEDIATE project (Measuring Enlightenment: Disseminating Ideas, Authors and Texts in Europe, 1665-1830). The bibliometric approach of this digital humanities project uses book sale catalogues to study the circulation of books and ideas in eighteenth-century Europe. This article analyses the catalogue of Koerten, her background and professional interests, the 'femininity' of female book collections in general, and the problems and opportunities one faces when using bibliometric data on book sale catalogues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The recent critical revision of the order Skleroptera by Beutel et al. (2018a) is considered. We show several defects in their interpretation, contradicted by the original descriptions and diagnosis (Nel et al. , 2013 ; Kirejtshuk & Nel, 2013). The main arguments of the initial interpretation of Stephanastus polinae Kirejtshuk et Nel, 2013 (Stephanastidae) and reasons for the proposal of the order Skleroptera (Kirejtshuk & Nel, 2013) are mentioned, together with reasons to reject the proposal of Beutel et al. (2018a, b). A comparison of Skleroptera with other neopteran orders is made. Lastly the problem of the position of Umenocoleus as a member of Coleopterida versus a roachoid is discussed, the first hypothesis being supported by synapomorphies which is not the case for the second. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the essential characteristics of the private press working on the principles laid down by William Morris was the use of hand-made paper, and in practice a proprietary paper with a distinctive watermark, such as those that were manufactured for De Zilverdistel and De Heuvelpers. Morris's rules were published in 'The Ideal Book' and could be checked from his Kelmscott Press books. They were initially followed to the letter by Dutch private presses, and prospectuses and publisher's lists attest to this. The lack of information about paper in the colophons was copied after Morris's example. However, a practical approach of printing implied that the ideal of hand-made paper was silently abandoned, when so-called hand-made Japanese papers were selected for some books, and for financial reasons papers with obsolete watermarks were used. In his printing studio, the idealistically inclined printer turned into a pragmatic artisan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Adhira Mangalagiri delves into early cultural delegations India and China sent to each other's countries. Nehru was perhaps more sanguine than his officials in his assessment of the communist government in China and its security repercussions for India. We now know with certainty that the first Indian prime minister saw that the recognition of communist China was inevitable; the People's Republic was a stable government with which interactions were essential for the defense of New Delhi's interests. [Extracted from the article]

This article examines John Bruce's vision of the bureaucratic archives of the British state and empire at the end of the eighteenth century. As Historiographer to the East India Company and Keeper of State Papers in the 1790s and early 1800s, Bruce used the archives of corporate and state government as sources of bureaucratic knowledge to justify and plan imperial and domestic policy. In this way, Bruce deployed a strategy of governance by the authority of "state papers," rooted in early modern political practice, across imperial and domestic government. The demise of Bruce's influence signaled the waning of this role of the archive as a technology of governance in Britain during the nineteenth century. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reconstructing the formation and use of the hitherto neglected Pandechion epistemonicon, Ulisse Aldrovandi's (1522-1605) extant manuscript encyclopaedia, this article shows that early modern naturalists in many ways shared a world of paper with the members of several other professions. An analysis of the Pandechion suggests that Renaissance naturalists who applied the humanist jack-of-all-trades, the commonplace book, in their own field sometimes considerably altered its form. Aldrovandi tested and recombined different techniques so as to arrive at the paper technology that he considered to be the most fit for his purposes. He thereby drew on administrative practices as well as on the bookkeeping practices of early modem merchants that he knew first-hand. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the praxis of the Zionist Left in Brazil, particularly during the 2010s. It argues that the Zionist Left, which claims to be a progressive grouping that stands in solidarity with the oppressed people in Palestine and in Brazil, functions in fact as a colonial counterrevolutionary actor against radical-left emancipatory politics. Indeed, the Zionist Left functions as a gatekeeper, blocking sectors of the Jewish community and the Brazilian Left from joining the growing anti-Zionist decolonial movement in Brazil. This paper aims to show how various Zionist Left groups have historically worked with the Zionist elite and the Brazilian state to undermine anti-Zionist communist Jewish alternatives by resorting to fraudulent discourse and even force in order to build support for the Zionist settler-colonial project in Palestine. This paper utilises a Marxist, anti-Zionist and anti-colonial framework in order to provide a counter-hegemonic critique for an emancipatory praxis that rejects colonialism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses the historical evolution of Chinese school reform, focusing on the important roles of rational thinking and value reconstruction in the process of reform. Through the review of the historical process of school reform in China, the important milestones of the past reform are determined, which provides the historical background for understanding the reform. This paper analyzes the application of rational thinking in school reform and emphasizes the necessity of accurately identifying and solving difficulties in the process of reform. At the same time, it emphasizes the key role of value reconstruction in the realization of an effective reform and provides a theoretical framework and practical direction. At the macro level, the paper examines the historical evolution of China’s educational goals and analyzes the impact of these changes on school reform. Through the historical perspective, this paper reveals the historical enlightenment in the reform, discusses the intersection of history and value reconstruction, and puts forward the school reform strategy based on the historical perspective. The paper looks forward to the future of school reform based on historical evolution and points out the upcoming challenges and possible directions of reform. In summary, the main proposition of this paper is to effectively promote school reform through rational thinking and value reconstruction, combined with historical perspective. The core elements of the article include historical review, rational analysis, value reconstruction, and macroscopic education objectives. This paper uses the method of historical analysis and literature review to provide guidance and reference for future school reform. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Scholars usually understand Κύρια Δόξα (ΚΔ) 33 as an antiplatonic polemic. This paper denies the communis opinio. First, it argues for an ontological reading of the maxim according to which justice (understood as virtue) is not a body but a property. Second, it shows that the Stoics hold the very thesis disputed in ΚΔ 33, namely that virtue is a body. This makes the Stoa the natural target of the maxim. Finally, the paper deals with De rerum natura I.464-482: here Lucretius criticizes nameless opponents with regard to the thesis that events are to be understood as bodies. If these opponents can be identified with the Stoics, as is usually assumed, there is further evidence besides ΚΔ 33 that the Epicureans engaged with the Stoic thesis of corporealism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper explores the doxologies in the book of Amos, arguing that they articulate a polemical viewpoint distinct from prevailing biblical and ancient Near Eastern notions about the formation of the sea, mountains, wind, and God’s abode. Central to the comprehension of this cosmogony is the recurring phrase in Amos 5:8d and 6:9c, “(He) who summons the waters of the sea and pours them on the surface of the earth.” While previous scholars have understood this phrase as referring to the primeval Flood, a tsunami event, or Levantine torrential rain, the present paper suggests a cosmogonic interpretation, in line with its context. Subsequent elements in the same series of texts are interlinked with this portrayal, emphasizing the unified—and polemical—perspective of the doxologies. This new explanation also has ramifications for the dating and composition of the doxologies in the book of Amos. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores how children's rights are operationalised in practice, specifically by Canadian child and youth advocate offices (all 12 offices across Canada), international children's commissioners' offices (in Northern Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, Belgium, Norway and Denmark), and their institutional structures. A total of 24 participants took part in the study, including 12 current child and youth advocates from the Canadian Council of Child and Youth Advocates (CCCYA), two former advocates from the CCCYA, three additional staff members of the CCCYA (collectively, representing all 12 jurisdictions across Canada), one children's commissioner and six designates on behalf of various international children's commissioners. This paper shifts the research focus of children's rights and childhood studies from the narrow confines of the individual child to a focus on the broader relational and interdependent aspects inherent within institutions that protect and promote children's rights. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This commentary is about two papers on the relations between the neuroscience and the physics of time. One is by Buonomano & Rovelli, entitled 'Bridging the neuroscience and physics of time' and the other one is by Gruber, Block & Montemayor, entitled 'Physical time within human time'. The present commentary takes the form of an interview of Remy Lestienne, who published a book on the work of Whitehead, related to the two papers cited above. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This document contains commentaries on two papers that examine the concept of time from different angles. The first paper argues against the Block Universe theory, which suggests a static reality, and proposes a multilayered concept of time instead. The second paper takes a pragmatic approach and suggests that the brain reflects the temporal parameters of its external environment. The commentaries raise questions about the nature of reality, the validity of physical theories, and the perception of time. The text explores different perspectives on the flow of time, including the idea that it is a perceptual construct and the belief that consciousness and time are interconnected. It also discusses the arrow of time, entropy, and different interpretations of the IGUS model. The authors suggest three areas for further exploration: clarifying definitions, recognizing the desire to attribute reality to subjective experiences, and incorporating falsifiability into the debate. [Extracted from the article]

This article provides a critical reading of Alaa Al Aswany's novel The Yacoubian Building (2002), evoking important questions about the nature of terrorism in Egypt and how young men are transformed into religious fanatics. While certainly not excusing terrorists' violent acts, we try to use the novel as a guide to understand what makes a terrorist tick. The novel invites us to witness the fall into the abyss of terror of a young man who dreams of being a policeman. The novel shows that while Taha struggles to change his fate, he faces marginalisation, police corruption, oppression and torture, which finally set him on the path to violence. The paper thus uses the novel as a focal point to broaden our understanding of who a terrorist figure is. Furthermore, we are interested in the literary representations of terrorism and why this novelist chooses terrorism as a main structuring element. By offering a qualitative, different understanding of the fundamental aspects of terrorism, we try to reveal that while it is the terrorist's finger that pulls the trigger, there is a disorienting history of social, political and economic circumstances behind each bullet. The paper concludes that Al Aswany neither demonises nor offers an apology for extremists. He simply presents them as humans so that we can understand what they are angry about. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The land question is an emotive issue across the world. At independence, erstwhile colonies adopted land reforms to address colonial imbalances in landholding. South Africa is one such country that has embarked on land reforms with the view to correcting economic imbalances created by the apartheid past. However, land reform in South Africa has not only been slow but has failed to deal with the twin challenges of poverty and inequality. Using qualitative research design and neoclassical theory, this paper investigates South Africa's land reforms under the auspices of radical economic transformation. The paper argues that the wholesale expropriation of land without compensation does not fit into the obtaining (neoliberal) economic blueprint that has dominated the country over the years. The call for a radical transformation of landholding rights in the country without structural changes in macroeconomic management remains political rhetoric. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The recent changing tides of social and political climate across the globe has impacted the influence of media and culture (Michael Gurevitch, 1982), and in effect, the social fabric of our globalised society. This paper uses theories from Sturcturalism to understand better the larger socio-cultural structures that lay deeply embedded into our understanding of society as a whole. This cultural understanding is important to look at media (and by extension film) through its power dynamics and capital it provides to the groups that it represents and the groups that it does not. The study of these representations as being in opposition to each other in the way of ‘in’ and ‘out’ groups to understand the ways in which culture and cinema receive minorities, and for this paper, the Indian Christian identity in India. Mainstream cinema or Bollywood helps in the translation of in and out groups into the ‘othering’ of religious minorities (Brons, 2015) while also presenting and confirming the already existing ideas of the identity of minorities. This paper looks to identify the importance of alternative cinema, in this case regional Malayalam Cinema, for minorities that have been marginalised by the media and their role in the repairing the self-image of these minorities. The intrinsic binary between the alternative and mainstream cinema here are representative of the power and lack thereof for these minorities in terms of their social and self-perception.This paper goes a step further by not just looking at Indian Christians as a homogeneous whole but also determining the difference in portrayal and representation of the different denominations of the Indian Christian community. Therefore, this paper attempts to explain the reasons for the invisibility of Indian Christian representation or its ‘other-ing’ in mainstream film while also understanding the binary in the internal cultural dynamics within the Christian population through the lens of popular culture and regional or alternative cinema. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The persistence of intense conflicts over land belonging to indigenous communities is a pressing issue in South Africa. This would resonate even more with the lived experiences of mine communities that are often having to grapple with the collateral socio-economic hardships and impoverishment effects. Matters can get even worse when the State has weak legal and institutional frameworks to regulate the use and possession of such highly contested lands. This paper explores the principle of free, prior and informed consent (FPIC); its relevance and significance to South African extractive sector; its possible bottlenecks and implementation challenges; and suggestions for practical interventions and policy advances to facilitate its incorporation into law and policy. Displacement is the limited context within which this exploration is undertaken. The paper argues that the FPIC – as an envisaged future for the country's extractive policy – is more desirable than a mere duty to consult as currently framed in the empowering legislation namely, the Minerals and Petroleum Resources Act (MPRDA). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although the Declaration of Independence stated that "[a]ll men are created equal," due to the institution of slavery, this statement was not to be grounded in law in the U.S until after the Civil War. Often, American blacks looked to the courts to protect important social values and when the courts ruled in favor, there was always a backlash and resistance to judicial fiat. This paper makes a historical analysis of the South's response to judicial social change. For instance, when Brown v. Board of Education of Tepeka was decided in 1954, school boards in portions of the country actively resisted the court mandated school integration. Thus, the paper argues that social change should be a gradual process and not a forced enterprise by the courts or indeed, any governmental structure since an assertive judiciary can spark a political and cultural backlash that may hurt, more than help, progressive values. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article two major volumes with Chinese paper cut art by Fan Pu (Paula Fan) are reviewed. In her work it becomes clear how a traditional type of folk art can be transformed by using new techniques and material. By doing so, Fan Pu is able to make modern Christian art, which hopefully also appeals to present-day Chinese people. Herself being an evangelical Christian, she interestingly also uses sayings by pre-Christian Chinese sages like Confucius in her art; their wisdom can be seen as a kind of preparatio evangelica. The two works, analyzed here, together form a catalog of her work so far, from the nineteen seventies till now. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper considers the narrative significance of localization in Homer's Odyssey , in particular singular places that are associated with multiple spaces (identified here as dual localization). Our reading posits that spatial features hold narrative significance and, once uncovered, this resolves 'problematic' issues that may arise from spatial paradoxes. The chosen case study is the Odyssean land of the Ethiopians with its twin dual localization: (1) it is located simultaneously at the eastern and western peripheries of the world while also located singularly 'with Poseidon'; and (2) this peripheral localization contrasts with a later 'real world' setting in Egypt/North Africa. While this people's localization has been the subject of prior study, this paper presents a novel analysis: these localizations serve a characterizing function which, in turn, relates to the thematic function of Menelaus' embedded narrative as foreshadowing the primary narrative of Odysseus' nostos. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses 'law' and 'religion' as a co-dependent dyad, and argues that the academic study of religion should see the concept of law as both an analytical category and an object of study. To this end, it argues for a broader understanding of law. It demonstrates that the understanding of law as secular state law, commonly used in analysis, is part of both religious and legal history. Anti-, intra-, and interreligious polemics and agendas were, after all, vital in the genesis and global proliferation of this understanding of law. In a second step, the paper performs an empirical analysis of legal practices within a religious organisation: the Presbyterian Church of the Gold Coast/Ghana. Two cases from one of this church's courts in the 1950s are analysed to showcase how religious actors contributed to the fashioning of the dyad of religion and law as a global phenomenon. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper explores Galen's notion of the chreia of bodily parts and activities, and the method of its discovery against the Aristotelian background. It argues that the chreia of an object π (a bodily part or activity) is a connection between the activity ε for the sake of which π has come into existence, and the attributes of π without which ε would cease to exist or would not be as good. The discovery of chreia , then, is an explanation of this connection. Aristotle does not use the word ' chreia ' in this sense, but in Parts of Animals he employs a partly overlapping notion which he calls ' ergon '. Finally, the paper points out that Galen's chreia is equivalent to the middle term of teleological demonstrations, as outlined in Aristotle's Posterior Analytics II 11. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Indian Constitution recognises and accommodates the social and legal diversity of the country. It is interesting to note that it leaves the family outside the discipline of Fundamental Rights. Unlike many other Constitutions, neither does it contain a Fundamental Right to family nor does it disturb it by bringing the personal laws within the domain of law. The term Uniform Civil Code implies that it is applicable to all as a general rule and many support this view. Personal laws are an integral part of religion and, therefore, the enactment of Civil Code is an interference with religion. The vast majority of Muslim in India adheres to this view that the Uniform Civil Code would interfere in the personal law. The present paper aims to examine the feasibility of the implementation of Uniform Civil Code in India in the context of the recent push by the government of India. Recognising the interplay between the fundamental rights and the constitutional directives in the context of the debate around Uniform Civil Code, the paper also outlines in brief Part iii and Part iv of the Constitution and their relationships. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, the author paints the socio-political canvass that coloured the motif of colonial and post-colonial political arrangement that characterised the western Niger Delta of Nigeria. This paper underscores the Isoko minority group’s struggle for identity as a distinct ethnic group from their Urhobo neighbour in post-colonial times. It is the aim of this work to try to bring light on the history of minority group’s struggle for establishing their own identity and political domain within the framework of sub-nationalism in the Nigerian state using the appropriate theoretical frameworks. The study deployed the historical and analytical methods, with primary and secondary sources to achieve its aim. The paper shows that the identity of the Isoko Nationalism was not clearly established, until after 1963 and even as late as the period of the Nigerian Civil War, the separate identity of the Isoko ethnic group was not clearly established in some circles, until crude oil economy brought them to the limelight after the end of the Nigerian civil war. The author deposes that to appreciate ethnic relations across time and space in relation to contemporary political circumstances, from the perspective of both majority and minority status and in relation to different ethnic out-groups. Finally, the paper shows that understanding the patterns of intergroup relations as exemplified by the Isoko and their neighbours in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria is a necessary prelude to the appreciation of the phenomena in the trajectory of developments that had serious implications on the evolution and trend of the Isoko as an identifiable distinct ethnic group. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is about Sámi children’s right to learn their language in school in Russia (henceforth referred to as RtL). First, the core elements of this right are deduced from the international and regional instruments. These elements are legal recognition, non-discrimination, participation, appropriate education, and high-quality education. Then, the Russian legal acts are analysed to identify to what extent these elements are present in the Russian legal acts. The paper demonstrates that the five deduced elements of the RtL are found in the relevant Russian legal acts. However, the contents of some of these elements in the Russian legal acts are different from the contents of the corresponding elements deduced from the international and regional legal instruments. The paper also identifies challenges in the Russian legal acts that hinder the realisation of the RtL. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper develops ‘primitive accumulation’ prior to and then in Karl Marx’s œuvre. By exploring the concept in Adam Smith and Sir James Steuart the paper highlights early influences on Marx’s evolving constructions. Marx’s construction in the Grundrisse begins with a logical determination much like Smith’s and moves, by drawing on Steuart, towards a socio-historical determination of a transitional violence. In Capital, ‘primitive accumulation’ still retains its transitional structure and delimited history, but it also points to the oppressive afterlife of the processes of primitive accumulation. The political key to ‘primitive accumulation’ in Capital flows from determining primitive accumulation as temporally bounded, but having an afterlife in the oppressive social reproduction of capitalist societies. Against deriving political stakes through extended readings of ‘primitive accumulation’, this paper shows that an ‘originating’ view is textually accurate in a way that centres rather than sidelines the social reproduction of oppressions in capitalist societies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]