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Im Mittelalter lasst sich nicht nur eine Rechtsvielfalt, sondern auch eine Vielfalt von Gerichten und Konfliktlosungsmoglichkeiten beobachten. Grundsatzlich existierte die gerichtsformliche Streitbeilegung neben schiedsrichterlichen Verfahren und Formen eigenmachtiger Rechtsdurchsetzung. Dem Rechtsuchenden standen also nicht nur mehrere Gerichte mit haufig unklarer Kompetenzabgrenzung zur Auswahl, der Zugang zum Gericht war uberhaupt nur eine von mehreren moglichen Alternativen, um einen Konflikt zu losen, der etwa aus einem Vertragsbruch oder einem deliktischen Verhalten resultierte. Die eigenmachtige Rechtsdurchsetzung mittels Fehde war grundsatzlich bis zum Ewigen Landfrieden im Jahr 1495 rechtmasig und bedurfte daher nicht notwendig einer Begrundung. Der Zugang zu einer gerichtlichen Streitbeilegung hing haufig einerseits von personlichen Voraussetzungen ab, andererseits sind verschiedene Formen des Zugangs zum Gericht zu beobachten.

In the seventies, as signs of decay began to show in the capitalist experiment of the newly independent African countries, a “bard of the misrule” emerged on the streets of Lagos. Often shirtless and armed with his trademark saxophone, Fela Anikulapo Kuti tore his way into popular culture with Afrobeat music. Blending ethno-traditional forms with the reigning highlife and jazz rhythms, Afrobeat drew lyrics from the flip side of neo-colonial society and Fela’s London and American experience in the sixties. In the two decades that followed, Fela ruled the nights from Afrika Shrine, his signature night club, and the days from the turntables of the restless city dwellers along the Atlantic coastline. Fela’s Afrobeat became a dynamic mode of expression in the social history of post-independent West Africa and generated a counterculture that bonded through music, drugs, resistance politics—and ultimately, the nascence of an Afrocentric contemporary global culture.

In postcolonial studies there are two main strands of argument concerning the legacies and effects of cultural imperialism on science fiction as a literary genre. The first strand presents a critical reading of Western science fiction of the nineteenth and early twentieth century as a genre that is deeply embedded in the discourses and ideologies of colonialism and imperialism (Rieder, 2008; Kerslake, 2007). The second strand presents a critical reading of the writing back of postcolonial authors, stressing the subversive elements of both science and fiction and their power to undermine dominant narratives of cultural imperialism and (neo)colonialism (Chambers, 2003; Hoagland and Sarwal, 2010; Langer, 2011; Smith, 2012; Varughese, 2013 and 2017). In this article I focus on a piece of colonial-era science fiction from a non-Western writer: Jagadish Chandra Bose’s short story “Runaway Cyclone”. First published in 1896 and republished in an extended version by the author in 1921, I analyse how Bose’s story combines elements of science fiction and magical realism. I then argue that Bose turns the narrative tropes of Western science fiction on their head and thus undermines Western science as an epistemological tool of imperial control. Reading “Runaway Cyclone” alongside Bose’s non-fictional accounts on science in colonised India will then reveal a philosophy of science that embraces Western science and Indian philosophy, which in turn can be read as a politics of science that is in effect anticolonial.

Towards the turn of the 20th century, a new wave of hip hop music emerged in Nigeria whose sense of popularity activated, and was activated by, the employment of complex linguistic strategies. Indirection, ambiguity, circumlocution, language mixing, pun, double meaning, and inclusive pronominals, among others, are not only used by artists in performing the glocal orientations of their music but also become for them valuable resources in the fashioning of multiple identities. In this paper, I interrogate some of these linguistic markers, using four broad paradigms: “Signifying,” “slangifying,” “double meaning,” and “pronominals and ghetto naming.” Under each of these areas, I show how Nigerian hip hop music is creating–through the mediation of language–sub-identities and a new subculture for a generation of urban youth.

Recent warfare in Eastern DRC, especially since 2015, is marked by violence inspired by ‘race’ narratives. Identity politics around ‘race’ is used to legitimise ‘expressive’ or reprisal-oriented violence against ‘Hamitic’ or ‘Tutsi’ minorities. The case of the Banyamulenge of South Kivu is examined in this article. Following Autesserre, we show that one-dimensional narratives – in this case of ‘race’ – tend to over-simplify the dynamics of political violence. Anti-Hamitic racism is derived from colonial ideas around race hierarchies, and has resulted in systematic killings of Banyamulenge civilians in what resembles a ‘slow genocide’. Expressive violence has, in turn, produced a lack of concern for the plight of Banyamulenge civilians among the military, humanitarians, media, scholars and NGOs. Given armed alliances between local Maimai forces, Burundian and Rwandan opposition and the DRC army, such ‘race’ narratives cruelly legitimise violence against civilians from ‘Tutsi’ communities, associated by neighbouring communities with Rwanda. Resultant displacement, starvation and killing of Banyamulenge civilians in this context amount to an on-going, slow-moving genocide. As the COVID-19 crisis unrolls, the decolonisation of identity politics in Eastern DRC, and in South Kivu in particular still seems very remote.

This article portrays youth mobility in Cameroon as a means to escape poverty and to achieve a better life. Youth mobility though not new is, however, taking a new dimension as a result of Boko Haram’s violent conflict. To explore how this violence has affected mobility, this study analyses narration of youngsters’ escape experiences from Boko Haram and their ideas of how to achieve a better life, drawing on interviews in Cameroon’s Far North Region. The study begins with the origin and regionalisation of Boko Haram, followed by the concept of youth, the evolution of mobility trends and better life. It then proceeds to narrations of escape experiences, places of destination and sheds light on mobility pathways and integration dynamics. Este artigo descreve a mobilidade dos jovens nos Camarões como um meio de escapar à pobreza e conseguir uma vida melhor. A mobilidade juvenil, embora não seja um fenómeno novo, está a assumir uma nova dimensão devido ao conflito violento do Boko Haram. Para explorar como esta violência afetou a mobilidade, o presente estudo analisa a narração de experiências dos jovens que fugiram do Boko Haram e as suas ideias de como alcançar uma vida melhor, com base em entrevistas realizadas na região do extremo norte dos Camarões. O estudo começa com a origem e regionalização do Boko Haram, seguidas pelo conceito de juventude, a evolução das tendências de mobilidade e a procura de uma vida melhor. Prossegue com as narrações de experiências de fuga, lugares de destino e lança luz sobre os caminhos da mobilidade e as dinâmicas de integração.

This essay explores the dynamics of recent labour migration from China to Africa through the prism of migrant narratives. Drawing on field research in Ethiopia and China the author links migrants’ motives for, and experiences of, migration to social transformation in China: most notably a shift away from the flurry of optimism and idealism to a mood of careful conformism fuelled by a prevailing yearning for a sense of security and a fear of ‘missing out’ in a competition for resources. Migrants expressed being ‘pushed’ to Africa. Their attitudes stand in relief to the dreams about ‘making it’ that have propelled many Chinese to the West. By examining how these migrants imagine time and space, displacement and emplacement, the author sheds light on the distinct characteristics of Chinese migration to Africa, as well as on the relationship between emigration and social change.

Because Donald Trump’s language and rhetoric attract so much attention and comment, discussions about the role of fashion and style in the Trump presidency are often limited to outfits worn by the First Lady or his daughter, Ivanka. When Trump’s style is analysed in the press and on social media platforms, it is frequently derided. This article argues for the importance of Donald Trump’s sartorial choices as forms of visual (political) communication. It suggests that Trump, whose appearance and taste are often subject to ridicule in popular culture, has actually cultivated an image of himself as anti-elite. Drawing on Pierre Bourdieu’s lesser-known theory of the corporeal hexis to discuss Trump’s self-presentation, this article shows how, as both candidate and president, he has used sartorial codes to communicate with the different constituencies that were vital to his election and remain central to his bid for re-election in 2020.

This article examines the life and works of Hossein Kazemzadeh Iranshahr, focusing on the evolution of his thought from an ardent nationalist to a cosmopolitan mystic. It offers a detailed account of the spiritual transformation that Iranshahr went through around 1920 in Europe—a topic that has never been addressed in existing scholarship. It contextualizes his esoteric views, especially the influence of Theosophy on his thought in the context of the so-called “Occult Revival” in Weimar Germany. Finally, it discusses how Iranshahr's emerging spiritual worldview impacted his intellectual outlook, especially his views on religion, nationalism, civilization, and race.

Azerbaijani national identity emerged in post-Persian Russian-ruled East Caucasia at the end of the nineteenth century, and was finally forged during the early Soviet period. After the fiasco of the short-lived independence period of 1918–20, Azerbaijan became Soviet. Soviet power then instrumentalized Azerbaijan for political and ideological penetration into Iran by galvanizing local separatist movements. Azerbaijani Iranology was shaped within Soviet oriental studies and put into service of Azerbaijani nation-building. Exiled Iranian communists found asylum in Baku, joined local research institutions, wrote the first Persian academic and school textbooks, and contributed to the translation of classic Persian poetry into Azerbaijani. Soviet Azerbaijani Iranologists were sent as translators to the Soviet missions to Iran and Afghanistan. After Azerbaijan regained independence in 1991, its Iranological infrastructure was represented by several departments at the National Academy of Sciences and the Iranian Studies Program at Baku State University. While the number of Persian classes at schools during the last three decades diminished, a new generation of post-Soviet Iranologists—those who studied in Iran—emerged. While Soviet Azerbaijani Iranologists never created a solid bilingual dictionary of Persian, several Persian–Azerbaijani and Azerbaijani–Persian dictionaries were published in the 2010s. Post-Soviet Azerbaijani Iranology is still trying to find its place within humanities in the transitional nation.

The criminal laws of the Islamic Republic of Iran are organized around the right of the victim. In cases of murder and other intentional injuries, the judiciary recognizes the victim's next of kin or the victim as a private plaintiff with the right to retribution (qisas). The injured party confronts the perpetrator in court and decides whether to demand retaliation or forgo it in lieu of a monetary compensation (diya). If they choose qisas, they are legally bound to witness the punishment. In cases of forbearance, the maximum sentence that the state can levy for murder is three to ten years. While the rates of capital punishment in Iran continue to be among the highest in the world, the majority of murder cases culminate in forgiveness. Why would an aggrieved party forgive when the law gives them the right to retribution?

Resumen El articulo estudia los argumentos para crear una historia alternativa de las representaciones del paramilitarismo en Mexico. Retrocediendo a la novela Astucia, de Luis G. Inclan, quien desarrollo un modelo del hombre de su tiempo: el Coronel Astucia. Este personaje participo en la formacion de un cartel y actividades paramilitares con el proposito de buscar justicia a traves del bandidaje social. Inclan fabula el lado oscuro de Mexico en su primer siglo, ofreciendo un rechazo de las narrativas de creacion de estado que los conservadores y liberales proveian. Podemos observar la naturaleza circular del bandidaje en Mexico y como sirve de contrapunto a las narraciones tradicionales de soberania. Ante el nuevo levantamiento armado en Michoacan, que ha producido grupos de autodefensa, este ensayo compara el discurso de Astucia con el de Nazario Moreno, difunto lider de la Familia Michoacana. Se argumenta que la necesidad de limitar el crecimiento del capital empuja a los bandidos sociales a producir discursos que ensamblan una politica del consumo, como una forma de producir la imagen de que el bandido confrontara la desigualdad economica. Abstract This article studies the arguments for an alternative history of paramilitary representations in Mexico, drawing back to Luis G. Inclan’s Astucia, which developed a history of a paragon of his time: Coronel Astucia. This character participated in cartel formation and paramilitary activities in order to seek justice through social banditry. Inclan develops a fable of the dark side of Mexico in its first century. He offers a rejection of the state-building narratives that conservatives and liberals provided. We can look into the circular nature of banditry in Mexico, and how it serves as a counterpoint to traditional narratives of sovereignty. As Michoacan has again risen in arms, organizing in self-defense groups, this essay compares Astucia’s discourse to that of Nazario Moreno, defunct leader of the Familia Michoacana. It argues that the need to limit capital building draws social bandits to strengthen discourses that construct a politics of consumption, as a means to produce the image of the bandit as confronting economic inequality.

This article examines how Zeyā al-Din Barani may have imagined that contemporary audiences would consume his Tārikh-e Firuz Shāhi. Would it only be read visually or also read aloud (directed at the ear rather than the eye), and thus be received aurally, or would it even be performed in front of a larger audience? The plot and protagonists of Barani's story on Moʿezz al-Din Keyqobād present a tragedy that develops around a sultan doomed to fail. An examination of the set-up of Barani's narrative reveals that it contains numerous textual devices that would enable a storyteller to perform the story, using the text as a kind of tumār. As tragedies are written for the stage, not the study, these features of the text indicate that matters of orality, which are crucial for many genres of premodern Persianate courtly literature, are also relevant to the Tārikh-e Firuz Shāhi.

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Korowai of Indonesian Papua have shifted their political order from rejecting relations of authority, to actively subordinating themselves to government patrons and implementing state structures locally. This shift was caused by how internal complexities of the past Korowai egalitarian system have interacted with dramatic macrostructural changes in the intruding state. Previously, I linked Korowai ideas about opacity of minds to political egalitarianism. Analyzing the new political shifts here, I emphasize again how opacity doctrines are embedded in wider processes of exchange and kinship that involve attributing thoughts to others, trying to influence those thoughts, and trying to deal in egalitarian ways with unequal economic conditions, as well as with the intrinsically power-laden dynamics of intersubjectivity itself. The Korowai example suggests wider lessons in how state formation takes hold at extreme colonial and market peripheries, and how doctrines of the knowability of minds articulate with practical institutionalization of state administrative hierarchy.

Police verification of domestic servants has become standard practice in many cities in contemporary India. However, the regularization of work, which brings domestic servants under protective labour laws, is still a work in progress. Examining a long timespan, this article shows how policing of the servant, through practices of identification and verification, came to be institutionalized. It looks at the history of registration within the larger mechanism of regulation that emerged for domestic servants in the late eighteenth century. However, the establishment of control over servants was not linear in its subsequent development; registration as a tool of control took on different meanings within the changing ecosystem of legal provisions. In the late eighteenth century, it was discussed as being directly embedded in the logic of master–servant regulation, a template that was borrowed from English law. In the late nineteenth century, it was increasingly seen as a proxy for formal means of regulation, although this viewpoint was not universally accepted. Charting this history of changing structures of inclusion and exclusion within the law, the article argues that overt policing of servants is a manifestation of the colonial legacy, in which the identity of the servant is fused with potential criminality.

From the geo-economic standpoint, a power may avail itself of a spectrum of constraining measures against a hostile or dangerous nation - measures ranging from sanctions, boycotts to embargos and blockades, which last represent the ultimate form of economic pressure to which an adversary may be subjected. Because they are an extreme type of economic banishment, their imposition reveals the physiognomy of the power struggle; and, because they obstruct the free flow of goods, they also appear to be an ephemeral anomaly within the Liberal world order. Yet, their incumbency in the game is a reflection of geo-economic complexity. Whether enacted to great fanfare or not, blockades freeze some transactions while generating business opportunities elsewhere. And while an activity momentarily stilled in one zone may be reshaped to the advantage of another, blockades still allow their instigators to zero in on key sectors of the enemy's economy without endangering the country's survival. Thus, we can see blockades as an economic and military measure serving imperial ends. This essay succinctly reviews the history of famous blockades and garners the core economic lessons one may learn from them.

There is an impasse on the question of whether or not to enumerate identity groups in national censuses, given their potential to variously facilitate dominance and an emergence from marginalisation. In this paper, we theorise the impasse in Kenya as relating to a colonial history of the strategic use of ethnicity to divide and rule; a demographic makeup with both some large ethnic groups and many small ones; and the local social construction of ethnicity, which allows significant latitude for collapse, disaggregation and change of group identities. This case corrects the dominance of Europe and the Americas in census studies and offers insights for assessing the political stakes of counting, namely, the need to bring past and present into conversation; to consider the varied political effects of demography; and to consider the particular significance and meaning of ethnicity and race in context.

Cette note de recherche en cours examine les tensions entre les instances politiques et les institutions littéraires à l’origine du processus de patrimonialisation de la littérature camerounaise des années 1950 à 1980. Par patrimonialisation du fait littéraire au Cameroun, on entend les modes de formation des classiques étudiés sous deux points de vue : d’une part la consécration des œuvres et leur pérennisation dans le paysage littéraire, et d’autre part les imaginaires autour des auteurs qu...

In March 2015, the UK applied to become a founder member of the Chinese-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) despite objections from the Foreign Office and Washington, DC, and ahead of other major western countries although they were to follow quickly. What explains the British decision? The paper argues that the underlying long-run reasons included shifting perceptions of American and Chinese power, economic imperatives, the institutional opportunities offered to pursue “venue-shopping” strategies within the British state, and widespread ambivalence about UK policy towards China. Furthermore, although analyses often eschew “snapshot” perspectives, short-run perceptions that the UK could, by joining the AIIB at that point, gain a first mover advantage that would provide greater access to Chinese markets, secure contracts across Asia for British firms, and enable the City of London to win an even greater share of the offshore renminbi trade proved decisive.

This paper explains the Islamic expansion in Greater Senegambia in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries from an Atlantic perspective. It discusses the spread of the Islamic faith in West Africa ...

PurposeThe study aims to examine the geoeconomic significance of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries to China’s global geopolitical ends. In this vein, the paper also seeks to explore the interplay between China’s grand geoeconomic strategy and China’s geopolitical ends from a realist perspective.Design/methodology/approachThe study uses the realism theory to explore the interplay between China’s geoeconomic presence in the GCC countries and its geopolitical global ends.FindingsThe study concludes that China under President Xi Jinping has geopolitical ends, and they are the regional and global leadership. To achieve them, President Xi has formulated a grand geoeconomic strategy consisting of four strategies: going out strategy, periphery strategy, Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank. These strategies will maximize China’s economic power and presence around the world. From a realist perspective, this presence and its evolving consequences such as the balance of dependence will enable China to achieve its geopolitical ends. In this vein, China’s geoeconomic strategy in the GCC countries has largely maximized China’s economic presence in the Gulf. This presence highly serving China’s geopolitical global ends for two reasons: the economic weight of the GCC countries and their strategic location within BRI.Originality/valueThe study can prove the realistic dimension of geoeconomics in the neoliberal era on the application to China’s geoeconomic strategy.

The study of the language of religious minorities in Iran is particularly important for understanding the historical development and typology of Iranian languages. Historical and linguistic evidence substantiates the idea that Zoroastrians and Jews in cities in central and western Iran preserved their former vernacular language, whereas the majority of the population replaced it with Persian in the New Iranian period. This paper focuses on the language of Jews in Hamadan and has two main objectives: first, it examines numerous distinctive features of Judeo-Hamadani; second, it reviews and updates recent research to clarify the language origins, using data from new materials recorded during fieldwork in Hamadan from October 2018 to August 2019, and in Yazd in 2017.

The rapid shift in mass public opinion among Russians after the annexation of Crimea is usually attributed to the success of official state propaganda. This article asks how this success was achieved, given that the popularity of Putin's regime had been falling for several years while the opposition had been gaining strength. The war enabled the regime to return poorly informed citizens to political life while serving as an excuse to repress regime opponents.

Farvi, also known as Farrokhi, is an Iranian language spoken in the village of Farvi in Khur district of Kavir desert in central Iran. It shares features with other languages in Kavir region such as Khuri, Irāji and Garmayi. This paper describes synchronic and historical phonology and the grammar of Farvi based on data collected in Farvi village during April 2019. The study of historical phonology and morphological evidence show that though basically Northwestern, Farvi shares some features with Southwestern Iranian languages so that, like Kurdish and Balochi, it is separated from the other Northwestern Iranian languages. In later changes, Farvi shows some areal features that put it alongside Southeastern languages such as Northern Bashgardi and Balochi.

The metrical requirements of Persian poetry are highly restrictive. Traditionally, the rigidity of the metrical system was compensated for by a high degree of flexibility in the poetic language in terms of lexicon, phonology, and morpho-syntax. Using statistical data from different periods of Persian poetry, this paper argues that the degree of flexibility of the language used in metrical Persian poetry has been in constant decrease, moving towards what may potentially be a language crisis for metrical Persian poetry. This study traces the linguistic and meta-linguistic origins of the initial flexibility of the poetic language and its subsequent change, suggesting that some of the recent trends in Persian poetry may be viewed in part as reactions to this potential crisis.

This paper examines the historical developments and the debates revolving around the formation of an Ottoman–Iranian alliance in the Ottoman Empire in the aftermath of the 1908 Revolution. It argues that although neither the idea of an alliance between the two states nor the attempt to establish it was new, the way it was discussed, justified, and promoted in this period was different. The previous attempts by the Ottomans were led by the state as part of a broader pan-Islamist project (ittihad-ı İslam) that adopted a heavily religious tone. On the other hand, the main proponents of the alliance during the constitutional period were mostly transnational/international figures and religious scholars, who framed the issue within the context of Ottoman–Iranian relations, focusing on immediate pragmatic, strategic, and ideological concerns, such as protecting the sovereignty and security of the two countries against European imperialism through constitutionalism. Rather than focusing on reconciling the disputes between the Sunnis and Shi’is, and presenting this alliance as the first step towards the formation of a broader Islamic union as Abdülhamid II did in the nineteenth century, these people emphasized brotherhood and solidarity between the two constitutional governments, and tried to establish a strategic partnership based on shared borders, experiences, ideals, and enemies.

In this paper we analyse Max Weber's view on Islam as a religion of warriors who lived at the Arabian Peninsula in the 7th century, and also, we analyse this interpretation in the context of Edward Said’s (orientalistic) theoretical approach. The first part of the paper presents various aspects of the analysis of Islam by Max Weber, which must be taken into the context of comparative theology, that is, in the light of considering the characteristics of Islam against the background of other world religions. In the second part of the work, we will analyse the concept of Said’s orientalism. We will construct the framework of moderate orientalism, which, according to the author of this paper, is an important conceptual adjustment that can contribute to a better understanding and analysis of various oriental discourses, including Weber discourse. Taking into account that we are talking about the most influential classics sociologists, especially in the case of the sociology of religion, it is very important to critically analyse his understanding of Islam so that we can determine which of his conclusions are significant for the sociology of religion and the sociology of Islam today, and which of his hypotheses can we attribute to some kind of reductionism or orientalism.

In 2013, the Cambodian People’s Party faced two major threats: a near loss at the ballot box in the national election and large-scale demonstrations by garment workers dissatisfied with the minimum...

In the Sahel, labels related to slavery are often tools used to marginalize specific social groups. Scholars and activists for decades underestimated this issue, which was also underemphasized by theories describing slavery in Africa and among Muslim communities as mild. Exploring two specific labels related to slavery - Yalnas and Kamaya - in Chad, the article argues that the status of slave descendants is deeply connected to the colonial encounter, when most slave descendants' labels were created; and that if slave ancestry matters today it is mainly because of forms of governance that facilitated the reproduction and political use of these labels. The focus should therefore move on from the debate about African or Muslim slavery and explore contemporary struggles around the meanings of labels used to stigmatize slave descendants.

Aid agencies have in recent years recalibrated their interventions to encompass social media technologies within their programmes. This uptake can in part be explained by the unprecedented opportun...

Operating within the androcentric premises that support idealized models of populist leadership, self-representations cultivated by female populist leaders often involve precarious balancing acts, compelling them to appropriate contextualized traditionalist discourses and modes of power to qualify for conventional leadership models. This article engages with the stylistic performance of populist leadership by Mamata Banerjee of the All India Trinamool Congress in the state of West Bengal, India, focusing on her adoption of the discursive mode of political asceticism, nativist rhetoric, and religious iconography. Through an interpretive analysis of selected party documents, autobiography, and semistructured interviews with Banerjee's followers and critics, the article delineates Banerjee's populist self-fashioning as a political ascetic and explores perceptions of her leadership. The article argues that while the self-makings of female populist leaders remain fraught and contested, they contribute substantially toward redrawing the boundaries of both conventional leadership models and the broader political landscapes they inhabit.

The Nikāya Suttas frequently mention the concept of fear (bhaya) and related synonyms. This concept does not receive much scholarly attention by subsequent Buddhist philosophers. Recent scholars identify a ‘paradox of fear’ in several traditions of classical Indian Buddhism (Brekke 1999; Finnigan 2019; Giustarini 2012). Each scholar points out, in their respective textual contexts, that fear is evaluated in two ways; one positive and the other negative. Brekke calls this the “double role” of fear (1999, p. 443). Each also identify fear as purposely elicited to motivate acts aimed at achieving fearlessness, where freedom from fear is characteristic of nibbāna. They all find this puzzling. Finnigan asks: “Why would one purposefully incite fear if one’s goal is its elimination?” (2019, p. 221). Giustarini says that fear has a “contradictory nature” (2012, p. 513); Brekke calls it “the paradox of fear” (1999, p. 442). This article introduces the ‘paradox of fear’ as it appears in the Bodhicaryāvatāra of Śāntideva and the Nikāya suttas. It then critically examines Brekke and Giustarini’s proposed solutions. It argues that they get some things right in ways that are both supported by the Nikāyas and relevant to Śāntideva but that they leave some important questions unanswered. The article concludes by arguing that these questions are best answered if fear is analysed as appropriate when its objects are related to karma and rebirth.

This essay explores the mechanisms linked to the production of specific mistakes and textual alterations in Dunhuang Buddhist manuscripts, which provide information of codicological interest, in particular on the formal characteristics of a manuscript archetype, on its production phases/techniques, and its formal evolution. It also draws attention to the importance of surveying the alterations in the arrangement of textual and paratextual elements by means of a structural analysis revealing manuscript filiation based on formal characteristics, an approach that can help to explore not only the codicological evolution of a book in manuscript form, but also its philological ties with branches of a specific tradition.

In current scholarship, late imperial China’s criminal justice is mainly studied through judicial documents reviewed by the central administration, first and foremost the xingke tiben 刑科題本, or copies of routine memorials made by the censorial section of the Board of Punishments, as well as memorandum (shuotie 說帖) recorded in collections of cases. In this article, by contrast, I analyze a sample of more than forty dossiers on criminal cases constituted at the county level, for which the final judgment approved by the central administration is known. The reconstitution of the whole adjudication process shows that local magistrates often adapted the facts to fit the extant legal categories and commonly relied on model cases to craft their decisions. This pattern of administration of justice did not necessarily entail a miscarriage of justice and has its origin in a form of legal reasoning framed by the bureaucratic organization of late imperial Chinese justice.

This study examines the relationship between populism, nationalism and religion through evidence from Turkey’s Justice and Development Party (AKP) rule. The literature on the populism’s rapport wit...