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This article presents an overview of scholarship related to the economy in Hebrew Bible studies, focusing particularly on scholarship published in the past decade (2013–2023). For the scholarship before this past decade, please see Nam's excellent survey on the topic in Portrayals of Economic Exchange in the Book of Kings (2012: 17–70) and in 'Economics and the Bible' (2013). The article has three sections. The first explores recent discussions on various models proposed to understand the economic situation of the world behind the Hebrew Bible. The second outlines recent discussions on the components of production; namely, land access, labor relations, and the role of debt in connecting the two. The third and final section surveys scholarship on two interrelated elements responsible for the flow of resources: temple and royal administration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This essay, adapted from a conference keynote speech given at the time of the coronation of King Charles III, examines the impact of monarchy on the Cultural Parent of the United Kingdom. The author suggests that monarchy invites deadening and powerful injunctions, such as Don't Lead and Don't be Powerful, and a driver message of "Know your place." These ideas are further developed, examining the impact of capitalism on all people: the pressures to give up hope, to "other" people, and to give away our physis. The author uses models of analysis developed by Drego to confront the Cultural Parent of 21st century neoliberal capitalism and suggests actions transactional analysts might take to combat the nihilism that capitalism and monarchy might evoke in our community of practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

After unification in 1871 Germany became, for some of Greece's intellectuals, politicians, and journalists, a model for the organization and national integration of their own country. This article examines perceptions of the Second Reich between the accession of Wilhelm II and the start of the First World War. It traces the role played by the German model in public discourse within the Kingdom of Greece in relation to the importance of the monarchy, the dynasty, and the army in the realization of the Megale Idea , and in the choice of the country's political orientation between East and West. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The research aims to study the propaganda of the Russian Empire in Central Asia on the occasion of the 300th anniversary of the Romanov dynasty. In the work, the method of comparative analysis and civilizational approach was used, which made it possible to assess the impact of propaganda narratives on the development of the region. The study found that the jubilee celebrations were an occasion for the build-up of monarchist propaganda. The practical significance of this research lies in its detailed analysis of the mechanisms of monarchist propaganda during the 300th anniversary of the Romanov dynasty in Central Asia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Monarchy is one of the oldest truly global social structures. On the eve of the imperial age, most of the world was governed by monarchs. But as the European empires expanded, this order was radically transformed. During the long nineteenth century, most non-European monarchies were conquered by imperial powers. Often, European imperial powers abolished them, imprisoning, killing, or exiling local rulers; in other cases, the imperial powers incorporated the conquered monarchies into new imperial orders of indirect rule. Yet, there were some monarchies that survived Europe's imperial expansion. In fact, every country that retained its independence in the era of high imperialism was ruled by a monarch: Ethiopia, China, Japan, the Ottoman empire, Persia (Iran), and Siam (Thailand). To some extent, these monarchs lived in the same social worlds as their European counterparts, forming a global, status-based community. This article offers some observations on the relationship between the world's monarchs in the age of empire by focusing on encounters between European monarchs and those of the few non-European countries that retained their independence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the 1990s, there has been a growing tendency to interpret Diderot as a radical who first put into question absolutism in the Encyclopédie and then became a fierce opponent of any kind of 'despotism', even the 'enlightened' one, and a fervent partisan of democratic revolutions in the 1770s. It is argued here that the narrative that cuts Diderot's life into different phases obscures continuities in his political thought, and misrepresents partly the political vision he had in the 1770s. Diderot's political thought may have been more coherent than usually acknowledged, and this coherence is to be found in his ideal of a paternalistic monarchy taking advice from its subjects and respecting their rights, that is the constitution of the realm. This idea is not to be mixed up with a democratic programme of government by the people, nor with the endorsement of political change via a revolution. Rather, when towards the end of his life Diderot lost hope that the constitutional order of the French monarchy would be respected, he both feared civil war and hoped that these tumults might bring about the regeneration of the French monarchy. This vision derived from a classical cyclic view of history. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article is a reflection on the history of enslaved children (Pon pekpen) in African slavery and post-slavery societies, such as the Bamum Kingdom. This traditional monarchy of the Grassfields of Cameroon, founded in 1394 by Nchare Yen, was one of the largest providers of captives transported to the Atlantic coast and used locally to meet the needs of traditional slavery. In this kingdom, slaves and their descendants, as well as enslaved peoples, represented nearly 80% of the total population. The trade of captives and servile practices left indelible traces, particularly where enslaved children were concerned. So, what did enslaved children represent in African slavery and post-slavery societies, such as the Bamum Kingdom? The aim of this study is to show that the enslaved children were the most vulnerable and dependent members of slavery and post-slavery systems. This study is based on oral, archival iconographic, written and electronic sources, using theories of social dominance and subaltern studies. It clearly shows that the vulnerability and dependence of enslaved children (Pon pekpen) made them special, weak and hopeful links in the slavery system and the persistence of slavery practices. They were mainly victims of traditional slavery and of the trans-Saharan and transatlantic slave trades. Despite the formal abolition of the slave trade and slavery between the 19th and 20th centuries, enslaved children and the descendants of enslaved people continue to be victims of a kind of subalternisation because they are usually considered second-class citizens. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Soon after the accession of James I to the English throne, the Society of Antiquaries debated the origins of the English Parliament. Records of their debates, notably the tract of Sir John Doddridge, were compiled and circulated widely in manuscript before their print publication during the Interregnum. The tracts asserted that parliaments had ancient origins predating the Norman Conquest and, in Doddridge's case, even the origins of monarchy in England. Scholars have argued that these tracts articulated an understanding of England's immutable "ancient constitution," in which a stance on Parliament's antiquity defined a position on the scope and limitations of royal power. This article explores the tracts in light of the context in which they were written—the putative Jacobean Union, and the new king's assumption of the royal supremacy over the Church of England. It argues that the assertion of the antiquity of Parliament was not incompatible with an understanding of the complex development of the assembly's history over time, especially its mutability at the hands of the Crown. As such, these early attempts to understand the institution's history, and its transformations under different monarchs, may have fueled the existential fears for Parliament's future that characterized the turbulent parliaments of the 1620s. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the 2020 David Nichol Smith Seminar in Eighteenth-Century Studies, which was originally planned as an in-person conference but had to be moved online due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The theme of the conference was "Dark Enlightenments," which aimed to explore the darker aspects of the Enlightenment period, acknowledging the criticisms of the Enlightenment as an ideal. The article highlights some of the essays presented at the conference, which examined topics such as empire, race, the interplay of darkness and light, and the relationship between the Enlightenment and the Gothic. The conference attracted a diverse range of scholars from around the world and provided a platform to discuss the complexities and legacies of the eighteenth century. [Extracted from the article]

The Book of Kings is the main source for reconstructing the chronology of the monarchic period in Israel, but it contains many contradictions and raises difficulties that make the reconstruction disputed to this day. The prevailing approach tends to attribute historical credibility to the biblical data, while few have suggested that some of the numbers have been deliberately manipulated to create symbolic or meaningful schemas. The purpose of the present study is to reinforce the artificiality of these numbers by presenting two cases of a »climax-decline pattern« at key points in the Book of Kings' chronology, in which a king with the longest reign in the history of a kingdom is followed by a period of deterioration towards disaster over the same duration. If these regnal years have been reworked to incorporate them into the book's literary design, then they may mislead the historian who wishes to use them to reconstruct a relative or absolute chronology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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This article examines the entwined dynamics of gender, material bodies, and court politics at the Danish, absolutist court during what has been termed the reform reign, 1784–1797. The reform reign was inaugurated by a 1784 bloodless coup d’état, in which the crown prince took power in the royal Privy Council. During the following years, his leading advisers faced opposition from other factions at court and within the royal family, and the crown prince and his wife faced reproductive challenges, as they lost several children shortly after birth. The article explores the attempts at seeking influence made by two wives of leading advisers to the royal crown prince, Frederik (6.). Producing a male heir was imperative to the crown prince couple’s claim to power in the absolutist reign, and the advisers’ political positions therefore also hinged on the couple’s reproduction. I discuss how the advisers’ wives, the two sisters Sybille Reventlow (1753-1827) and Charlotte Schimmelmann (1757-1816), attempted to solve these issues and advance their group’s position at court. The article identifies several strategies employed by the women to help the crown prince couple’s situation, but primarily aimed at the crown princess; firstly, conversations on childrearing; secondly, the discussion of adoption; while a third strategy included traveling to the spa at Bad Pyrmont, where the advisers’ wives would engage the spa’s famous doctor Heinrich Mathias Marcard as accoucheur to the crown princess. The women’s struggles to gain influence show how those women who were not members of the royal household tried to navigate the political world of a hereditary and personal monarchy, where personal relationships and parenting experiences were also a political matter. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The narrative of 'reform' in Saudi Arabia, recently recurring in British political discourse around the kingdom's Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman, is situated within wider Orientalist themes, wherein a progressive and modern West is juxtaposed with an Arabian peninsula mired in backwardness. In this context, the purported Arab 'reformer' is presented as the ideal ally of the West, attempting to haul his society up to the West's supposed standards, for example on women's rights. This racialising narrative serves to legitimise British support for authoritarian Gulf regimes, thus helping to sustain the political economy of this set of international relations at the political level. It does this by obscuring the important role the United Kingdom plays in sustaining authoritarianism in the Arabian peninsula by externalising the explanatory focus onto the terrain of cultural difference. This article contributes to the literature on UK relations with the Arab Gulf monarchies by critically analysing the ways in which racialising discourses dovetail with material interests to reinforce and sustain these ties. In doing so, it also contributes to the emerging literatures on 'racial capitalism' and 'race' in international relations, through its exploration of the role of Orientalist discourse in this significant empirical case study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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This paper studies the figure of the pirate and the Jew as evidenced on the early modern English stage. More specifically, it examines the representation of the English pirate, John Ward and his relation with the "renegado Jew", Benwash in Robert Daborne's play, A Christian Turned Turk (1612). While the play has been exhaustively studied in recent years to explore English attitudes towards Islam and the treatment of piracy, I argue that it also deserves to be considered for its treatment of its Jewish characters. Noting that Benwash is, in some respects, sui generis among all the Jewish characters in early modern English drama since he is shown as formally converted to Islam and yet following Jewish customs, the paper draws on a number of similarities between pirates, renegades and Jews, the trifecta of early modern bogeymen perceived as having abandoned all national and religious identity, but constituting self-centred groups devoted to their own welfare. By drawing attention to the numerous points where the actions of the Jew and pirate are merged in this drama, I argue that the Jew acts as a lens through which the action of the pirates could be held up to scrutiny and helps to recalibrate concepts of monarchy, statehood, religion and class at a time when Englishmen were caught up in the flux of national, social and religious hybridity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Europe, ten states are characterised by conventional monarchies, whose royal families serve as an enduring symbol of national unity and a repository of historical traditions, underscoring their role as representatives of their countries. This research examines the image projected by European royal houses through digital platforms. The objective is to ascertain the graphic resources, visuals and descriptions employed by them in the biography section of their Facebook, X and Instagram accounts. The results of the content analysis demonstrate a proclivity towards the utilisation of institutional resources, coupled with the preponderance of symbolic elements such as coats of arms, flags and national heritage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article explores how negative affect, such as ennui, challenges the power structures of the body politic by disrupting social norms and ideals tied to happiness and conformity. Topics discussed include French mathematician Blaise Pascal's analysis of the relationship between affective and political control, the rise of absolute monarchy and its enforcement of pleasant behavior and the ontological implications of emotions like ennui, which reveal underlying unrest and potential for revolt.

Book review: Khenkin S.M. Spain. Modern Unstable Society. – Moscow. Publishing house«Aspekt Press», 2023. – 383 p.

Abstract Previous research suggests that sharing emotionally intense experiences with others, for example by undergoing dysphoric collective rituals together, can lead to “identity fusion,” a visceral feeling of oneness that predicts group cohesion and self-sacrifice for the group. In this pre-registered research, we provide the first quantitative investigation of identity fusion following participation in a national funeral, surveying 1632 members of the British public. As predicted, individuals reporting intense sadness during Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral exhibited higher levels of identity fusion and pro-group commitment, as evidenced by generosity pledges to a British Monarchist charity. Also consistent with our hypotheses, feelings of unity in grief and emotional sharedness during the event mediated the relationship between sadness intensity and pro-group commitment. These findings shed light on importance of collective rituals in fostering group cohesion, cooperation, and the dynamics of shared emotional experiences within communities.

This article contributes to a reconceptualization of the relationship between Siam and Scandinavia at the turn of the twentieth century. At that time, the relationship was manifested by the presence of a large group of Scandinavian, mainly Danish, entrepreneurs and professionals in Siam and repeated visits between the royal houses in Siam and the Scandinavian countries. The tropes of friendship and modernization dominate the main representation of the relationship. In accordance with this representation the Scandinavians were not perceived as a colonial threat to the Siamese rulers but co-producers of a modern and independent Siam. This narrative, created both by the Scandinavians and Siamese, reproduces a dominant royalist narrative in Thai historical writing that presents the absolute monarchy as a disinterested elite who launched a series of reforms to modernize Siam and safeguard the country against foreign encroachment. With reference to a revisionist tradition in Thai historical writing, we argue that Scandinavian–Siamese relations at the turn of the twentieth century needs to be accentuated in relation to the Siamese royal elite’s project of internal colonialism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous research suggests that sharing emotionally intense experiences with others, for example by undergoing dysphoric collective rituals together, can lead to "identity fusion," a visceral feeling of oneness that predicts group cohesion and self-sacrifice for the group. In this pre-registered research, we provide the first quantitative investigation of identity fusion following participation in a national funeral, surveying 1632 members of the British public. As predicted, individuals reporting intense sadness during Queen Elizabeth II's funeral exhibited higher levels of identity fusion and pro-group commitment, as evidenced by generosity pledges to a British Monarchist charity. Also consistent with our hypotheses, feelings of unity in grief and emotional sharedness during the event mediated the relationship between sadness intensity and pro-group commitment. These findings shed light on importance of collective rituals in fostering group cohesion, cooperation, and the dynamics of shared emotional experiences within communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to examine the origins and development of the Guanyin Shrine in Mueang Mae Hong Son, Thailand, and to investigate how its construction of Chineseness is informed by various factors at intra-ethnic, local, and national levels. Through ethnographic fieldwork, it was found that the Chineseness embodied in the Shrine is a paradigm encompassing the identities of overseas Chinese from different backgrounds. The Shrine is characterized by its use of universally recognized symbols in Chinese culture, including the selection of Guanyin as the main deity and the creation of unique trademarks using common motifs such as yin-yang and bagua. The Shrine represents a hybridization not only of Chineseness and national identity but also of Chineseness and local identity, as seen through the application of national symbols such as the Thai monarchy and Theravada Buddhism, the ritual of inviting Tai Yai guardian deities, and the procession of ethnic groups during the Annual Celebration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In May 1650, the General Assembly of Barbados proclaimed Charles ii as rightful sovereign, a year after the abolition of monarchy in England. By combining specialized bibliography and historical sources, this paper analyses the pressure-stepped strategy, ranging from economic sanctions to maritime force, adopted by the Council of State aiming to reduce the rebellious island to obedience. This article examines, thus, the implications that the control over Barbados entailed within the context of the protectionist laws enacted by the Rump Parliament in the early 1650s. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyzes how Gonzalo Fernández de Oviedo, the first official chronicler of the Indies, relied on the five senses to describe the American nature and bring it closer to his readers. All the senses provided relevant information in understanding the New World through experience. The descriptions of animals, plants, and radically unknown practices through the senses are filled with meanings and value judgments that bring us closer to the historian's approach to making history and the significance that the Western Indies held in the enterprise of the Hispanic Monarchy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Characters in the ancestor narratives of Genesis, and especially in the Jacob cycle, are often modeled on the places and peoples that are thought to descend from them. Both Esau and Jacob, as national progenitors of Edom and Israel, occupy similar spaces to their later polities, and behave in similar ways. Yet, strangely, Jacob encounters a threatening Esau at the Jabbok River, far from where the Edomites would have reasonably interacted with the kingdom of Israel. In this article, I look at the literary history and narrative description of Esau and his relationship with the lands east of the Jordan. Before he was made the father of Edom, the character of Esau reflected monarchic-period projections of the broad networks of mobile groups involved in movement throughout the eastern highlands, and which were presented as threatening to inhabitants east of the Jordan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper offers a new look at the design of Abigail's character as a wise woman in 1 Sam 25, based on an analysis of the argumentative component of Abigail's speech and the connections between her speech and the book of Proverbs. According to this analysis, Abigail is not only portrayed as a rescuer, but is also designed in the image of the wise educator in the book of Proverbs, who teaches David a fundamental theological principle about relying on God instead of on his own strength—despite the essential legitimacy to harm Nabal. This message is relevant to David's status as an anointed king de jure , but as a refugee de facto. David's adherence to Abigail's message designs his character as a wise person who is willing to learn, indicating that the narrative justifies David's monarchy through his encounter with Abigail. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Copyright of Annales Historiques de la Révolution Française is the property of Librairie Armand Colin and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of eHumanista is the property of Professor Antonio Cortijo-Ocana and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This article reexplores Ireland’s final exit from the Commonwealth in 1948–49, deploying Brexit as a comparative heuristic and organising device. The existing literature has stressed both Ireland’s symbolic motives in fully breaking with the Crown and how it retained many the advantages of Commonwealth membership whilst avoiding its obligations. It is true that, at least from the later 1930s, Ireland was more akin to an associate as opposed to a full Commonwealth member and that both significant support for the Irish position from Commonwealth members with large Irish diaspora populations and decentralisation in the Commonwealth itself made for a relatively hospitable negotiating environment. Nevertheless, the Brexit comparison helps highlights the considerable trade and citizenship links, including with the UK, which were linked to Commonwealth association and which secession thereby put at risk. It similarly highlights the price Ireland paid for its exit including a public commitment to make reciprocal citizenship rights generally available to all Commonwealth members, a strengthening of Northern Ireland’s links with Great Britain and a loss of participation rights in key Commonwealth preference, Sterling Area and related fora. The ultimately rather limited significance of that price may relate more to a subsequent fundamental refocusing of both Irish and UK geographic priorities towards Europe in subsequent decades. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

How did the idea of monarchy develop in Giovanni Botero’s thinking? How did he use it in his largest work, Relazioni universali (1st edition 1591)? How did he redefine it at the beginning of the seventeenth century? Botero developed his idea of monarchy by reading the classics and traditional literature on the subject, as well as by travelling and observing different models of government: his diplomatic experience in France (1585) and his three years in Spain as tutor of the princes of Savoy (1603-1606) led to theories on the features of the ‘best form of government’. Starting from Botero’s first thinking on the subject (De regia sapientia, 1583), this chapter will focus on Relazioni universali as a kind of catalogue of comparative monarchy case studies from all over the world and pay particular attention to Discorso dell’eccellenza della monarchia (Discourse about the Excellence of Monarchy) published in Turin in 1607. Discorso has been translated into English in the Appendix. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article uses the example of Manoli Cigarettes and its product line, The Kaiser Cigarettes, to examine the concept of co-branding as applied to royal brand names in the German Empire. It reviews the broader networks of circulation that determined the production of royal brand names: commercial laws, business ties, advances in technology, advertising structures, tourism, and other sectors of the consumer economy. The article delves into how trademark law, the Imperial Patent Office's role in approving brand names, and case law contributed to the choice of royal brand names. The article also illuminates how manufacturers used royal brands to implement business strategies along a horizontal plane of market competition. The production of the monarchy as a cultural object was thus activated through a process of triangulation: not only through the bilateral relationship between monarch and subjects, but also lateral relations between producers who were concerned about their professional networks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The links between the Hospitaller Order and the American continent witnessed, in the transition from the 17th and 18th Centuries, a period of successes and failures. After the sale of its Caribbean colonies to France in 1665, its Knights of the Langue of Castile rendered notable services to the Habsburg Monarchy in the New World, while at the same time the chronistic memory and cultural “bon goût” continued to have the Western Indies as a central space of their projection. Likewise, its members in Bourbon Spain did not cease to promote a return to America through the establishment of commanderies in frontier areas to fight the “infidels”. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The correspondence of the Count of Gondomar represents a collection with multiple possibilities of study for new perspectives on corruption and its connections with perceptions of failure. Based on the richness of this epistolary corpus, the article analyses the impact that corruption, or the mechanisms against it, had on the failure of the trajectories of agents and vassals of the Iberian Monarchies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With its members subject to a series of scandals, questions of legitimacy and the desirability of retaining the Spanish monarchy have repeatedly resurfaced. Leading the charge are the country's graphic humourists, whose confrontational attacks have been met with draconian legal retaliation under the auspices of lèse-majesté. While derision is typically directed towards Juan Carlos I and Felipe VI, what of their consorts—Emerita Sofía and Letizia Ortiz—legitimized by marriage alone? This article explores how Spain's cartoonists have used its Queen consorts as ludic sites from which to question the value of monarchy in a country marked by enduring crisis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Catalan journalists and performers have played a leading role in pushing the boundaries of public discourse about the Spanish monarchy in a media landscape that has been riddled with taboos since the 1975 Restoration. Polònia, a political satire created in 2006 for Catalan television, frequently targets the royal family, actively contributing to the erosion of its public image in Catalonia. While early skits featuring the royal family tended to invited viewers to laugh at them, in recent years the corrupt King and his kin are increasingly seen to be mocking their subjects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This collection of essays explores the ways in which Iberian cultural production has constructed kings and queens since 1975. Our focus is the royal figure who inherits their status and power through 'blood' and justifies their power invoking the transcendental mystique of monarchic sovereignty. In one way or another, the figures of Juan Carlos I and his son Felipe VI permeate all cultural representations of monarchical rule produced during the democratic period; and these representations shape our political understanding of the two kings and become a site to contest hegemonic understandings of Spanishness, post-Francoist Spain and Iberian political communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since 1975, the Spanish royal family has used sport as a platform on which to improve its public image. With their families, Kings Juan Carlos I and Felipe VI have appeared at countless events as athletes, dignitaries, and fans of Spanish sport. Among these sporting events, this article uses the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona as a case study to examine the complex relationship between the Spanish monarchy and the stadium crowd. In the liminal space of the stadium, the crown and the crowd are simultaneously separated by hierarchy and official protocol and united in the communion of fandom. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Among a number of jurists and military officers, Julián Marías joined thirty-nine senators designated by the King to participate in the formulation of the 1978 Constitution. In his public interventions, collected in La España real, Marías makes the case for the monarchy: the King was to produce the nation he represented and resolve political fragmentation as the head of that nation. At stake was a particular understanding of national representation subservient to neo-liberal modernization, foreshadowing the aesthetic-representational character of the political to secure legitimacy through symbolism and charismatic mobilization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The text "Meditation on the common notion of justice" by Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz discusses the notion of justice and its relationship with power. The author criticizes the theories of Hobbes and Descartes, stating that justice is not arbitrary and is based on eternal truths. In addition, the text addresses the defense of funding scientific research on microscopic beings by rulers. The author also discusses the structure of the brain and the difficulty of understanding it, comparing it to the government of intelligent substances under the monarchy of God. The text also addresses the importance of justice and goodness in accordance with wisdom, and discusses the right to property and the relationship between parents and children. [Extracted from the article]

The late Habsburg period (1867–1918) created a constitutional dual monarchy of Austria-Hungary. This paper discusses the role of psychiatry in Cisleithania, both as a developing profession and as a distinct 'policy field'. Tension between psychiatry's academic professionalisation and the creation of public institutions as signature projects by individual crownlands created complex relationships between psychiatry and politics. In federalist Cisleithania, psychiatrists became very 'political': whether employed by the state or a crownland influenced their position on policy, despite claiming that their expert knowledge was 'scientific' and 'objective'. The conflicts between asylum-based and academic psychiatrists mirrored those between the central state and the crownlands. This led to intractable delays in mental health law reform, eventually resolved by Imperial decree in 1916. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the aspects that caracterizes the period of the so-called Dominate (Dominatus) or Absolute Monarchy is the fact that the imperial power makes use of religion to legitimize itself. From another perspective, changes in the organization of the Imperial Chancery took place that reflect the reality of an absolute monarchy of divine right supported by a complex bureaucracy and a strong army, with important impact on the tax system. An exponential price increase characterizes the crisis of the 3rd century AD from Aurelian onwards and justifies Diocletian's despotism on economic issues. Characteristic of this epoch is an Imperial Government formed by several Emperors at the same time. A system of Imperial Tetrarchy was thus established. The radical change in the imperial policy concerning Christianity took place under Emperor Constantine. After the Milan Agreement (313 AD), Constantine assumed himself more and more as the protector of the Church, collaborating with the Bishops in their fight against heresy and legislating favourably towards Christianity. The definitive division of the Empire into two took place after the death of Emperor Theodosius I, Augustus in the East between 379 and 394 AD, only Emperor in 394/395 AD, with two Emperors, one in the Eastern Roman Empire, the other in the Western Roman Empire. The so-called Barbarian Invasions, that is, the assault of several Germanic tribes and tribal groups on Roman territory in the 5th century has caused the fall of the Western Roman Empire. Yet the Eastern Half of the Empire continued to exist. In the 5th century the Western Roman State underwent a gradual disintegration. The conclusion of foedera, that is, treaties with Non-Roman Barbarian Groups which contained a right to settle on the territory of the Roman Empire, were instruments of power, to which the weakened Roman Emperors resorted in order to be able to continue to assert their claim to sovereignty over the territory of the Roman Empire. For other reasons, too, the authority of the Roman emperors came under scrutiny. The spread of the so-called patronage in both the Eastern and Western Roman Empires means, for example, that prominent personalities such as imperial officials and large landowners maintain private armies (e.g.: buccellarii) that act in their own interest and are not in the service of the common good. Especially after the reign of Majorian (457-461 AD), the disintegration of the Western Roman State could no longer be stopped. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Xayaburi Hydroelectric Power Project entered operation in October 2019. After this the Mekong started to behave strangely-the water ran blue and clear instead of red and silty, and the great backflow of the river into Cambodia's Tonle Sap Lake arrived off schedule or, at times, threatened to not arrive at all. Villagers who had remained ambivalent or apathetic about hydropower issues suddenly found themselves facing a radically altered world, where a seemingly distant power was able to dramatically alter the nature of their every day. These shifts introduced an arrhythmia into the hydroscape: ecological, fishing, and religious cycles adapted to a seasonal river were off sync with power demands. The radical alteration that dams make to the landscape, in the promise of irrigation, electrification, and the sheer feat of changing a river, are a tangible symbol of the state's power over its land. But with a deep look into hydropower projects-in this case, the dams across the midstream of the Mekong in Laos and China-the story grows more convoluted. Here are conflicting narratives of power: state-focused, international, and royalist; as well as religious, ecological, and hydrosocial. Here, too, as I found in my eight years of fieldwork in Lao-speaking Thailand, is an alteration in time, where the rhythms of the river change the rhythms of life, and where the cyclical riparian clock clashes with a future-oriented developmentalist notion of time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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