Topic: Culture / Publication Year: within 5 Years and within 25 Years

1. The Role of Mass Media Propaganda in Shaping American Culture: A Study on the Torches of Freedom

Author:: Oğuz Kartav and Mikail Uğuş
Publication Date:: 01-2025
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: The Rest: Journal of Politics and Development
Institution:: Centre for Strategic Research and Analysis (CESRAN)
Abstract:: This study examines the profound impact of mass media propaganda on American culture, with a particular focus on the iconic Torches of Freedom campaign. Originating in the late 19th century and led by Edward Bernays, this campaign aimed to reshape social norms surrounding women and smoking. Initially, a societal taboo prevailed, suggesting that respectable women did not smoke. Although tobacco consumption was common in America during the late 19th century, women were neither expected nor permitted to partake in the consumption of tobacco products until 1929. Women were eventually allowed the option to smoke discreetly, but even then, it was considered taboo by American society due to its perceived unfeminine nature. Particularly in North America and Europe, women’s smoking had long been associated with immorality and questionable sexual behaviour. Through the analysis of historical documents, media artefacts, and scholarly literature, this research examines the multifaceted impact of the Torches of Freedom campaign on American culture. It explores how mass media, through carefully crafted messages and imagery, played a significant and influential role in shaping public perceptions and behaviour. By examining the campaign’s relationship with dominant cultural ideologies and its effects on gender roles, the research aims to illuminate the complex interplay between propaganda, cultural values, and social change. The study focuses on advertising, consumerism, and cultural practices in the United States by examining the strategies employed in the Torches of Freedom campaign through the lens of propaganda.
Topic:: Mass Media, Culture, Propaganda, and Advertising
Political Geography:: North America and United States of America

2. Bodies on Fire: Toloposungo’s Trans-Marika Abolitionist Performance

Author:: Cecilia Azar
Publication Date:: 03-2025
Content Type:: Commentary and Analysis
Institution:: The North American Congress on Latin America (NACLA)
Abstract:: In Colombia, a trans-marika vogue collective takes to the streets to denounce state violence and call for police abolition.
Topic:: Culture, State Violence, Transgender, and Abolitionism
Political Geography:: Colombia and South America

3. Forbidden African Legacies in the Dominican Republic

Author:: Patricia Rodríguez
Publication Date:: 02-2025
Content Type:: Commentary and Analysis
Institution:: The North American Congress on Latin America (NACLA)
Abstract:: Despite the ongoing criminalization and racist persecution of African tradition, from the criminalization of Vodou to restrictions against Gagá, Afro-Dominican culture persists.
Topic:: Culture, Racism, Tradition, Criminalization, and Vodou
Political Geography:: Africa, Latin America, and Dominican Republic

4. Breaking the Silence: The Fight Against Gender-Based Violence in Tanzania

Author:: Wilifrida S. John
Publication Date:: 07-2025
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation (CSVR)
Abstract:: This policy brief examines the ongoing issue of gender-based violence (GBV) in Tanzania, despite the country's ratification of comprehensive international, regional, and national legal frameworks. It explores how harmful cultural practices such as unyago, vigodoro, and chagulaga; alongside entrenched patriarchal norms and contradictions between statutory and customary laws, continue to undermine protections for women and girls. The brief argues that legal commitments alone are insufficient without effective enforcement, structural reform, public education, and stronger institutional accountability. It offers evidence-based recommendations to better align the legal system with cultural change, survivor-centred support services, and coordinated, cross-sector responses. By situating Tanzania's case within the wider Sub-Saharan African context, it illustrates how legal pluralism, and socio-cultural dynamics contribute to the persistence of GBV across the region.
Topic:: Education, Culture, Reform, Women, Gender Based Violence, and Girls
Political Geography:: Africa and Tanzania

5. The Gendered Impact of Social Norms on Financial Access and Capital Misallocation

Author:: Arti Grover and Mariana Viollaz
Publication Date:: 01-2025
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Center for Distributive, Labor and Social Studies (CEDLAS)
Abstract:: This paper provides evidence on the nature of financial constraints faced by women entrepreneurs, especially in contexts of stringent social norms. Using micro-data from the World Bank Enterprise Surveys for 61 countries, the analysis shows that formal firms managed by women do not face credit constraints on the extensive margin. They are equally likely to apply for credit as their male counterparts and experience lower rates of credit rejection, with a higher likelihood of opening credit lines. However, on the intensive margin, firms managed by women receive lower credit amounts, indicating signs of credit constraints. This disparity in access to credit cannot be explained by gender differences in risk profiles, profitability, or productivity. However, firms managed by women have lower sales per worker, suggesting challenges in accessing product and labor markets. The paper finds suggestive evidence of capital misallocation based on gender, particularly in countries with more restrictive gender and cultural norms. Firms managed by women demonstrate a 15 percent higher average return on capital compared to firms managed by men, indicating the potential benefits of increased access to credit for women-led businesses. These findings emphasize the importance of addressing gender-specific constraints to accessing finance and promoting gender-inclusive policies to enhance firm growth and reduce capital misallocation.
Topic:: Culture, Fiscal Policy, Credit, Capital, Gender, and Social Norms
Political Geography:: Global Focus

6. The Principle of ‘Brotherly Preservation’ Among Intergenerational Groups Within the Druze Community in Israel

Author:: Shadi Halabi
Publication Date:: 07-2025
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Moshe Dayan Center for Middle Eastern and African Studies
Abstract:: In the latest issue of al-Durziyya: Druze in the Middle East Shadi Halabi focuses on the core of Druze identity, the principle of Brotherly Preservation (ḥifẓ al-ikhwān), and examines whether this principle, which has served for generations as a central cultural anchor, maintains its stability in the modern era.
Topic:: Culture, Minorities, Druze, and Identity
Political Geography:: Middle East, Israel, and Palestine

7. Dünyada ve Türkiye'de Zaman Kapsülleri'nin Gelişimi

Author:: Mutlu Erbay
Publication Date:: 06-2025
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: AURUM Journal of Social Sciences
Institution:: Altinbas University
Abstract:: Bu çalışma, zaman kapsülleri konusunu gündeme getirerek bu konuya dikkat çekmeyi hedeflemektedir. Makalede, zaman kapsüllerinin Amerikalılar ve Türkler için sosyo-kültürel açıdan önemi vurgulanmakta ve önemli örnekler ele alınmaktadır. Zaman kapsülleri, Amerikan kültüründe hatırlama, hatırlatma ve anma yöntemi olarak kullanılmaktadır. Hatıraların anılması, düşünülmesine ve bu yolla anlamlandırılmasına sebep olur. Kültürler, kendi öz hedeflerine yönelik hatırlatma ve hatırlamalar yapabilmektedir. Bu hatırlamalar, geçmişi gelecek kuşaklara tanıtır ve aktarmada önemli bir rol oynar. Zaman kapsülleri, geleceğe gönderilen mektuplar aracılığıyla gelecek temennilerini yansıtmakta; kişilerin ve kurumların geleceği öngörme ve şekillendirme çabalarını simgelemektedir. Yeni açılan bir fabrika, yeni üretilen bir ürün, borsa için yazılan mektuplar, yeni hammadde üretimleri veya uzaya gönderilen yeni araçlar gibi çeşitli sebeplerle zaman kapsülleri hazırlanabilmektedir. Amerika Birleşik Devletleri'nde devlet kurumları, yüksek enstitüler ve fabrikalar tarafından zaman kapsülleri oluşturulmakta, kayda geçirilmekte ve belirlenen tarihte açılması planlanmaktadır. Zaman kapsülleri, Amerikan tarihinin önemli kültürel davranışlarından biri olarak kabul edilmektedir. Aşağıdaki makalede, önemli zaman kapsülleri ele alınarak incelenmiştir. Gelecekte açılmak üzere hazırlanan bu kapsüller, geleceğe bir not düşmekte ve bu yönüyle geleceği planlama ve öngörme amacı taşımaktadır. Türkiye’de de hazırlanmış zaman kapsülleri mevcuttur. Çalışma, bu örneklere de kısaca değinerek zaman kapsüllerinin Türk kültüründeki yeri ve önemini ortaya koymaktadır.
Topic:: Culture, Memory, Tradition, and Time Capsules
Political Geography:: Turkey, Middle East, North America, and United States of America

8. A Comparative Analysis of the Piece “Op. 6 No: 2 Nocturne” by Clara Wieck Schumann, one of the Female Composers of the Romantic Period, with the Nocturnes of Frederic François Chopin

Author:: İlayda Çetin and M. Nevra Küpan
Publication Date:: 04-2025
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Journal of Academic Inquiries
Institution:: Sakarya University (SAU)
Abstract:: This study includes a comparative analysis of the composition titled "Op.6 No.2 Nocturne" by Clara Wieck Schumann, a female composer from the Romantic era, with the nocturnes of Frederic François Chopin. The purpose of this research is to determine the similarities and differences between Clara Wieck Schumann's aforementioned work and the works of Frederic François Chopin, who is an important male composer of the same period, in the same form. In this study, firstly a literature review was conducted. Then, in line with the purpose of the research, a comparison of Clara Wieck Schumann's composition titled "Op.6 No:2 Nocturne" with Frederic François Chopin's compositions titled "Op.27 No:2 Nocturne" and "Op.9 No:2 Nocturne" was carried out using harmonic, form and style analysis methods. When examining the harmonic analysis of the compositions, including accompaniment and chord styles, ornaments, rhythmic structures, and stylistic features, it is observed that they exhibit a similar emotion and style. Accordingly, it can be inferred that Clara Wieck Schumann was influenced by Frederic François Chopin in her composition. The conducted analysis is of importance not only in determining the similarities and the differences between the works of both composers, but also in terms of increasing the visibility of female composers in the music world.
Topic:: Culture, Music, Frederic Chopin, and Clara Schumann
Political Geography:: Global Focus

9. The Young Readers of the Argentine Right

Author:: Ezequiel Saferstein and Analía Goldentul
Publication Date:: 04-2024
Content Type:: Commentary and Analysis
Institution:: The North American Congress on Latin America (NACLA)
Abstract:: As the world of “politically incorrect” books moves from niche to mainstream, the radicalized right’s culture war attracts a new generation of followers.
Topic:: Culture, Ideology, Radical Right, Culture War, and Books
Political Geography:: Argentina and South America

10. Bahraini Artists Across Borders

Author:: Marwa Al Khalifa, Mashael Alsaie, and Jaafar Al Oraibi
Publication Date:: 01-2024
Content Type:: Video
Institution:: Middle East Institute (MEI)
Abstract:: The Middle East Institute Arts and Culture Center invites you to a panel conversation about the arts in Bahrain with three artists featured in its current exhibition, The Sea of Life: Modern and Contemporary Art from The Kingdom of Bahrain. The panel is part of the ongoing programming around the exhibition, which runs until March 26, 2024.https://youtu.be/yVusVFiYmbo?si=hFNLCpbgB6cDWt9v Marwa Al Khalifa, Mashael Alsaie and Jaafar Al Oraibi will discuss their work, the vision that drives their practice and how their art is part of a conversation that is shaping Bahrain's local arts scene, pushing its boundaries and exploring new artistic expressions. The Sea of Life features fourteen artists spanning different generations and art forms exploring their connection to their natural and built environment through painting, photography, sculpture, video and installation, co-curated by Bahrain-based Hayfa Aljishi and MEI Arts and Culture Center Director Lyne Sneige.
Topic:: Arts, Culture, and Borders
Political Geography:: Middle East and Bahrain

11. United States, UNESCO, and International Relations through Cultural Heritage

Author:: Neel Kamal Chapagain
Publication Date:: 08-2024
Content Type:: Special Report
Institution:: East-West Center
Abstract:: Dr. Neel Kamal Chapagain, Professor at Ahmedabad University's Centre for Heritage Management, explains that "[c]ultural heritage is becoming a more prominent vehicle for building international ties" and "support for or opposition to global cultural heritage campaigns, like UNESCO, have been used [in US presidential campaigns] to make political statements."
Topic:: International Relations, Diplomacy, Culture, Heritage, UNESCO, and Emerging Powers
Political Geography:: Japan, China, Asia, South Korea, and United States of America

12. Book Talk. "Avant-Garde Post– Radical Poetics after the Soviet Union"

Author:: Marijeta Bozovic and Mark Lipovetsky
Publication Date:: 03-2024
Content Type:: Video
Institution:: The Harriman Institute
Abstract:: What does leftist art look like in the wake of state socialism? In recent years, Russian-language avant-garde poetry has been seeking the answers to this question. Marijeta Bozovic follows a constellation of poets at the center of a contemporary literary movement that is bringing radical art out of the Soviet shadow: Kirill Medvedev, Pavel Arseniev, Aleksandr Skidan, Dmitry Golynko, Roman Osminkin, Keti Chukhrov, and Galina Rymbu. While their formal experiments range widely, all share a commitment to explicitly political poetry. Each one, in turn, has become a hub in a growing new-left network across the former Second World.
Topic:: Arts, Culture, Leftist Politics, Soviet Union, and Poetry
Political Geography:: Post-Soviet Europe

13. The Art of War: PRC Weaponizes Culture to Galvanize the People

Author:: Arran Hope
Publication Date:: 11-2024
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: China Brief
Institution:: The Jamestown Foundation
Abstract:: The Party sees culture as a tool to achieve its strategic ambitions both inside and outside the People’s Republic of China (PRC). Speeches, articles, and conferences portray it as central to achieving national rejuvenation. Party discourse on culture is shot through with militaristic terminology. Not just echoing Mao-era rhetoric, this reflects Beijing’s desire to “engineer souls” in pursuit of a strong nation. Artists, culture workers, and academics are perceived as pawns in a project to present the PRC globally as peaceful and prosperous, but the Party is aware of the deficiencies of its soft power.
Topic:: Arts, Culture, Soft Power, Academia, and Chinese Communist Party (CCP)
Political Geography:: China and Asia

14. New Textbook Reveals Xi Jinping’s Doctrine of Han-centric Nation-Building

Author:: James Leibold
Publication Date:: 05-2024
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: China Brief
Institution:: The Jamestown Foundation
Abstract:: Another cultural revolution is in full swing in the People’s Republic of China (PRC). This is not the purported class revolution Mao advocated in the past, but rather a wave of Han cultural and racial nationalism. Xi’s new approach to ethnic minority policy repudiates the Party’s past promise to allow minority nationalities to exercise political and cultural autonomy, becoming “masters of their own house.” Following more than ten years of incremental change, a new textbook from scholar-officials articulates the discourse, ideology, and policies associated with a new Han-centric narrative of China’s past and future. In this conception, the sovereignties and homelands of the Tibetan, Uyghur, Mongol, and other indigenous minorities are erased and replaced with a seamless teleology of the Han colonial and racial becoming.
Topic:: Education, Culture, Political Parties, and Xi Jinping
Political Geography:: China and Asia

15. Emin Alper'in Kurak Günler Filmine Bakhtinyen Bir Yaklaşım

Author:: Baran Barış
Publication Date:: 12-2024
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: AURUM Journal of Social Sciences
Institution:: Altinbas University
Abstract:: Bakhtin, çeşitli sanat dallarında oluşturulan anlatıların incelenmesi için Einstein’ın Görelilik Kuramı’ndan ödünç aldığı kronotop kavramını geliştirmiştir. Bu kavram çerçevesinde yapılan anlatı çözümlemelerinde zaman ve uzam kurucu öğe kabul edilerek birlikte ele alınmaktadır. Bakhtin’e göre zamansal ve uzamsal belirlenimler, duygu ve değerlerin izlerini taşır. Yüzyıllara bağlı olarak değişen kronotopları yazınsal metinler üzerinden sınıflandıran araştırmacı yol – karşılaşma kronotopu, şato kronotopu, kesişme kronotopu (misafir odası ve salon kronotopu, sokaklar, kentler, kırsal bölgeler ve taşra kasabaları) ve eşik (kopuş) kronotopu olmak üzere dört temel kronotop belirlemiş; on dokuzuncu yüzyıl metinlerine kadar sürdürdüğü çözümlemelerinde ulaştığı kronotop türlerinin yanı sıra farklı ülkelerin yazınsal metinlerinde ve farklı dönemlerde başka kronotopların da saptanabileceğine dikkat çekmiştir. Kronotop kavramı, günümüzde yazın dışındaki sanat dallarında üretilen anlatıların çözümlenmesinde de kullanılmaktadır. Emin Alper’in Kurak Günler (2022) filmi açılış sekansından itibaren zaman ve uzamın kurucu öğe olarak karşımıza çıktığı bir anlatı sunmaktadır. Bu yapısı, filmin kronotop kavramı çerçevesinde incelenmesine olanak sunmaktadır. Suç ile güç arasındaki ilişkiyi irdeleyen, linç kültürünü besleyen kodların nasıl yeniden üretildiğini ortaya koyan ve izlekleriyle anlatıdaki zaman ve uzam öğelerine ilişkin obruk vb. imgeler arasında doğrudan bağlantı kuran Kurak Günler filmindeki kronotopların saptanmasının ve anlatıdaki işlevlerinin çözümlenmesinin amaçlandığı bu çalışmanın araştırma soruları şöyledir: (i) Filmde hangi kronotoplar bulunmaktadır? (ii) Bu kronotoplarla Bakhtin’in belirlediği dört temel kronotop arasındaki benzerlik ve farklılıklar nelerdir? (iii) Filmde tespit edilen kronotoplar, anlatının yapılandırılmasında hangi işlevlere sahiptir? Yapılan incelemelerde filmdeki kronotopların Bakhtin’in dört temel kronotopuyla büyük ölçüde benzerlik gösterdiği tespit edilirken anlatının kronotoplarla filmin temel izlekleri arasındaki ilişkinin koşutluğu üzerinden yapılandırıldığı görülmüştür.
Topic:: Arts, Culture, Film, and Chronotope
Political Geography:: Global Focus

16. Kök Ailenin Evlilikte Partner Seçimine Etkisi

Author:: Isik Özel, Ilayda Dikmen, and Hacı Tuğberk Yılmaz
Publication Date:: 12-2024
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: AURUM Journal of Social Sciences
Institution:: Altinbas University
Abstract:: Kök aile, hayatımız boyunca yaşantımızı, davranışlarımızı, yönelimlerimizi ve birçok tercihimizi etkileyen temel unsurlardan biridir. Partner seçiminin de kök aileden etkilenen önemli alanlardan biri olduğu düşünülmektedir. Bu açıdan, partner seçiminde ağırlıklı olarak ele alınan karşı tarafı çekici bulma, erişilebilirlik ve beğeni/karşılık görme faktörlerinin dışında, kök ailenin etkisinin de ele alınması, yapılan seçimin doğasına dair daha detaylı sonuçlar elde etmek açısından oldukça önemlidir. Bu fikir ve bulgulardan hareketle Türk kültüründeki aile yapısının farklı boyutlarının, bireylerin partnerlerini seçerken hangi alanlarda etkileri olabileceği araştırma sorusunu oluşturmaktadır. Araştırma, iki farklı ölçeğe dayalı anket soruları kullanılarak 18-64 yaş aralığındaki 306 katılımcıyla gerçekleştirilmiş; sonuçlar ağırlıklı olarak regresyon ve korelasyon analizleriyle elde edilmiştir. Bu doğrultuda, Türk aile yapısının işlevselliği ile partner seçimindeki kısıtlayıcı inançlar arasında negatif ve anlamlı bir ilişki gözlemlenmiştir. Türk aile yapısı, aile içi güç dengesi ve sosyal algılar, evlilik için aşkın yeterli olduğu inancını ve zıt partnerlere çekilme eğilimini etkilemektedir. Türk aile yapısının modern kalıplarda gelişmesinin, tek doğru partner ve bu partneri bulmanın doğal bir süreç olduğuna dair inanca negatif yönde etkisi mevcuttur. Evlilik öncesi birlikte yaşama düşüncesi, dini ve kültürel değerler nedeniyle ön planda değildir. Ancak, dini değerlere verilen önemin artması partner seçimi için aşkın yeterli olduğu düşüncesini desteklemektedir. Sonuç olarak, incelenen alt boyutlar arasında pozitif ve negatif yönde anlamlı ilişkiler saptanmış, Türk kültürü çerçevesinde kök ailenin partner seçimi üzerindeki etkisi vurgulanmıştır. Araştırmanın bulguları, ilgili literatür kapsamında ele alınarak tartışılmıştır.
Topic:: Culture, Family, Marriage, and Mate Selection
Political Geography:: Turkey and Middle East

17. AURUM Journal of Social Sciences (Volume 9, Number 1) - Full Issue

Author:: Meltem Yilmaz, Büşra Alparslan, Arzu Uğurlu Kara, Mesut Özcan, and Ceyhun Ilsever
Publication Date:: 07-2024
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: AURUM Journal of Social Sciences
Institution:: Altinbas University
Abstract:: The first article of this issue is on the field of law. The study is titled “A Street Law Course Experience for Raising Human Rights Awareness”. This study by Meltem Yılmaz aims to examine the contribution of ‘street law’ type legal clinic courses to increase of human rights awareness among both law students and society. As a result of the study, the author finds that giving street law-type law clinics as elective courses in the last years of faculty of law education is the most efficient option; in addition, the importance of enhancing the courses in terms of active learning methods and techniques was emphasized in order to increase efficiency concerning high school and secondary school students’ achievements. The second study in this issue is “War and Peace in Game of Thrones as An Epic Narrative”. This study from the field of psychology was conducted by Büşra Alparslan. The aim of the study is to investigate to examine the war and peace themes in the TV series Game of Thrones, which can be considered as an epic a popular culture narrative. This study’s results reveals that Game of Thrones somewhat differs from traditional epic narratives. Although classical themes like “just war discourse” pops on and off throughout the show, it is also emphasized that, unlike the traditional approach, war is not a glorious act. The third study in this issue is from the field of human resources titled “Adaptation of the “Design Thinker Profile” Scale into Turkish” by Ayça Uğur and Kemal Özkan Yılmaz. As the title suggests, the aim of the study is to adopt “Design Thinker Profile” scale developed by Chesson (2017) to the Turkish and to assess its validity and reliability. The results show that the scale has validity and reliability in Turkish. Another study in our journal is titled “Development of Maritime Public Transportation in Istanbul in the Framework of Organic Transportation Approach”. The study conducted by Ceyhun İlsever and Ayşe Buse Cılız aims to make concrete suggestions for the development of urban maritime public transportation in Istanbul in line with the principles and criteria of organic transportation, which is developed as one of the approaches to integration, accessibility, and governance in transportation. As a result, the authors propose some suggestions under specific headings to increase the demand for maritime transportation in Istanbul. The last study in this issue is from the field of psychology. The article by Ecem Kıran, Yaren Erdoğdu ve Naci Can Sümengen is titled “Examining the Relationship Between Eating Attitudes and Self-Compassion”. As its title suggests, this study aimed to examine the relationship between eating attitudes and self-compassion and to investigate the prevalence of this relationship in a non-clinical sample by evaluating it in terms of chronic and psychological disorders. As a result, a statistically significant negative relationship between disordered eating attitudes and self-compassion levels is found; in addition, results shows that the self-compassion levels of participants diagnosed with a psychological disorder were significantly lower, while participants with a chronic disease had eating attitudes that were significantly disordered compared to participants without a psychological disorder. In addition to the research articles briefly summarized above, we have also included a book review in this issue. Ahmet Tuğşad Doğukan and Fatih Dağ reviewed Thomas Piketty’s “Nature, Culture et Inégalités” book. According to the reviewers, in this book, Piketty examines the complex dynamics of socioeconomic disparities, questioning traditional assumptions that can be characterized as deterministic and offering an innovative perspective on the causes and evolution of inequality. While traditional assumptions emphasize natural factors such as individual abilities or resource endowments, Piketty argues that contrary to these factors, political and social forces have been more influential in the course of inequality throughout history.
Topic:: Development, Culture, Law, Human Resources, Social Science, and Public Transportation
Political Geography:: Turkey and Global Focus

18. Russian Propaganda Efforts: Historical Continuities Accompany Technological Changes

Author:: John Katzka
Publication Date:: 02-2024
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: American Diplomacy
Institution:: American Diplomacy
Abstract:: As public affairs officer at the US embassy in Moscow, I had the opportunity during the last years of the Soviet Union to engage with and at times respond to its propaganda efforts. My personal impressions and the conclusions I drew from them form the basis for the observations below. Whether something constitutes propaganda often depends on your point of view. The Oxford English Dictionary defines propaganda as “information that is often biased or misleading, used to promote a political cause or point of view.” Propaganda, in other words, is not analytical, although it may pretend to be. It seems to me that any one-sided presentation is in its essence propagandistic. The promotion of US foreign policy may be as propagandistic as that of any other country. Ours is “good” propaganda only because we are on the side of the angels. There are three overarching influences on the role of propaganda in a particular country: first, that country’s underlying culture; second, its form of government (in the case of Russia, authoritarianism); and third, the role of media-related technology.
Topic:: Science and Technology, Culture, Authoritarianism, Propaganda, and Soviet Union
Political Geography:: Russia and Eurasia

19. Satchmo, the Duke, and the Count: Representing America at its Best Despite Having Experienced its Worst

Author:: Larry Tye
Publication Date:: 05-2024
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: American Diplomacy
Institution:: American Diplomacy
Abstract:: Exuberant crowds in New Orleans had crowned Louis Armstrong the pretend King of the Zulus during Mardi Gras in 1949. But in 1960 when he visited the Belgian Congo, not far from the fountainhead of the Zulu people, the Congolese feted him like the real thing. Tom-tommers drummed a greeting reserved for tribal chiefs and hailed him as “Ambassador Extraordinary of the United States.” Grass-skirted tribesmen painted in violet and ochre carried him through the streets of Leopoldville on a homemade throne mounted on poles, a company of police and soldiers leading the way. His hosts had hoped to draw 1,500 people to his concert at King Baudouin Stadium, but so popular was Satchmo that 10,000 churning fans packed the stands. While they chanted “Satcheemo,” he shouted back, in wretchedly accented French, “Merci beaucoup, beaucoup.” His proudest triumph during his twenty-four-hour trip defied even the power of diplomats and kings. As he told it, “There was fighting, and they stopped the war because I played there that night.” That wasn’t merely Satchmo telling tales. The Congo was embroiled in a deadly civil conflict, with civilians caught between rampaging troops. But as one headline hollered, “They Called Truce To Dig Louis.” The Associated Press trumpeted, ‘“Wizard’ Satchmo Unites the Congo!” The warring sides, the AP explained, “joined forces to provide a heavily armed cordon ‘round Satchmo and his party.” They actually danced and cheered side-by-side at that night’s concert, although they resumed their bloody fighting once Louis left the country.
Topic:: Diplomacy, Culture, Soft Power, Memoir, and Music
Political Geography:: North America and United States of America

20. Pakistan’s quest for soft power status: A case study from 2018 to 2022

Author:: Faiza Idrees and Azhar Shahbaz Khan
Publication Date:: 12-2024
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Journal of Political Studies
Institution:: Department of Political Science, University of the Punjab
Abstract:: In international politics the impression of the state is significant in order to achieve a convincing position. Soft power helps a state to establish its image globally. This article analyses how Pakistan is striving for Soft power status. The time period under study is from 2018 -2022. It also highlights the Role of state and individuals in pursuing the status of Soft Power. To answer the questions the researcher has explained the efforts of different government institutions and various individuals and the outcomes of their activities, especially during a time when the nation is frequently labeled a "failed state." Through a careful academic analysis, a case for the potential of soft power to transform Pakistan's international reputation has been presented.
Topic:: Religion, Food, Tourism, Culture, Soft Power, and Music
Political Geography:: Pakistan and South Asia

21. A Call for Space-Domain Intelligence Training

Author:: Genelle M. Martinez
Publication Date:: 03-2024
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Journal of Advanced Military Studies
Institution:: Marine Corps University Press, National Defense University
Abstract:: U.S. Space Force intelligence initial skills training (IST) currently occurs via U.S. Air Force pipelines. However, as the Space Force matures, it must take ownership of its training programs. Consolidating guardian intelligence initial skills training under the purview of the newest Service fosters a critical space-domain focused mindset and guardian culture at the outset of a member’s career.
Topic:: Intelligence, Culture, Armed Forces, Space, Training, Space Force, and Identity
Political Geography:: United States of America and Space

22. Informe sobre el estado de la Cultura 2024: Los derechos culturales ante los retos contemporáneos

Author:: Jorge Fernández León, Juan Arturo Rubio Arostegui, Jesús Prieto de Pedro, Carlos Garriga, and Nuria Lloret Romero
Publication Date:: 10-2024
Content Type:: Special Report
Institution:: Fundación Alternativas
Abstract:: El Informe sobre el estado de la Cultura 2024, que elabora el Observatorio de Cultura y Comunicación de la Fundación Alternativas, cumple once años. En esta ocasión, nuestro análisis descansa sobre el horizonte de los principales desafíos que a la cultura presentan las legislaturas española y europea. La cultura, bien público esencial, nace y se desarrolla gracias a la intervención de un conjunto de sujetos. La cultura tiene unos creadores, que están en sus raíces. Su destino y objetivo es comunicar las obras culturales – arte, literatura, música, etc.- a las y los ciudadanos. Entre estos dos polos, creadores y consumidores de la cultura, hay un conjunto de intermediarios agregadores y transmisores de las obras culturales. Son indispensables. Hablamos de las industrias culturales, elemento central de la comunicación cultural y de su dimensión económica. La cadena de creación, comunicación y participación cultural no puede ni debe desarrollarse fuera del servicio público. Los gestores políticos que lo dirigen son, en España, según nuestra Constitución, el Estado y las Comunidades Autónomas. En la primera comparecencia del ministro de Cultura ante la Comisión de Cultura del Senado, Ernest Urtasun centró su intervención en los derechos culturales. A todo ello se dedica el presente Informe.
Topic:: Culture and Public Policy
Political Geography:: Europe and Spain

23. Culture clash: Russia, Ukraine, and the fight for the European public

Author:: Pawel Zerka
Publication Date:: 05-2023
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR)
Abstract:: Russia’s war on Ukraine is a test of Europe’s values of openness, freedom, solidarity, and individual responsibility. According to ECFR’s research, European sentiment is strong in the EU today; the public holds positive attitudes towards the EU and Europe; and most governments are dedicated to European cooperation. European citizens and governments have shown unprecedented support for Ukraine, but European leaders face various dilemmas about how to handle Russian culture, disinformation, and people in the context of the war – and their responses to these challenges have consequences for European sentiment. Their approach can either reassert European values, helping to sustain European unity and support for Ukraine. Or it can undermine these values, presenting the EU as weak and hypocritical, and eroding Europeans’ confidence in the EU and solidarity with Ukraine. Rather than follow their protective instincts, European governments should display confidence in liberalism and in the European civil society which, over the past year, has demonstrated its resilience.
Topic:: Culture, Public Opinion, Disinformation, and Russia-Ukraine War
Political Geography:: Russia, Europe, and Ukraine

24. Café Evropa: European commemoration of the Shoah and the fight against anti-Semitism

Author:: Barbora Jehličková
Publication Date:: 04-2023
Content Type:: Special Report
Institution:: Europeum Institute for European Policy
Abstract:: A debate on the European commemoration of the victims of the Shoah and the fight against anti-Semitism took place as part of the Café Evropa debate series. What is the path to a Czech national strategy to fight anti-Semitism and is a European culture of Shoah remembrance possible? You can read a summary of the outcomes of the individual guests in the report written by our intern Barbora Jehličková.
Topic:: History, Culture, Holocaust, Memory, and Anti-Semitism
Political Geography:: Europe and Czech Republic

25. Gross National Happiness Policy Outputs in Bhutan from 1972 to 2014*

Author:: Michael Givel
Publication Date:: 10-2023
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Journal of Bhutan Studies
Institution:: Centre for Bhutan & GNH Studies (CBS)
Abstract:: In 1972, Bhutan’s Fourth King declared Gross National Happiness (GNH) more important than Gross Domestic Product. But what was the nature of GNH legislation policy outputs before and after the adoption of the written 2008 Bhutanese Constitution that required that Bhutan to promote GNH as a national policy goal? This study examines from 1972 to 2014 (six years after the adoption of the Bhutan Constitution) GNH policy outputs. There were two stages related to Bhutan’s four pillars that include sustainable and equitable economic development, good governance, cultural preservation, and environmental protection. In the first stage lasting to the 1990s, Bhutanese policy outputs emphasized preserving traditional culture. In the second phase from the 1990s to 2014, Bhutanese policy outputs emphasized Buddhist modernism in which all four pillars balanced traditional Buddhist values with modern issues like health care and illiteracy.
Topic:: Culture, Constitution, History, Legislation, Public Policy, and Gross National Happiness (GNH)
Political Geography:: South Asia and Bhutan

26. The 21st Century Global Crisis: Laying out the Foundations for a New World Civilization

Author:: Jorge Armand
Publication Date:: 10-2023
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Journal of Bhutan Studies
Institution:: Centre for Bhutan & GNH Studies (CBS)
Abstract:: The article focuses on principal traits of modern culture, i.e., on what we term the foundational cultural myths of Modernity, and to examine the role these myths have played in the contemporary crisis. A set of new epistemological insights is outlined that would be needed to understand and to act upon the root causes of this crisis, such as the oneness of Reality, the diversity within the oneness of Reality, the impermanency of all phenomena and the relativity of time and space. In this context, the actual functionability of modernity’s myth is questioned (the Myth of Eternal Progress) and its concrete manifestation as a model of social development based on the perennial increase of economic growth, i.e., industrial production and consumerism, in detriment of fundamental values, which we believe are the origin of both that existential system and the current global crisis. As a substitution, a model of development, Optimizing Homeostatic Paradigm, is proposed. This implies dismantling all policies of unrestricted economic growth and the replacement of Gross Domestic Production (GDP) as the standard measure of social development and human progress. The criticism that limitation of economic growth would reduce economic activity and would foster loss of employment, therefore more poverty, is refuted. In this theoretical framework, the concepts of human freedom, development and technology are revised, and new ones are proposed. Finally, Bhutan’s Gross National Happiness (GNH) index is shown as an example of alternative model of development, and inspiration for a new kind of world civilization.
Topic:: Culture, Crisis Management, Modernity, and Gross National Happiness (GNH)
Political Geography:: South Asia and Bhutan

27. Russia’s Cultural Heritage Can Be a Bridge to the Future

Author:: Robert Cox
Publication Date:: 02-2023
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: American Diplomacy
Institution:: American Diplomacy
Abstract:: Russia has become Europe’s ogre. Beyond the brutality of Moscow’s onslaught on Ukraine looms a harsher ideological backdrop. Too many Russian citizens have been enticed into seeing this invasion as a defence of Russia’s security, national pride and identity, history, Weltanschauung, international standing, and imperial stature. They eulogise Russia’s national church as a defensive shield despite its abuse of spiritual humanity, its soldiers as crusaders. Europeans, in response to this baggage respond with a mixture of fear or unease. Anger, too, along with frustration and ultimately something akin to hatred. With all this comes an inclination in the western world to reject everything Russian. This rejection of a rich culture risks tarnishing our mindset and that of our children. Russian orchestras, dancers and sopranos have been banned from western stages—largely on the pretext that they have not condemned Putin and his acolytes. Ultimately Russian culture risks being airbrushed out of western European mentalities. It is worth pausing for a moment and just looking at what we are rejecting, perhaps unconsciously. Hitherto—and for many Europeans still —Russian culture has had an important place in our education and upbringing. Tchaikovsky, Borodin, Rimsky Korsakov, Shostakovich and the sublime Prokofiev have delighted our concert audiences for decades. Marc Chagall’s imagination has stimulated ours. Ballet in Europe—or the US, for that matter—would not be what it is without the great influence of the ballet russe. Nor, in a related world, would we be so intellectually rich without the heritage of Russian scientists, physicists and mathematicians.
Topic:: Foreign Policy, Culture, Literature, and Russia-Ukraine War
Political Geography:: Russia, Europe, and Eurasia

28. Book Talk with Jessamyn Abel, Author of "Dream Super-Express"

Author:: Jessamyn Abel, Takuya Tsunoda, and Ariana King
Publication Date:: 10-2023
Content Type:: Video
Institution:: Weatherhead East Asian Institute, Columbia University
Abstract:: A symbol of the "new Japan" displayed at World's Fairs, depicted in travel posters, and celebrated as the product of a national spirit of innovation, the Tōkaidō Shinkansen—the first bullet train, dubbed the "dream super-express"—represents the bold aspirations of a nation rebranding itself after military defeat, but also the deep problems caused by the unbridled postwar drive for economic growth. At the dawn of the space age, how could a train become such an important symbol? In Dream Super-Express (Stanford University Press, 2022), Jessamyn Abel contends that understanding the various, often contradictory, images of the bullet train reveals how infrastructure operates beyond its intended use as a means of transportation to perform cultural and sociological functions.
Topic:: History, Infrastructure, Sociology, Culture, Economic Growth, and Book Talk
Political Geography:: Japan and Asia

29. Rise From the Fall, Unmasking the Vietnamese-American Identity: A Conversation with Author Lan Cao

Author:: Lan Cao and Naja Pham Lockwood
Publication Date:: 10-2023
Content Type:: Video
Institution:: Weatherhead East Asian Institute, Columbia University
Abstract:: This Asia in Action Speaker Series event revolves around the life and literary journey of Lan Cao, a Vietnamese American writer. It begins with her early life in Vietnam and her migration to America in 1975, as depicted in her novel Monkey Bridge, emphasizing themes of exile, loss, and hope. It then delves into the significance of authentic Vietnamese storytelling through her work The Lotus and the Storm, offering a unique perspective on the Vietnam War. The discussion also touches on Vietnam's economic transition with Doi Moi policies and its reflection in Three Seasons, while exploring its impact on Lan Cao's identity as a Vietnamese American and refugee. Finally, her latest book, Family of Six Tones: Refugee Mother and American Daughter, is introduced, along with her ongoing literary journey and future projects.
Topic:: Immigration, Culture, Vietnam War, Identity, and Storytelling
Political Geography:: Vietnam, North America, Southeast Asia, and United States of America

30. The Heart of Arabs. Emirati Songs for Egypt

Author:: Edyta Wolny-Abouelwafa
Publication Date:: 06-2023
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Nowa Polityka Wschodnia
Institution:: Faculty of Political Science and International Studies, Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń
Abstract:: Creating patriotic songs in the Arab countries is very common. They can represent different types of music, can be connected to special occasions or be created without them, just from the ‘need a heart’. The author of the article has been doing research on contemporary Egyptian patriotic songs for years. On the basis of her results, she has decided to divide all the analysed songs into the those created by Egyptians for Egyptians and in addition created by other artists for Egypt and its citizens. The job of the latter she calls ‘patriotic songs’ as well and divided them into two main groups which are connected with the way they identify themselves. The article presents the results of the analysis of selected songs released by United Arab Emirates’ artists for Egypt. The article’s author’s goal was to check the songs’ topics and which one of the previously mentioned groups they represent. She also mentions the figure of Hussain Al Jassmi, the most popular, in recent years, Emirati singer creating patriotic songs for Egypt. She analysed the songs on the basis of the songs’ topics and combined it with the contemporary relations between United Arab Emirates and Egypt while mentioning their origins historically. All of this allowed her to reach the conclusions presented in the article.
Topic:: Culture, Arab Countries, Music, and Identity
Political Geography:: North Africa, Egypt, and United Arab Emirates

31. Cultural Security in the Context of the Analysis of the Religiosity of Belarusian Students

Author:: Viktoryia Baretskaya
Publication Date:: 06-2023
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Nowa Polityka Wschodnia
Institution:: Faculty of Political Science and International Studies, Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń
Abstract:: Religion can become an instrument of manipulation and destabilization in society, everything depends on people who have access to the levers of power, the position of Church hierarchs and the level of religious literacy of the population. The article is devoted to the study of the concept of the correlation of national identity and Christian universalism, as well as the model of Church–State relations in the modern social teaching of the Russian Orthodox Church, in the context of the analysis of some aspects of the religiosity of the Belarusian student youth, namely quantitative indicators of trust in the Church, attendance of divine services, and confessional affiliation.
Topic:: Security, Religion, Culture, Students, and Identity
Political Geography:: Eastern Europe and Belarus

32. Introducing the Research Project “Sacred Narrative – The Political Dimension of Japanese Mythology"

Author:: Klaus Antoni, Julia Dolkovski, and Louise Neubronner
Publication Date:: 06-2023
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Nowa Polityka Wschodnia
Institution:: Faculty of Political Science and International Studies, Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń
Abstract:: The Kojiki and Nihon shoki have been integral to the formation of Japanese identity, especially since the 18th century. As such, they were constantly exposed to processes of sacralization and desacralization, i.e., the attribution and removal of authority. The research project “Sacred Narrative – The Political Dimension of Japanese Mythology” is concerned with how certain systems of thought or ideology used these texts in a way that raised them to an elevated position or deprived them of it. Organized in three focus areas, the project delves into the topic of the historical change the Kojiki and Nihon shoki underwent in terms of interpretation and instrumentalization from the Edo period up to modern-day Japan. These investigations are integrated into the research group “De/Sacralization of Texts” at the University of Tübingen that started its work in January 2022. In this interdisciplinary context, “Sacred narrative” seeks to promote the integration of East-Asian textuality into general theory formation.
Topic:: Politics, Culture, Identity, and Mythology
Political Geography:: Japan and Asia

33. Migration and trust: Evidence on assimilation from internal migrants

Author:: Diego Marino Fages
Publication Date:: 07-2023
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Nottingham Interdisciplinary Centre for Economic and Political Research (NICEP)
Abstract:: I study whether internal migrants assimilate culturally to the locals. Investigating this question with observational data has been challenging because it requires disentangling assimilation from sorting and because data on immigrants before migrating is typically not available. I overcome this challenge by studying the Swiss context, which provides an ideal setting for two reasons. First, as a result of its history, Switzerland presents substantial cultural differences between its regions. Second, the Swiss Household Panel tracks individuals for a long period before and after they move. I exploit these two features to compare early and late migrants in a difference-in-difference framework. I focus specifically on trust in strangers, one of the most important components of culture and which has been shown to predict growth and other desirable economic, social and political outcomes. I find a statistically and economically significant evidence on assimilation of migrants moving to higher and lower trust cantons, and this assimilation starts in the first few years. Finally, using the Sorted Effects Method, I find that assimilation is driven by the youngest immigrants, which is in line with the impressionable years hypothesis in psychology.
Topic:: Migration, Culture, Assimilation, and Internal Migration
Political Geography:: Europe and Switzerland

34. MIT X TAU Series: Africa's Forgotten Heroes

Author:: Kudzanai Chiurai and Claude Grunitzky
Publication Date:: 05-2023
Content Type:: Video
Institution:: MIT Center for International Studies
Abstract:: The fifth webinar in the third annual webinar series focused on various aspects of sustainable development in Africa. Featuring: Kudzanai Chiurai is a Zimbabwean artist and activist. His repertoire of art combines the use of mixed media which involves the use of paintings, drawings, videos and photographs to address and tackle social, political and cultural issues in Zimbabwe.
Topic:: Development, Culture, Sustainability, and Activism
Political Geography:: Africa

35. From opportunity to impact – Assessing the economic, societal, and cultural benefits of YouTube in Canada in 2022

Author:: Hamilton Galloway and Alice Gambarin
Publication Date:: 06-2023
Content Type:: Special Report
Institution:: Oxford Economics
Abstract:: This study presents an updated assessment of YouTube’s contribution to Canada’s GDP and employment, and its broader impact on society and culture. Every day, YouTube helps Canadian users to learn new skills, connect with others, and enrich their lives. It also provides a platform for a diverse range of content creators to share their interests and passions with audiences within Canada and beyond, creating opportunities to build new careers and businesses. This supports substantial economic value for creators who receive income from the platform, for example as they are paid a share of the revenues from advertising placed alongside their videos. Creators may also earn revenues from other sources that are helped by their YouTube presence. These revenue sources not only support jobs and income for the creators themselves, but also wider activity in their supply chains, and through workers’ spending. In total, our economic modeling suggests that YouTube’s creative ecosystem contributed more than $2 billion CAD to Canada’s economy in 2022 and supported more than 35,000 full-time equivalent jobs. In this report we provide further details of our economic analysis, as well as the findings of wider survey research to investigate how YouTube can sustain careers for content creators; help businesses grow; build skills; amplify Canadian talent; and drive cultural diversity. Alongside the findings from our economic modeling and surveys, the report presents a series of case studies to highlight the personal stories of successful Canadian content creators, ranging from financial literacy to cross-cultural cuisine.
Topic:: Economics, Culture, YouTube, Society, and Revenue
Political Geography:: Canada and North America

36. 2023 EAI-Genron NPO Korea-Japan Joint Public Opinion Poll: Japan and the ROK-Japan Relations

Author:: East Asia Institute (EAI)
Publication Date:: 10-2023
Content Type:: Commentary and Analysis
Institution:: East Asia Institute (EAI)
Abstract:: East Asia Institute (EAI) and Genron NPO conducted the 11th Korea-Japan Joint Public Opinion Poll in August and September 2023 to gauge the attitudes of people in both countries regarding their bilateral relations. EAI has presented the survey findings in chart format within the "EAI Public Opinion Briefing." According to the results, citizens of both South Korea and Japan assessed that their bilateral relations have advanced and expressed positive opinions about strengthening cooperation in areas like security and economics, both bilaterally and multilaterally. However, there were contrasting viewpoints between Koreans and Japanese on whether this progress and the importance of bilateral relations have resulted in favorable perceptions of each other`s countries.
Topic:: Security, History, Culture, Public Opinion, Economy, and Perception
Political Geography:: Japan, Asia, and South Korea

37. On Food and Sustainability: A conversation with Moza Al Matrooshi and Christian Sleiman

Author:: Lyne Sneige, Moza Al Matrooshi, and Christian Sleiman
Publication Date:: 04-2023
Content Type:: Video
Institution:: Middle East Institute (MEI)
Abstract:: Lyne Sneige, Director of the Arts & Culture Program at the Middle East Institute, speaks with artists Moza Al Matrooshi and Christian Sleiman about their works that are featured in MEI's current exhibition, Perceptible Rhythms/Alternative Temporalities. The conversation provides greater detail on the relationship between each artist's works and the themes of food and sustainability.
Topic:: Arts, Food, Culture, and Sustainability
Political Geography:: Middle East and North Africa

38. Art in Dialogue with Nature: An Exploration of Saudi Arabia’s New Valley of the Arts

Author:: Iwona Blazwick, Manal Al Dowayan, and Kate Seelye
Publication Date:: 06-2023
Content Type:: Video
Institution:: Middle East Institute (MEI)
Abstract:: Wadi AlFann ('Valley of the Arts') is a new global cultural destination in Saudi Arabia, where monumental contemporary artworks are being commissioned for AlUla’s majestic desert landscape. Curator Iwona Blazwick and participating Saudi artist Manal Al Dowayan speak with MEI's Senior Vice President Kate Seelye about Wadi Al Fann's permanent art commissions and the impact of the Kingdom's investment in the arts as part of Saudi Vision 2030 on local communities and the international art scene.
Topic:: Arts, Culture, and Investment
Political Geography:: Middle East and Saudi Arabia

39. "Music is the very essence of European Cultural Identity"

Author:: Jorge Chaminé
Publication Date:: 07-2023
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Robert Schuman Foundation (RSF)
Abstract:: Following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, you initiated a chain of solidarity. What does it consist of? The night of 24 February 2022 shocked me because it showed just how fragile peace is. I felt the need to do something and decided, with the Centre européen de musique, to help and facilitate the reception of Ukrainian musicians in Europe, but also to work to preserve the dialogue between Ukrainian, Russian and Belarusian musicians. At the beginning of the conflict, there were moves to censor the Russian repertoire, and concerts were cancelled because the programme included works by Tchaikovsky - an absolute absurdity! Within this chain of solidarity, links are being forged, with musicians playing not only the repertoire of their own country but also that of countries with which they are at war. In an increasingly violent and divided world, music can be an instrument of peace, integration and inclusion. That's why I've worked so hard in theatres of war. For over fifteen years, I regularly travelled to the Middle East to work on musical projects. After the Taliban took power, we also supported Afghan musicians and the Institute of Afghan Music, now based in Braga, Portugal.
Topic:: Culture, Interview, Music, and Identity
Political Geography:: Europe

40. Pashtun Cultural Transition between the Militants and Military

Author:: Syed Wasif Azim and Muhammad Naveed Akhtar
Publication Date:: 11-2023
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Review of Human Rights
Institution:: Society of Social Science Academics (SSSA)
Abstract:: This article aims at discussing the violent conflict and its inter-relationship with militants and military in Swat, Pakistan. It argues that the term Badal may be recognized as having multiple forms and meanings. This paper demonstrates that in the initial phase of the conflict people used militant’s ‘tag’ while in post-military-operations period took the benefit of their ties with the military to take revenge from their opponents. This study underscores that this phenomenon has impacted the socio-cultural symbols and practices of badal negatively and has further defamed socio-cultural norms and values of the society. The study for being empirical in its methodology is based on 45 open-ended in-depth interviews, 05 focus group discussions and ethnographic observation, in Swat, Pakistan.
Topic:: Culture, Violence, Military, Pukhtuns, and Pashtuns
Political Geography:: Pakistan and South Asia

41. Shaping the Words of a Culture: Heydar Aliyev’s Lasting Impact on the Identity of a Country

Author:: Elnur Gajiev
Publication Date:: 04-2023
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Baku Dialogues
Institution:: ADA University
Abstract:: How can literature shape the voice of a people? How may it invite the rediscovery and reclamation of centuries’ old tradition while simultaneously orienting a nation towards an uncertain, though desperately future filled with hope? How might words, poems, stories, and songs reveal an identity long repressed, yet now bold enough to form itself anew? It would not be a surprise if a similar strand of inquiry kept Heydar Aliyev company as he envisioned the future for his fledgling nation through a time of great tumult and transition. For he was no stranger to the significant role of the arts in sustaining, developing, and proliferating the merits of culture, particularly one with roots as deep as the literary arts of Azerbaijan.
Topic:: History, Culture, and Identity
Political Geography:: Azerbaijan and South Caucasus

42. Chengdu Youth

Author:: Zhang Feng and Andrew J. Nathan
Publication Date:: 12-2023
Content Type:: Video
Institution:: Weatherhead East Asian Institute, Columbia University
Abstract:: Zhang Feng is an influential blogger and bookstore owner from Chengdu, who closely observes trends among urban youth. In his city, there is far more independent thought and activism among young people than is generally recognized in the outside world. The "White Paper Movement" that occurred last November to protest strict Covid-19 lockdown measures was a rare public manifestation of deeper and longer trends. Young people are resisting the politicization, ideological rigidity, and organizational rigidity of Chinese life, and pursue their own lifestyles with an emphasis on aesthetics. The fact that they worked out ways to support friends who were arrested for the White Paper Movement is a sign of how urban culture is evolving. Zhang Feng will describe the mood among middle class citizens and youth in Chengdu during and after the Covid lockdown in that city
Topic:: Culture, Youth, Ideology, COVID-19, Activism, and Politicization
Political Geography:: China, Asia, and Chengdu

43. Culture as a Weapon of Struggle: The Medu Art Ensemble and Southern African Liberation

Author:: Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research
Publication Date:: 12-2023
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research
Abstract:: This dossier focuses on the Medu Art Ensemble (1979-1985) and its role in organising cultural resistance in the struggle for liberation in South Africa and the region.
Topic:: Apartheid, History, Arts, Culture, and Political Movements
Political Geography:: Africa and South Africa

44. Music as weapon: Heroic lyrical epics as tools in the PKK’s struggle

Author:: Moustafa Mohammad
Publication Date:: 09-2023
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Clingendael Netherlands Institute of International Relations
Abstract:: Long-form narrative songs of the genre ‘heroic lyrical epics’ have helped preserve Kurdish history and culture. They also represent a repertoire of ideals, values and inspiration to resist injustice and exclusion. The PKK has tapped into this rich musical history from its early days and used heroic lyrical epics to spread the party’s ideology, broadcast its struggle with Turkey, facilitate recruitment and create an archive to preserve the names of its foremost fighters. Moreover, the PKK has both popularized and professionalized heroic lyrical epics. By acting as a new patron for such music – in addition to the customary notables and village ‘dîwanxane’ (meeting places) – the PKK helped make heroic lyrical epics more accessible to Kurdish publics. By creating its own modern music industry (e.g. artists, studios, re-introducing past folklore elements, publishing houses), the PKK also aligned heroic lyrical epics with the spirit of modern times and the tastes of today’s youth. Professionalization especially took flight in northeastern Syria after 2011. Logically, the PKK’s motivations are less socio-cultural in nature than that they are centered on maintaining public support in its fight against Turkey.
Topic:: Culture, Kurds, Music, and PKK
Political Geography:: Turkey, Middle East, and Syria

45. Urban Politics in the Middle East

Author:: Mona Harb, Marc Lynch, Jillian Schwedler, Gehad Abaza, and Munqeth Othman
Publication Date:: 10-2023
Content Type:: Research Paper
Institution:: Project on Middle East Political Science (POMEPS)
Abstract:: Urban politics has received growing attention in the anthropology, sociology, and political science of the MENA region. In line with global trends, questions of scale, territory, flows and connectivities and materialities have come to the fore, with a wide range of creative and novel lines of inquiry connecting the global to the hyper-local and every scale in between. In February 2023, POMEPS partnered with the Beirut Urban Lab at the American University of Beirut and The Policy Initiative think tank for a workshop in Beirut to bring together an interdisciplinary group of young scholars from across the region to explore questions of urban life, politics, and culture. The papers moved beyond more traditional political science topics such as municipal government, decentralization, clientelistic voting, protests, and clientelism. While those themes certainly operated in the background, the authors assembled in Beirut pushed to shift the lens towards multi-scalar ethnographic modes of inquiry, highlighting the materialities and relationalities of the hyper-local, examining sites and places which concentrate power dynamics.
Topic:: Economics, Migration, Politics, Race, Religion, Sectarianism, Culture, Syrian War, Mobility, Urban, Trade, Music, Transportation, Cities, Heritage, Resistance, Labor Market, Domestic Work, and Urbicide
Political Geography:: Iraq, Iran, Middle East, Tehran, Baghdad, Algeria, North Africa, Lebanon, Syria, Egypt, Jordan, Tunisia, Beirut, Cairo, Tunis, and Aqaba

46. Sport Diplomacy: An Old Frontier Rediscovered

Author:: Heather L. Dichter and Maame Quakyi
Publication Date:: 09-2023
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Brown Journal of World Affairs
Institution:: Brown Journal of World Affairs
Abstract:: Dr. Heather L. Dichter is Associate Professor of Sport Management and Sport History at the Inter- national Centre for Sports History and Culture at De Montfort University in Leicester, UK. Her publications include Bidding for the 1968 Olympic Games: International Sport’s Cold War Battle with NATO (Massachusetts, 2021) and two edited books: Soccer Diplomacy: International Relations and Football Since 1914 (Kentucky, 2020) and, with Andrew Johns, Diplomatic Games: Sport, Statecraft, and International Relations Since 1945 (Kentucky, 2014).
Topic:: Diplomacy, Culture, Sports, and Interview
Political Geography:: Global Focus

47. The Impact of Colonization on Language Policy in Indigenous Languages

Author:: Elisa Loncon
Publication Date:: 09-2023
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Brown Journal of World Affairs
Institution:: Brown Journal of World Affairs
Abstract:: On 18 December 2019, in its 50th Plenary Session, the United Nations Gen- eral Assembly proclaimed the International Decade of Indigenous Languages (2022–2032) to draw attention to the endangerment and erasure of indigenous languages and to assemble states to allocate funds to revitalize and promote languages.1 This piece will discuss the linguistic policies applied to indigenous peoples and how they have influenced the abandonment of native languages to favor Spanish. Since the Spanish set foot on the lands of the continent, they began to exterminate indigenous languages. The dispossession of the people’s wealth was not only territorial—it was also linguistic and cultural. This piece reflects on the political nature of languages and explains how racism, as part of the colonial paradigm, has contributed to the reduction in the importance of languages and limited our understanding of them to a cultural artifact or folklore.
Topic:: Politics, Culture, Language, Indigenous, Colonization, and Language Policy
Political Geography:: Global Focus

48. Between Tradition and the Law: Artisanal Firearm Production in West Africa

Author:: Julien Joly and Aline Shaban
Publication Date:: 11-2023
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Small Arms Survey
Abstract:: Craft firearms are deeply embedded in West Africa’s culture and history, often being used for hunting, livestock protection, and in traditional ceremonies. However, these firearms are increasingly being used in crimes and civil disturbance. Between Tradition and The Law: Artisanal Firearm Production in West Africa—a new Briefing Paper from the Small Arms Survey’s Craft Weapons in Africa: State of Play and Regulatory Approaches project—provides an overview of regional trends about the production of craft firearms, and their regulatory frameworks. It also calls for further additional research on the methods of production as well as on the trafficking dynamics of these types of weapons.
Topic:: Arms Control and Proliferation, Culture, Regulation, Weapons, and Trafficking
Political Geography:: West Africa

49. Cultura de la seguridad pública en Europa

Author:: Diego Torrente
Publication Date:: 12-2023
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Journal on International Security Studies (RESI)
Institution:: International Security Studies Group (GESI) at the University of Granada
Abstract:: La cultura puede entenderse como un sistema de adaptación humana al entorno. Cuando éste cambia, aquella tiende también a evolucionar. Sin embargo, existen inercias culturales que permiten entender algunas pautas en las conductas de la población, incluso en contextos de cambio acelerado como el actual. Identificar los rasgos culturales de los países europeos en el ámbito de la seguridad pública es el propósito del presente artículo. Para ello, en primer lugar, se propone un sistema de indicadores que parte de una revisión teórica. Los mismos recogen aspectos de pensamiento y de conducta. En segundo lugar, se aplican esos indicadores buscando los mejores datos comparados disponibles de acuerdo con una serie de criterios de calidad. Se utilizan series temporales amplias para identificar las tendencias que se mantienen en el tiempo y que pueden resultar de inercias culturales. La principal aportación del presente estudio respecto a otros previos es utilizar un abanico geográfico, temporal, y de dimensiones culturales más amplio. Con ello, se logra un dibujo más afinado de las distintas representaciones y conductas de la Europa de la seguridad. El texto comienza por revisar cómo se ha definido y abordado el concepto de “cultura de la seguridad” en la literatura internacional. A continuación, se identifican sus dimensiones clave, se propone un sistema de indicadores para cada una de ellas, y se seleccionan un conjunto de fuentes europeas de datos sobre seguridad pública. El trabajo tiene un carácter más descriptivo que explicativo de las diferencias culturales. Al dibujar, de forma comparada, la cultura de la seguridad pública en Europa, este artículo contribuye también a entender mejor la situación actual en España, y a anticipar posibles escenarios en un contexto de fuertes cambios en los riesgos, como los que se analizan en las distintas contribuciones a este número de la revista.
Topic:: Security, Culture, Public Security, and Comparative Analysis
Political Geography:: Europe

50. Chinese Soft Power

Author:: Robert Edmund Łoś
Publication Date:: 01-2023
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Polish Political Science Yearbook
Institution:: Polish Political Science Association (PPSA)
Abstract:: China’s modern power is based on traditional sources: territory size, demographics, economy, and army. An important factor of power is soft power, which is based on culture, foreign policy (including economics), and values. Chinese soft power resources have an old tradition and the possibility of using them is large, and most importantly, in the current international environment, they can use them to gain and maintain an advantage over competitors. The article presents the elements of China’s soft power that determine its advantage over other countries and the weaknesses that may limit its influence. It largely determines the research methods used: statistics and system analysis. The latter method makes it possible to determine the scale of China’s influence and the chances of using them in the 21st century.
Topic:: Foreign Policy, Culture, Soft Power, and Values
Political Geography:: China and Asia

51. Cultural Transmission and Political Attitudes: Explaining Differences between Natives and Immigrants in Western Europe

Author:: Jérôme Gonnot and Federica lo Polito
Publication Date:: 05-2023
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Centre d'Etudes Prospectives et d'Informations Internationales (CEPII)
Abstract:: This paper uses data on individual political opinions from the European Social Survey to study the role of horizontal cultural transmission on immigrants' political assimilation in Western Europe. We analyze five key political issues: redistribution, gay rights, EU integration, immigration policy and trust in political institutions. Controlling for individual socio-economic characteristics, we document that immigrants show identical support for redistribution as natives, display more conservative attitudes towards gay rights and more liberal views on the other three issues. These differences widen with the cultural and religious distance between immigrants' background and Western European norms, and decrease with the number of years since migration. Among immigrants that have spent at least 10 years in their host country, attitudes towards migration policy catch up with those of natives and the migrant-to-native gap on political trust is reduced by 80\%. In contrast, differences on EU integration and gay rights remain stable while immigrants' views on redistribution becomes relatively more conservative. These attitude-specific patterns are also salient when studying political preferences at the regional and sub-regional level. Our results strongly point towards the transmission of cultural values from natives to immigrants on matters of immigration policy and political trust, whereas attitudes towards redistribution seem immune to cultural influences at destination.
Topic:: Immigration, Culture, European Union, Assimilation, and Political Attitudes
Political Geography:: Europe and Western Europe

52. Resistance and Counter-Memories in Persian Black Metal

Author:: Pasqualina Eckerstrom
Publication Date:: 03-2023
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Harvard Journal of Middle Eastern Politics and Policy
Institution:: The John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University
Abstract:: Sina Winter, a pioneer of Iranian black metal, was forced to leave Iran because of his music. As the leader of the band From the Vastland, Sina has produced music celebrating the pre-Islamic heritage and Zoroastrian tales. After performing at the Inferno Music Festival in Oslo in 2013 and appearing in the documentary Blackhearts (2017), he was forced to relocate. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), targeted him as a result of his media exposure. In Iran, several artists are persecuted due to their music. In the West, black metal bands tend to be influenced by ancient legends and traditions, whereas in religious authoritarian countries, such practices are often harshly punished. In Iran, black metal is generally considered to be blasphemous. In addition, the lyrical content featured in Sina’s work is controversial, as he celebrates a heritage that the Islamic Republic wishes to eradicate from the collective consciousness. This paper presents some results of my most recent studies looking at how black metal artists in Iran use their art to preserve their ancient heritage and defy social norms.
Topic:: Culture, Social Movement, Music, and Resistance
Political Geography:: Iran and Middle East

53. Government Courtesans in the Northern Military Areas -- A Lecture with Hyun Suk Park

Author:: Hyun Suk Park and Jungwon Kim
Publication Date:: 04-2023
Content Type:: Video
Institution:: Weatherhead East Asian Institute, Columbia University
Abstract:: A 45-50-minute talk followed by Q and A. Professor Hyun Suk Park will discuss the courtesan culture of Chosŏn Korea by reflecting upon the intersections between state power, gender politics, and literary culture through travel writings and literary works.
Topic:: Politics, History, Culture, State, Literature, Power, Gender, and Military
Political Geography:: Asia and Korea

54. Reading The Backstreets in Ürümchi: Translation as Ethnographic Method and Practice of Refusal

Author:: Darren Byler and Andrew J. Nathan
Publication Date:: 02-2023
Content Type:: Video
Institution:: Weatherhead East Asian Institute, Columbia University
Abstract:: While conducting ethnographic fieldwork in Northwest China in 2014, anthropologist Darren Byler found that a Uyghur language novel, The Backstreets, helped Uyghurs to narrate their own stories. By shifting the frame of the narrative of colonial violence away from the authority of the state toward the work it takes for the colonized to live, this difficult, absurdist fable gave young Uyghurs a way to articulate experiences of dehumanization and rage. With its English-language translation and publication, it also gave the novelist, Perhat Tursun, a way of refusing his own silencing through censorship and, ultimately, imprisonment. The Backstreets in Ürümchi is a novel by Perhat Tursun, a leading Uyghur writer, poet, and social critic from the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. Perhat Tursun has published many short stories and poems as well as three novels, including the controversial The Art of Suicide (1999), decried as anti-Islamic. In 2018, he was detained by the Chinese authorities and was reportedly given a sixteen-year prison sentence. Byler was a cotranslator with ‘Anonymous,’ who disappeared in 2017, and is presumed to be in the reeducation camp system in northwest China. This event would be meaningful to students and faculty in many different areas of the university including the above proposed cosponsors, and students of China and Inner Asia.
Topic:: Culture, Minorities, Ethnography, Literature, Language, and Uyghurs
Political Geography:: China, Asia, and Xinjiang

55. "Rompamos El Silencio"

Author:: Julio Ramírez
Publication Date:: 05-2023
Content Type:: Commentary and Analysis
Institution:: The North American Congress on Latin America (NACLA)
Abstract:: The recent dismantling of the Cuna Nahuat Indigenous language program in El Salvador is the latest in a long history of erasure for Salvadoran Indigenous communities.
Topic:: Civil War, Culture, Minorities, Language, and Indigenous
Political Geography:: Latin America, Central America, and El Salvador

56. A Monumental Relationship: North Korea and Namibia

Author:: Tycho van der Hoog
Publication Date:: 03-2023
Content Type:: Special Report
Institution:: East-West Center
Abstract:: Visitors to Windhoek, the capital city of Namibia, will quickly learn a remarkable fact that is well-known among the local population—much of the capital’s architectural landscape is designed and constructed by North Korea. In recent years, North Korean nationals have built the official residence of the president of Namibia, the State House; the national cemetery for the fallen heroes of the liberation struggle, the National Heroes’ Acre; the national history museum, the Independence Memorial Museum; the Ministry of Defense headquarters and other buildings. The Namibian government thus uses North Korean aesthetics for some of the most important aspects of its power: the president, the history, and the army. This analysis explores the relationship between Namibia and North Korea by providing historical and political context to the aforementioned buildings. Today, Namibia often has the reputation of a quaint and sometimes sleepy destination, tucked away in the southwestern corner of the African continent. Yet, Namibia was at the center of geopolitical tensions for most of the twentieth century. The complicated decolonization process of Namibia, or “the Namibian question,” as it became known in the corridors of the United Nations (UN), had its roots in the aftermath of three decades of German occupation between 1884 and 1915. German South West Africa, the area that became modern Namibia, was transferred to South Africa as a League of Nations mandate territory and renamed “South West Africa.” South Africa viewed the territory as an unofficial fifth province and introduced brutal apartheid legislation. Internal opposition against the South African regime resulted in the formation of nationalist organizations, of which the South West Africa People’s Organization (SWAPO) became the most prominent.
Topic:: International Relations, Economics, Politics, Arts, and Culture
Political Geography:: Africa, Asia, North Korea, and Namibia

57. How Poster Art of the “Long 1960s” Fueled International Solidarity

Author:: Lincoln Cushing
Publication Date:: 03-2023
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Brown Journal of World Affairs
Institution:: Brown Journal of World Affairs
Abstract:: With internet and cell phone connectivity enabling instant worldwide dissemination of information, many individuals presume that communication between international social justice activists during the twentieth century was tedious, insular, and ineffective. Yet analysis of the vast output of published graphics from that period reveals a different story, one of dynamic interchange and cross-national support.
Topic:: Cold War, History, Arts, Culture, Solidarity, and Internationalism
Political Geography:: Global Focus

58. Dumping the Jewel in the River: Renewing and Perpetuating the Memory of Bhutanese Statehood in Punakha Domchoe

Author:: Sonam Kinga
Publication Date:: 12-2023
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Journal of Bhutan Studies
Institution:: Centre for Bhutan & GNH Studies (CBS)
Abstract:: Theatrical re-enactments of historical battles characterize some local festivals in western Bhutan in contrast to the largely Buddhist mask dances that are performed during such festivals elsewhere in the country. They serve as medium of recording, renewing and transmitting the memory of historic moments in the life of spiritual and political leaders. For example, the festival of Nangkar Dog (snang-dkar bzlog) in Chang village, Paro is dedicated to commemorate the victory of Phajo Drugom Zhigpo over his spiritual adversary called Lama Lhapa (Zangpo, 2003). Lo-ju (blo-‘gyur) is another festival celebrated every three years in villages of Wangdue Phodrang. It is ‘an articulate narrative of the events leading up to the formation of the Drukpa state by conquering hostile forces…’ (Chophel, 2003, p.85). Punakha Drubchen (spungs-thang sgrub-chen) popularly known as Punakha Domchoe (hereafter domchoe) theatrically re-enacts a historic battle that the Bhutanese fought against Tibetan forces in 1649. Dochula Tshechu is a very recent innovation that recounts Bhutan’s military operation in 2003 against Indian militants (David & Samuel, 2016). The domchoe is one of the most important festivals celebrated in the first month of the lunar calendar. It begins with fifteen days of sacred prayers and mask dances inside the congregation hall or dukhang (‘du-khang) of the magnificent Punakha Dzong, which was built by Zhabdrung Ngawang Namgyal (hereafter Zhabdrung Rinpoche) between 1639-40. Known as Goenwang Drubchen (mgon-dbang sgrub-chen), it is followed by three days of martial performances by people dressed as traditional militia called pazangpas (dpa’-mdzangspa - hereafter pazaps) to commemorate and re-enact the military victory in 1649. Both folk and mask dances are performed during the domchoe alongside the pazaps’ performances. The most significant episode of the domchoe with which it concludes involves immersion of multi-coloured sacred substances used as base of the mandala made for Goenwang Drubchen. This moment of dumping of jewel in the Mochu (mo-chu) river and three days of pazaps’ performances record and renew the memory as well as transmit the narrative of that historic victory to both the performers and the audience. The focus may be that particular battle but the overall narrative of the domchoe recounted through songs and dances also record, perpetuate and transmit the memory of the founding of Bhutanese state by Zhabdrung Rinpoche. In this article, I examine how this narrative is constructed and re-told in Punakha Domchoe. I argue that this local festival has transformed into a state-sponsored national ritual that serves important political objective of keeping alive, perpetuating and transmitting the memory of the founding of Bhutanese State.
Topic:: History, Culture, Theater, and Festivals
Political Geography:: South Asia and Bhutan

59. MENA Music and More!

Author:: Danny Hajjar and Fadi Nicholas Nassar
Publication Date:: 01-2023
Content Type:: Video
Institution:: Middle East Institute (MEI)
Abstract:: On today's episode, Middle East Focus kicks off the new year with Danny Hajjar, whose newsletter Sa'alouni El Nas brings diverse music and perspectives from the MENA region to inboxes worldwide. Interviewing Danny is Fadi Nicholas Nassar, U.S.-Lebanon Fellow at the Middle East Institute, Director of the Institute for Social Justice and Conflict Resolution, and Assistant Professor of Political Science and International Affairs at the Lebanese American University (LAU).
Topic:: Arts, Culture, and Music
Political Geography:: Middle East and North Africa

60. Unequivocal benefits of, and necessity for, stronger Turkic Union

Author:: Emin Mammadov and Kamran Ismayilov
Publication Date:: 12-2022
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Center for Economic and Social Development (CESD)
Abstract:: In recent years, the cooperation and unity of the Turkic countries gain increasing momentum which are being demonstrated by its viability leading to the emergence of a united Turkic World as a new geopolitical reality in the Euroasian region. The cooperation deeply embedded in historical brotherhood ties, common language root, cultural and traditional commonalities has revealed significant political and economic results in the continent.
Topic:: Culture, Geopolitics, Regional Integration, and Turkic People
Political Geography:: Eurasia and Caucasus

61. Cultural Encounters: Istanbul and Refugees from the Russian Empire (1919-1923) - Welcome & Panel I

Author:: Özalp Birol, Ipek Cem Taha, Valentina Izmirlieva, Vladimir Alexandrov, and Edward Kasinec
Publication Date:: 11-2022
Content Type:: Video
Institution:: The Harriman Institute
Abstract:: The Encounter in Context: Istanbul Under the Armistice Chair: Holger Klein Valentina Izmirlieva (Columbia University), "The Four Paradoxes of Istanbul's Beyaz Ruslar Moment" Vladimir Alexandrov (Yale University), "Frederick Bruce Thomas and Being Black in Constantinople" Edward Kasinec (Hoover Institution, Stanford University), "American Elite Philanthropy, Anna V.S. Mitchell and The Constantinople/Istanbul Russians, 1920-1929"
Topic:: History, Culture, and Refugees
Political Geography:: Russia, Eurasia, and Turkey

62. Cultural Encounters: Istanbul and the Refugees from the Russian Empire (1919-1923) | Panel III

Author:: Vladimir Alexandrov, Ayşenur Güler, Ekaterina Aygün, and Nadia Podzemskaia
Publication Date:: 11-2022
Content Type:: Video
Institution:: The Harriman Institute
Abstract:: Artists in Transcultural Dialog Chair: Vladimir Alexandrov Ayşenur Güler (Independent Researcher, London) [Via Zoom], "Findings on Gritchenko's Sojourn in Istanbul (1919-1921)" Ekaterina Aygün (Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, Munich), "Union of Russian Painters in Constantinople (1921/1922-1923) as an Émigré Artists' Collective" Nadia Podzemskaia (ITEM, CNRS-ETS, Paris), "Constantinople/Istanbul in the First Half of the 1920s, through the Eyes of the Émigré Artists from the Russian Empire"
Topic:: History, Culture, Refugees, and Dialogue
Political Geography:: Russia, Eurasia, and Turkey

63. Cultural Exchanges: Istanbul and Refugees from the Russian Empire (1919-1923) - Panel II

Author:: Valentina Izmirlieva, Holger A. Klein, and Sergey A. Ivanov
Publication Date:: 11-2022
Content Type:: Video
Institution:: The Harriman Institute
Abstract:: The Byzantine Legacy Rediscovered Chair: Valentina Izmirlieva Holger A. Klein (Columbia University), "From Russia to Byzantium: Thomas Whittemore's Intellectual Formation and the Work of the Byzantine Institute of America" Sergey A. Ivanov (Moscow Higher School of Economics), "Byzantium as Seen by the White Russians in Constantinople"
Topic:: History, Culture, Refugees, and Byzantine Empire
Political Geography:: Russia, Eurasia, and Turkey

64. Cultural Encounters: Istanbul and the Refugees from the Russian Empire (1919-1923) - Panel IV

Author:: Cengiz Kahraman
Publication Date:: 11-2022
Content Type:: Video
Institution:: The Harriman Institute
Abstract:: Cengiz Kahraman (Istanbul Photography Museum) and Valentina Izmirlieva present two archives of Iraïda Barry's life and work - one in Istanbul, the other in New York.
Topic:: History, Culture, and Refugees
Political Geography:: Russia, Eurasia, and Turkey

65. Dancing in the Battle for the Mantle of the Politically “Modern”: An Interview with Victoria Philips

Author:: Victoria Philips and Daniel R. Quiroga-Villamarín
Publication Date:: 11-2022
Content Type:: Commentary and Analysis
Institution:: The Toynbee Prize Foundation
Abstract:: “It is that we continue to live as if this were the 20th century, even though we have formally moved to the 21st century,” lamented the former Bolshoi prima Ballerina Olga Smirnova as she announced her decision to defect to the Netherlands. I had just finished reading Victoria Philips’s monograph Martha Graham’s Cold War: The Dance of American Diplomacy (Oxford University Press, 2020) when I read Smirnova’s statement. In her innovative monograph, Philips places Smirnova’s decision in a longer history of moments where “[c]ulture met political aims, as private met public needs, and apolitical ideology served politics” (p. 2). Smirnova’s statement rests on the fact that her cri de paix situates itself above the political quagmire, in the higher realm of the arts—for the artist, as Philips notes, derives “deep political import” from her “claim to be apolitical” (p. 223). Philips provides us in this recent book with an innovative and relevant example of this “politics of antipolitics”: the life and works of Martha Graham. Through a carefully knitted narrative that spans decades of touring, Philips provides us with a detailed account of the role that the “Highest Priestess of Modern Dance in America” played during the Cold War. Drawing from archival sources all around the world, Philips captures the paradoxes, tensions, and contradictions that surrounded Graham’s involvement in a series of dance tours around the world in which she served as an emissary of Unitedstatesean soft power, in the midst of a international struggle for the mantle of political modernity. Indeed, just like Smirnova, Graham’s project was deeply anchored in a modernist understanding of time. But as Philips shows, the promise of modernity was full of ambiguities and ambivalence. Graham’s modernist dance was, at the same time, sacral and secular. It embraced womanhood but shunned organized female emancipation, or feminism. More dramatically, it elevated individualism but depended on the support of the state. Aesthetically, it claimed to represent abstract universal experiences but also purported to capture the particularity of Unitedstatesean (and even non-Western) cultural forms. As we saw above, it was politically antipolitical—and the list goes on. In our days, as Smirnova reminds us, the battle over the plural meanings of the “modern” is far from over. Perhaps, in that sense, we are all still living as if this were the 20th century. In our conversation, we explore what Professor Phillip’s book reveals about the ghosts of the Cold War and their claims to modernity that still haunt our political and aesthetical imaginaries.
Topic:: Cold War, Politics, History, Culture, Interview, and Dance
Political Geography:: North America and United States of America

66. NPS Park Cultural Resource Program Comprehensive Assessment Update

Author:: Sallyanne Harper, Stephen Ayers, Scott Cameron, Beth Gazley, and Janet Weiss
Publication Date:: 12-2022
Content Type:: Special Report
Institution:: The National Academy of Public Administration (NAPA)
Abstract:: Established in 1916, part of the National Park Service (NPS) mission is to preserve the nations cultural heritage and serve as a steward and manager of cultural resources within the units of the National Park System. Currently, the NPS manages more than 420 individual units that contain a wealth of cultural resources ranging from historic structures to museum objects and archives. The Park Cultural Resource Programs (PCRP) represent the disciplines of archeology, cultural landscapes, historic and prehistoric structures, ethnography, park history, and museum management. The PCRP’s are responsible for research, planning, and stewardship so that those resources may be preserved unimpaired for future generations. The Academy assessed the current state and the desired state of the PCRP and developed findings and recommendations to support the program's efforts to enhance efficiency and effectiveness in the future. This project built off a previous Academy study for the PCRP published in October 2008, "Saving Our History: A Review of National Park Cultural Resource," and assessed the progress made on recommendations and provided additional guidance to improve NPS stewardship of park cultural resources.
Topic:: Culture, Public Administration, National Park Service, and Organizational Assessment
Political Geography:: North America and United States of America

67. Analyzing DPRK's Food Supply and Demand Condition with Food Culture

Author:: Jangho Choi and Bum Hwan Kim
Publication Date:: 12-2022
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Korea Institute for International Economic Policy (KIEP)
Abstract:: Estimation of food supply and demand in North Korea follows the FAO/WFP calorie standard at least 1,640 kcal per person per day. This method is useful in that it can estimate the minimum amount of food shortage for survival, but has a limitation in that it does not accurately reflect real life in that it ignores the food culture of North Korean residents. In this study, the amount of food supply and demand in North Korea was estimated by considering the food culture. The amount of food shortage was calculated by the difference between food consumption and supply. For food consumption, South Korea’s food supply and demand tables (1970 and 1990) and North Korean population were used to consider food culture. The amount of food supply considered North Korean food production, imports, and exports. As a result of the estimation, first, when the food shortage in North Korea in 2014 was estimated by reflecting South Korea’s food supply table in 1970, 2,388.4 thousand tons were oversupplied, resulting in a food supply and demand rate of 1.26. Second, assuming that North Korea’s food culture changes similarly to that of South Korea in 1990 due to the spread of marketplaces or the unification of South and North Korea, total food consumption increased by 33.3%, and the food supply and demand rate fell from 1.26 to 0.95. The results of this study have two implications. First, it is possible that the cereals shortage estimated by FAO/WFP based on the minimum calorie required for survival was overestimated. Second, North Korea’s carbohydrate-oriented food aid does not take North Korea’s food culture into account, so it is necessary to increase support for fish, meat, fruits and vegetables.
Topic:: Economics, Culture, Food Security, Consumption, and Supply and Demand
Political Geography:: Asia and North Korea

68. Military Culture 2.0: The Female Cadet’s Approach, Feminine Competencies, and Pan-Critical Feminism - Drawing examples from American and Norwegian Special Forces

Author:: Mariah Loukou
Publication Date:: 07-2022
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Journal of Military and Strategic Studies
Institution:: Centre for Military, Security and Strategic Studies
Abstract:: Military values of honour, courage and loyalty are synonymous to male soldiers due to the association of the military with the alpha-male narrative. However, the everchanging nature of war urges for a new approach. One that is identified with female cadets and feminine competencies. The article explores examples from the U.S. and Norway to show practically how military training and education can benefit from the female soldiers’ approach. To back this argument, the author, explores feminist institutionalism and body politics. The author then suggests a new theoretical tool, pan-critical feminism, as the means to incorporate female values and competencies to represent the changing cohort of military institutions. The article finally discusses military culture through the lens of organisational culture to show that there is space for testing this idea, even though social perceptions create barriers to its implementation.
Topic:: Culture, Armed Forces, Feminism, and Military
Political Geography:: Europe, Norway, North America, and United States of America

69. Promoting the Inclusion of Europe’s Migrants and Minorities in Arts and Culture

Author:: Lucía Salgado and Liam Patuzzi
Publication Date:: 03-2022
Content Type:: Special Report
Institution:: Migration Policy Institute (MPI)
Abstract:: Decades of sustained immigration have transformed many European cities into mosaics of different cultures. Yet this diversity is not always mirrored in the art celebrated in museums, the plays produced in major theaters, and the music heard in concert halls. In addition, well-intended efforts to celebrate ethnic and cultural diversity through art and culture run the risk of overemphasizing differences, exoticizing minority groups rather than contributing to the normalization of diversity within society. But this status quo may be changing. Widespread anti-racism protests have prompted long-overdue conversations about mis- and under-representation of minorities as well as discrimination in the cultural scene. At the same time, pandemic-related restrictions have placed further financial strains on the already fragile cultural sector, challenging organizations to reach new audiences in new ways. This MPI Europe report, which draws on interviews with cultural professionals from 11 European countries, explores approaches to strengthening the participation of migrant and minority communities in arts and culture, with potential benefits for immigrant integration outcomes, social cohesion, and the vibrancy and sustainability of cultural institutions. It examines migrants’ and minorities’ inclusion on three levels: as visitors of cultural venues and consumers of art, as featured artists and performers, and as leaders and staff within cultural institutions. The research was conducted within the framework of the Urban Agenda Partnership on the Inclusion of Migrants and Refugees, co-led by the City of Amsterdam and the European Commission and funded by the European Commission's Directorate-General for Migration and Home Affairs.
Topic:: Migration, Arts, Culture, Minorities, European Union, Integration, and Inclusion
Political Geography:: Europe

70. Public and cultural diplomacy in European cities and states’ branding

Author:: Szymon Ostrowski
Publication Date:: 03-2022
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Nowa Polityka Wschodnia
Institution:: Faculty of Political Science and International Studies, Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń
Abstract:: Article “Public and cultural diplomacy in cities’ branding” is a try to set ideas of city diplomacy and idea of branding into theory of international relations. Also, analysis of two West-European and two East-European cities is a chance to analyze chances and threats that both states and cities can encounter during a process of brand building. The main questions that article is answering are “Can cities use their resources and connections to make public and cultural diplomacy?” and “What influence on that process has factor of being a city in post-soviet country or former Soviet Satellite state?” It can be said that cities are able to brand and rebrand itself and they are more flexible than states that cannot run away from some aspects of its identity. In case of difference between western and post-soviet states, the difference is none. In research, numerous rankings, articles and analyses were used as a primary sources in order to characterize how different are images of Italy, Germany, Hungary and Ukraine. Also, paper tries to determine, what is relation between states brand and branding of its cities.
Topic:: International Relations, Diplomacy, Culture, Soft Power, State, Cities, and Branding
Political Geography:: Europe, Ukraine, Germany, Hungary, and Italy

71. Artists killed in Latin America for exercising their freedom of artistic expression

Author:: Cecilia Noce and Diana Arévalo
Publication Date:: 12-2022
Content Type:: Special Report
Institution:: Center for the Opening and Development of Latin America (CADAL)
Abstract:: This is an executive summary of the original report produced in Spanish that focuses only on violence against artists, like targeted killings related to the exercise of their right to freedom of expression and artistic creativity in Latin America. In 2021, CADAL recorded 378 attacks on freedom of artistic expression, of which 23 were murders. Artists and cultural workers who participated in protests in Colombia and Cuba were harassed, detained, and repressed. Musicians and cultural leaders were also involved in the violence between organized crime groups in countries such as Mexico and Brazil.
Topic:: Arts, Culture, Freedom of Expression, Protests, Targeted Killing, and Organized Crime
Political Geography:: Brazil, Colombia, Cuba, Latin America, and Mexico

72. Democracy and Urban Political Culture in Spanish South America, 1810-1860

Author:: Paula Alonso and Marcela Ternavasio
Publication Date:: 07-2022
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Kellogg Institute for International Studies
Abstract:: “Democracy,” a word seldom used in public debate at the start of the nineteenth century and negatively associated with tumult, disorder, and direct rule, in a few decades became linked to representative government and increasingly employed with positive connotations. This paper argues that these conceptual changes should be explored in their political and social contexts, since the term “democracy” was invoked to (de)legitimate certain political practices and social sectors. Therefore, in exploring this non-linear process in Spanish America, these pages focus on the interactions between the emerging language of democracy and its varied meanings and uses in urban politics. These interactions were part of the factional disputes on how to implement the principle of popular sovereignty. Starting with an overview of selected emerging political practices during the Independence period, the paper then focuses on Lima and Buenos Aires, two regions with contrasting colonial pasts, responses to Spanish crises, and post-independence paths, showing how the concept of democracy could be put to varied uses according to different contexts and political objectives.
Topic:: Civil Society, Governance, Culture, Democracy, Citizenship, and Institutions
Political Geography:: Argentina, South America, Latin America, and Peru

73. Gender Attitudes and Trends in MENA

Author:: Mary Clare Roche
Publication Date:: 09-2022
Content Type:: Special Report
Institution:: Arab Barometer
Abstract:: Gender equality is far from achieved in MENA. Clear majorities in most countries surveyed hold that women should not play equal roles to men in both public and private spheres. Yet, there are also signs of change. In the past decade and a half of Arab Barometer surveys, public opinion across the Middle East and North Africa has trended towards gender equality. This is not only a result of younger generations with more liberal ideas of social norms becoming older, but an actual shift in perceptions across generations. In particular, agreement with the statements that “men are better at political leadership than women” and “university education is more important for men than women” has dropped sharply across many countries Arab Barometer has surveyed. The survey always examines perceptions of violence against women. There is a widespread perception that violence against women has been increasing in the region. This is in line with the World Bank’s assessment that gender-based violence has increased during the COVID-19 pandemic in MENA.1 However, the gap between men and women’s perceptions of violence is significant, with women being far more likely to say the level of violence has increased. In order to appropriately address the issue of gender-based violence, conversations need to be facilitated across genders. Another challenge for women in MENA relates to employment opportunities. Labor force participation rates for women are the lowest of any region in the world.2 However, results from Arab Barometer make it clear that most citizens perceive structural barriers to have a greater impact than cultural barriers, meaning governments could more readily develop policies to address these challenges.
Topic:: Civil Society, Culture, Public Opinion, Equality, and Gender
Political Geography:: Africa, Middle East, North Africa, and MENA

74. The Tower of David Museum: Venue for Co-Existence

Author:: Rony Ohad
Publication Date:: 12-2022
Content Type:: Research Paper
Institution:: Mitvim: The Israeli Institute for Regional Foreign Policies
Abstract:: Jerusalem has been studied extensively by scholars across a range of disciplines in the social sciences and humanities. However, the arts, specifically public performance arts, have rarely been leveraged as a primary source to inquire into the city’s social structures. This research project examines how cultural institutions within the Old City of Jerusalem (focusing on the Tower of David Museum site) reflect and shape the relationship between citizenship and cultural performances. The article inquires how a cultural institute in a contested city can become an allied sphere, a source for joint creation, and even a venue for peacebuilding. The events and performances addressed in this article provide examples of both straightforward and indirect peace process approaches, revealing culture’s potential use and limits in a contested environment. The author suggests that a multicultural approach, yet not a neutral one, leads the museum to reveal its agenda, becoming “The City’s Museum” for joint cultural creation and initiative. This is the fifth in a series of papers of a joint project by the Mitvim Institute for Regional Foreign Policies and the Davis Institute for International Relations at Hebrew University examining selected actors’ contribution to the advancement of Israeli-Palestinian peace.
Topic:: Culture, Peacebuilding, and Coexistence
Political Geography:: Israel, Palestine, and Jerusalem

75. Taiwan Matters for America/America Matters for Taiwan

Author:: East-West Center
Publication Date:: 09-2022
Content Type:: Special Report
Institution:: East-West Center
Abstract:: The inaugural edition of Taiwan Matters for America/America Matters for Taiwan, part of the Asia Matters for America initiative, maps the trade, investment, employment, business, diplomacy, security, education, tourism, and people-to-people connections between the United States and the Taiwan at the national, state, and local levels. This publication and the AsiaMattersforAmerica.org website are resources for understanding the robust and dynamic US-Indo-Pacific relationship.
Topic:: International Relations, Climate Change, Economics, Education, Environment, Politics, Science and Technology, Governance, Culture, Population, and Travel
Political Geography:: Taiwan and Asia

76. Alcohol consumption in modern Turkey: Kulturkampf and polarization

Author:: Evangelos Areteos and Christina Kapodistria
Publication Date:: 11-2022
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Hellenic Foundation for European and Foreign Policy (ELIAMEP)
Abstract:: Α culture war (Kulturkampf) is raging in Turkey, and alcohol is one of the major fronts once again. Opposing cultural identities are emerging as a powerful instrument of polarization. The ongoing culture war is revealing the AKP’s potential, but also its limits.
Topic:: Religion, Culture, Alcohol, AKP, and Polarization
Political Geography:: Turkey and Middle East

77. Photo Poetics: Chinese Lyricism and Modern Media Culture

Author:: Shengqing Wu, Ying Qian, and Alexander Alberro
Publication Date:: 03-2022
Content Type:: Video
Institution:: Weatherhead East Asian Institute, Columbia University
Abstract:: Chinese poetry has a long history of interaction with the visual arts. Classical aesthetic thought held that painting, calligraphy, and poetry were cross-fertilizing and mutually enriching. What happened when the Chinese poetic tradition encountered photography, a transformative technology and presumably realistic medium that reshaped seeing and representing the world? This event is organized by the Weatherhead East Asian Institute and cosponsored by the Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures, and the Center for Comparative Media, all at Columbia University.
Topic:: Arts, Culture, Media, and Buddhism
Political Geography:: China and Asia

78. The Buddhist Dream Tale: Past and Present

Author:: Francisca Cho and Seong Uk Kim
Publication Date:: 03-2022
Content Type:: Video
Institution:: Weatherhead East Asian Institute, Columbia University
Abstract:: Kim Manjung's Kuunmong, or Dream of the Nine Clouds, was written by a scholar-official and he turned to the Buddhist trope that "life is nothing but a dream" in order to express his doubts and disappointment about the Confucian social structure in which he lived. The speaker argues that the dream tale turns the act of fiction writing into a Buddhist philosophical exercise, and she will draw out this argument by considering how the medium of fiction functions in a ritual way. In this vein, she brings the dream tale into the present by considering the experience of cinema as an analogue. This event is cosponsored by the Center for Korean Research and the Weatherhead East Asian Institute.
Topic:: Religion, Arts, Culture, and Literature
Political Geography:: Asia

79. China's Colonial Boarding Schools in Tibet

Author:: Lhadon Tethong, Freya Putt, Jia Luo, Tenzin Dorjee, and Andy Nathan
Publication Date:: 04-2022
Content Type:: Video
Institution:: Weatherhead East Asian Institute, Columbia University
Abstract:: Chinese government policies are forcing three out of every four Tibetan students into a vast network of colonial boarding schools, separating children as young as four from their parents. According to a recent report by Tibet Action Institute, the schools are a cornerstone of Xi Jinping’s campaign to supplant Tibetan identity with a homogenous Chinese identity in order to neutralize potential resistance to Chinese Communist Party (CCP) rule. The report, “Separated From Their Families, Hidden From the World: China’s Vast System of Colonial Boarding Schools Inside Tibet,” finds that an estimated 800,000 to 900,000 Tibetan students aged six to 18, as well as an unknown number of four and five-year olds, are in these state-run schools. This panel will discuss how the schools function as sites for remolding children into Chinese nationals loyal to the CCP.
Topic:: Education, Culture, Children, Colonialism, and Boarding Schools
Political Geography:: China, Asia, and Tibet

80. Making Art Amid Mayhem

Author:: Carlos Egaña
Publication Date:: 03-2022
Content Type:: Commentary and Analysis
Institution:: The North American Congress on Latin America (NACLA)
Abstract:: For a Venezuelan artist, photography offers a democratic means of expression and experimentation from differing viewpoints.
Topic:: Arts, Culture, and Photography
Political Geography:: South America and Venezuela

81. Promoting the Inclusion of Europe’s Migrants and Minorities in Arts and Culture

Author:: Lucía Salgado and Liam Patuzzi
Publication Date:: 03-2022
Content Type:: Special Report
Institution:: Migration Policy Institute (MPI)
Abstract:: Decades of sustained immigration have transformed many European cities into mosaics of different cultures. Yet this diversity is not always mirrored in the art celebrated in museums, the plays produced in major theaters, and the music heard in concert halls. In addition, well-intended efforts to celebrate ethnic and cultural diversity through art and culture run the risk of overemphasizing differences, exoticizing minority groups rather than contributing to the normalization of diversity within society. But this status quo may be changing. Widespread anti-racism protests have prompted long-overdue conversations about mis- and under-representation of minorities as well as discrimination in the cultural scene. At the same time, pandemic-related restrictions have placed further financial strains on the already fragile cultural sector, challenging organizations to reach new audiences in new ways. This MPI Europe report, which draws on interviews with cultural professionals from 11 European countries, explores approaches to strengthening the participation of migrant and minority communities in arts and culture, with potential benefits for immigrant integration outcomes, social cohesion, and the vibrancy and sustainability of cultural institutions. It examines migrants’ and minorities’ inclusion on three levels: as visitors of cultural venues and consumers of art, as featured artists and performers, and as leaders and staff within cultural institutions. The research was conducted within the framework of the Urban Agenda Partnership on the Inclusion of Migrants and Refugees, co-led by the City of Amsterdam and the European Commission and funded by the European Commission's Directorate-General for Migration and Home Affairs.
Topic:: Arts, Culture, Employment, Citizenship, Economy, Integration, Identity, Inclusion, Civic Engagement, and Immigration Policy
Political Geography:: Europe

82. Finding a New Idiom: Language, Moral Decay, and the Ongoing Nakba

Author:: Elias Khoury
Publication Date:: 03-2022
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Institute for Palestine Studies
Abstract:: This essay is a translated and edited version of the Anis Makdisi Program in Literature lecture delivered by the author in May 2021. The talk, on the uprising sweeping every Palestinian geography from the river to the sea, was constructed as a series of illustrative stories. Their distillation, as Khoury points out, is that there will be no end to the Palestinian question so long as there exists a people continually prepared to resist the ongoing Nakba. “It is enough,” Khoury concludes, “that with this uprising Palestine has recovered the alphabet, leaving us to create a new idiom.”
Topic:: Culture, Language, Nakba, Resistance, and Storytelling
Political Geography:: Middle East and Palestine

83. Design to Live: Everyday Inventions from a Refugee Camp

Publication Date:: 04-2022
Content Type:: Video
Institution:: MIT Center for International Studies
Abstract:: Panel discussion with experts :: Part of the Myron Weiner Seminar Series on International Migration Panelists: Azra Akšamija, an artist and architectural historian, is Director and Founder of the MIT Future Heritage Lab (FHL) and Associate Professor in the MIT Department of Architecture and the Program in Art, Culture, and Technology. Raafat Majzoub, an architect, artist, and writer, is Director of The Khan: The Arab Association for Prototyping Cultural Practices and Editor-in-Chief of the Dongola Architecture Series. Melina Philippou, an architect and urbanist, is Program Director of the MIT Future Heritage Lab, founder of Trapezui: Marble Objecthoods and Associate at the Department of City Planning, Ministry of Interior in Cyprus. Moderator: John Tirman is the executive director and a principal research scientist at MIT's Center for International Studies. Tirman is author, or coauthor and editor, of fourteen books on international affairs, including, Dream Chasers: Immigration and the American Backlash (MIT Press, 2015) and The Deaths of Others: The Fate of Civilians in America’s Wars (Oxford University Press, 2011). About the book, Design to Live: Everyday Inventions from a Refugee Camp: The power of art and design to create a life worth living: designs, inventions, and artworks from the Azraq Refugee Camp in Jordan. This book shows how refugees use art and design to transform their living environments, restoring humanity within circumstances that seem aimed at depriving them of it. Featuring more than twenty projects created by Syrian refugees at the Azraq Refugee Camp in Jordan, Design to Live offers a new way of understanding design as a subversive worldmaking practice and as tool for reclaiming agency in conditions of forced displacement. The projects—including a vertical garden, an arrangement necessitated by regulations that forbid planting on the ground; a front hall, fashioned to protect privacy; a baby swing, made from recycled school desks; and a chess set, carved from broomsticks—showcase the discrepancy between standardized humanitarian design and the real sociocultural needs of refugees.
Topic:: Arts, Culture, Refugees, and Humanitarian Crisis
Political Geography:: Global Focus

84. The Culture-Promotion Effect of Multinationals on Trade: the IKEA case

Author:: Dylan Bourny, Daniel Mirza, and Jamel Saadaoui
Publication Date:: 07-2022
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Centre d'Etudes Prospectives et d'Informations Internationales (CEPII)
Abstract:: In this paper, we investigate how some MNEs which spread their home culture over time and space to the rest of the world are affecting, in turn, trade flows from home. By selling products embodying cultural information related to their country of origin, those MNEs embrace the role of ambassadors of their home country. We argue that IKEA offers an ideal case to identify a multinational's culture-promotion effect on trade. We build a dataset on IKEA's presence in foreign markets between 1995 and 2015 and merge it with disaggregated product level trade between pairs of countries. We find solid evidence of an externality linked to IKEA: a setting of an IKEA new store in a destination increases trade flows by around 2% from Sweden for products that resemble to what the multinational offers (despite being completely unrelated to that multinational). This result is driven primarily by the products identified to encompass a high-cultural content. Other robustness checks and tests seem to be very much consistent with the hypothesis of IKEA promoting the Swedish culture to the world.
Topic:: Globalization, International Trade and Finance, Culture, and Multinational Corporations
Political Geography:: Global Focus

85. A Salute to Cultural Diplomacy and Those Who Make It Possible

Author:: Renee M. Earle
Publication Date:: 08-2022
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: American Diplomacy
Institution:: American Diplomacy
Abstract:: What do James Brown, Joseph Heller, Mikhail Baryshnikov, and the U.S. Sixth Fleet Band have in common? They all supported U.S. cultural diplomacy abroad. Not all of our cultural ambassadors are as famous— most are not — but together a very wide variety of American artists, performers, and writers have had positive impact on the image of the United States throughout the world. U.S. cultural diplomacy also includes many examples of citizen diplomacy and philanthropy, whether in partnership with U.S. embassies or independently. Together, these programs positively project our values abroad.
Topic:: Culture, Soft Power, and Cultural Diplomacy
Political Geography:: Turkey, France, North America, Brussels, Czech Republic, and United States of America

86. Language and Cultural Immersion Build Effective Communication

Author:: Bruce K. Byers
Publication Date:: 11-2022
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: American Diplomacy
Institution:: American Diplomacy
Abstract:: Foreign language competency and cultural understanding are acknowledged as important skills for diplomats. While many Foreign Service Officers receive such training in Washington before going to an overseas assignment, few have the opportunity for the deep cultural and language immersion that I enjoyed as part of my first assignment for the U.S. Information Agency (USIA). In early 1972, after completing seven months of Farsi language training at the Foreign Service Institute (FSI), I was posted to USIS Tehran. My family and I arrived shortly before the Persian new year, Now Ruz, and took up residence in an embassy apartment. Dave Dubois, the Public Affairs Officer, with the concurrence of the embassy Deputy Chief of Mission and USIA’s Office of Near East and South Asian Affairs (NEA), had arranged for me to spend some time with a host family in Isfahan. It was a “deep immersion” experience in which I would continue learning Farsi and experience life with a local family for several weeks.
Topic:: Diplomacy, Culture, Language, and Memoir
Political Geography:: Iran, Middle East, and United States of America

87. Tabletop Debates: reflections on molokhia, identity, and forks vs spoons

Author:: Antonio Tahhan
Publication Date:: 08-2022
Content Type:: Special Report
Institution:: Center for Contemporary Arab Studies (CCAS)
Abstract:: Molokhia—an iconic Middle Eastern and North African soup—can be notoriously slimy. But when I lived in Aleppo, my aunt taught me three tricks to keep the slime at bay: first, leave the molokhia leaves whole (as opposed to chopped); second, squeeze a lemon over the leaves as soon as you add them to the pot; and third, do not overcook them. “This is how we cook molokhia,” my aunt said. The “we” was vague. Did she mean Aleppans? Other Syrians? “Egyptians—they make it the slimy way,” she added, raising a skeptical eyebrow. This led me to wonder: is there such a thing as a “Syrian molokhia” distinct from an “Egyptian molokhia”? In what ways does this dish unite, but also cut through, imagined national categories, in the Arab world and beyond?
Topic:: Food, Culture, Diversity, Identity, Molokhia, and Cooking
Political Geography:: Middle East and North Africa

88. How MAAS alum and food historian Anny Gaul studies cookbooks

Author:: Vicki Valosik
Publication Date:: 08-2022
Content Type:: Special Report
Institution:: Center for Contemporary Arab Studies (CCAS)
Abstract:: Cookbooks can teach us how to braise a lamb shank, thicken a sauce, or bake a perfect pie crust. But for MAAS alum Anny Gaul (’12), a cultural historian of food and gender, they can do so much more. “Cookbooks can tell us something significant about norms and ideals, what is good taste, what is good food, and how those questions are connected to who we are as a nation,” says Gaul. That is an argument Gaul explores in her recent Global Food History article “From Kitchen Arabic to Recipes for Good Taste: Nation, Empire, and Race in Egyptian Cookbooks.” In Gaul’s paper, which earned her the Global Food History Prize for an Emerging Food Historian, she takes a deep dive into a unique literary sub-genre: cookbooks written by Egyptian women between the 1880s and 1950s. This was a period in Egypt, says Gaul, when female literacy was on the rise, girls were going to school in greater numbers, and women were beginning to pursue degrees abroad. Domestic science was a popular choice, with programs in England and Europe training female students to run efficient and modern home kitchens. A cohort of these women returned to Egypt to author cookbooks that would become widely influential, finding receptive audiences among the country’s emerging middle-class housewives, as well as the public education system, which often adopted their books as home economics texts.
Topic:: History, Food, and Culture
Political Geography:: Middle East and North Africa

89. MENA Photography: More than your eyes can see

Author:: Lyne Sneige, Iman Ali, and Samar Hazboun
Publication Date:: 08-2022
Content Type:: Video
Institution:: Middle East Institute (MEI)
Abstract:: MEI Arts and Culture Center Director Lyne Sneige speaks with photographers Iman Ali and Samar Hazboun, who are featured in MEI's latest gallery exhibition "More Than Your Eyes Can See: Contemporary Photography from the Arab World" - curated by Laila Abdul-Hadi Jadallah and in partnership with Tribe Magazine.
Topic:: Arts, Culture, and Photography
Political Geography:: Middle East and North Africa

90. Between the Sky and the Earth: Contemporary Art from the UAE

Author:: Afra Aldhaheri and Asma Belhamar
Publication Date:: 02-2022
Content Type:: Video
Institution:: Middle East Institute (MEI)
Abstract:: Afra Aldhaheri and Asma Belhamar, two featured artists in the MEI Art Gallery’s latest exhibition, Between the Sky and the Earth: Contemporary Art from the UAE, join MEI’s Lyne Sneige to discuss the inspirations and artistic processes behind their pieces in the show.
Topic:: Development, Arts, and Culture
Political Geography:: Middle East, United Arab Emirates, and Gulf Nations

91. Policy Papers by Women of Color: Decolonizing International Development

Author:: Tamara White, Aisha White, Gabrielle B. Gueye, Daniet Moges, and Eliza Gueye
Publication Date:: 02-2022
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Women of Color Advancing Peace, Security and Conflict Transformation (WCAPS)
Abstract:: This series explores a handful of scenarios where colonial legacies surface in international development and humanitarian aid work, from staffing and institution building to food aid and global tourism. Exploring these topics and seeking to deconstruct the systems and structures that impede success in development and humanitarian efforts is critically important in ensuring that we ultimately meet global goals and restore integrity to our sector. Many believe international development and humanitarian aid are irreconcilable and that this work is an extension of colonialism, but our constituency believes that there is hope in transforming the sector and shifting power to those who should rightfully own this work and reap the benefits of development.
Topic:: Development, Humanitarian Aid, Tourism, Culture, Neoliberalism, Decolonization, Institutions, COVID-19, and Food Assistance
Political Geography:: Global Focus and United States of America

92. Korean Soft Power Goals and US-Korea Relations

Author:: Jenna Gibson
Publication Date:: 07-2022
Content Type:: Special Report
Institution:: East-West Center
Abstract:: Jenna Gibson, a PhD Candidate at the University of Chicago, explains why "listing off credibly popular cultural products coming out of South Korea and calling it soft power rings hollow" and how declarations of this type obscure the concept of soft power.
Topic:: Bilateral Relations, Culture, and Soft Power
Political Geography:: Asia, South Korea, North America, and United States of America

93. The Legal Role of Government in Protecting Cultural Heritage and Archaeological Sites in the War-Affected Countries: The Case of Iraq and Syria

Author:: Rukhsar Ahmad
Publication Date:: 06-2022
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Journal of Liberty and International Affairs
Institution:: Institute for Research and European Studies (IRES)
Abstract:: Conserving cultural heritage and archaeological sites have become a serious national concern in the Middle East for the war-affected countries, including Iraq and Syria. Because looting and violence have caused massive destruction of cultural heritage and archaeological sites, this study aimed to analyze the legal background concerning the protection of cultural heritage and archaeological sites in the context of Iraq and Syria during 2014 with the rise of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS). This study used the content analysis method and cross-country analyses for Iraq and Syria. The study is guided by two main questions: What is the government's legal role in protecting cultural heritage and archaeological sites? Are there any legal authorities in Iraq and Syria to protect cultural heritage and archaeological sites during war and conflict? In the end, this paper suggests that protecting cultural heritage is the legal responsibility of government which is supposed to be enforced in the legal foundation of the state as a national sovereign power.
Topic:: War, Governance, Culture, Legal Theory, Heritage, and Archaeology
Political Geography:: Iraq, Middle East, and Syria

94. Book Talk. Contemporary Ukrainian and Baltic Art: Political and Social Perspectives

Publication Date:: 02-2022
Content Type:: Video
Institution:: The Harriman Institute
Abstract:: Please join the Ukrainian Studies Program at the Harriman Institute for a presentation of the book Contemporary Ukrainian Art and Baltic Art: Political and Social Perspectives (ibidem Press, 2021). The event will feature presentations by the volume’s editor Svitlana Biedarieva and contributors Ieva Astahovska, Olena Martynyuk, and Margaret Tali with moderator Mark Andryczyk (Harriman Institute). This volume focuses on political and social expressions in contemporary art of Ukraine, Estonia, Lithuania, and Latvia. It explores the transformations that art in Ukraine and the Baltic states has undergone since their independence in 1991, discussing how the conflicts and challenges of the last three decades have impacted the reconsideration of identity and fostered resistance of culture against economic and political crises. It analyzes connections between the past and the present as seen by the artists in these countries and looks at their visions of the future. Contemporary Ukrainian art portrays various perspectives, addressing issues from controversial historical topics to the present military conflict in the East of the country. Baltic art speaks out against the erasure of past historical traumas and analyzes the pertinence of its cultural scene to the European community. The contributions in this collection open a discussion of whether there is a single paradigm that describes the contemporary processes of art production in Ukraine and the Baltic countries. With contributions by Ieva Astahovska, Svitlana Biedarieva, Kateryna Botanova, Olena Martynyuk, Vytautas Michelkevičius, Lina Michelkevičė, Margaret Tali, and Jessica Zychowicz.
Topic:: Nationalism, Arts, Culture, and Identity
Political Geography:: Europe, Ukraine, Lithuania, Estonia, and Latvia

95. Internationalist Aesthetics: China and Early Soviet Culture by Edward Tyerman

Publication Date:: 02-2022
Content Type:: Video
Institution:: The Harriman Institute
Abstract:: Following the failure of communist revolutions in Europe, in the 1920s the Soviet Union turned its attention to fostering anticolonial uprisings in Asia. China, divided politically between rival military factions and dominated economically by imperial powers, emerged as the Comintern’s prime target. At the same time, a host of prominent figures in Soviet literature, film, and theater traveled to China, met with Chinese students in Moscow, and placed contemporary China on the new Soviet stage. They sought to reimagine the relationship with China in the terms of socialist internationalism—and, in the process, determine how internationalism was supposed to look and feel in practice. Internationalist Aesthetics offers a groundbreaking account of the crucial role that China played in the early Soviet cultural imagination. Edward Tyerman tracks how China became the key site for Soviet debates over how the political project of socialist internationalism should be mediated, represented, and produced. The central figure in this story, the avant-garde writer Sergei Tret’iakov, journeyed to Beijing in the 1920s and experimented with innovative documentary forms in an attempt to foster a new sense of connection between Chinese and Soviet citizens. Reading across genres and media from reportage and biography to ballet and documentary film, Tyerman shows how Soviet culture sought an aesthetics that could foster a sense of internationalist community. He reveals both the aspirations and the limitations of this project, illuminating a crucial chapter in Sino-Russian relations. Grounded in extensive sources in Russian and Chinese, this cultural history bridges Slavic and East Asian studies and offers new insight into the transnational dynamics that shaped socialist aesthetics and politics in both countries.
Topic:: Nationalism, Arts, Culture, and Identity
Political Geography:: Europe and Soviet Union

96. Book Talk. La Nijinska by Lynn Garafola

Publication Date:: 03-2022
Content Type:: Video
Institution:: The Harriman Institute
Abstract:: Overshadowed in life and legend by her brother Vaslav Nijinsky, Bronislava Nijinska had a far longer and more productive career. An architect of twentieth-century neoclassicism, she experienced the transformative power of the Russian Revolution and created her greatest work - Les Noces - under the influence of its avant-garde. Many of her ballets rested on the probing of gender boundaries, a mistrust of conventional gender roles, and the heightening of the ballerina's technical and artistic prowess. A prominent member of Russia Abroad, she worked with leading figures of twentieth-century art, music, and ballet, including Stravinsky, Diaghilev, Poulenc, Alexandra Exter, Natalia Goncharova, Frederick Ashton, Alicia Markova, and Maria Tallchief. She was also a remarkable dancer in her own right with a bravura technique and powerful stage presence that enabled her to perform an unusually broad repertory. Finally, she was the author of an acclaimed volume of memoirs in addition to a major treatise on movement. Nijinska's career sheds new light on the modern history of ballet and of modernism more generally, recuperating the memory of lost works and forgotten artists, many of them women. But it also reveals the sexism pervasive in the upper echelons of the early and mid-twentieth-century ballet world, barriers that women choreographers still confront. Lynn Garafola is Professor Emerita of Dance at Barnard College, Columbia University. A dance historian and critic, she is the author of Diaghilev's Ballets Russes and Legacies of Twentieth-Century Dance, and the editor of several books, including The Diaries of Marius Petipa, André Levinson on Dance (with Joan Acocella), José Limón: An Unfinished Memoir, and The Ballets Russes and Its World. She has curated several exhibitions, including Dance for a City: Fifty Years of the New York City Ballet, New York Story: Jerome Robbins and His World, Diaghilev's Theater of Marvels: The Ballets Russes and Its Aftermath, and, most recently, Arthur Mitchell: Harlem's Ballet Trailblazer.
Topic:: Arts, Culture, Feminism, Russian Revolution, and Gender
Political Geography:: Russia and Europe

97. Finding Common Ground: Intercultural Dialogue Among Youth in North Macedonia

Publication Date:: 03-2022
Content Type:: Video
Institution:: The Harriman Institute
Abstract:: Marija Krstevska will discuss her trajectory as a girl raised in a mono-ethnic environment to a young advocate for intercultural acceptance. She is the Secretary General of the Center for Intercultural Dialogue, a youth organization in Kumanovo, North Macedonia. Through that organization, she has created learning opportunities within non-formal education for diverse groups of learners, advocated for direct involvement in community decision-making, and supported youth participation through inclusive policies. She will discuss the importance of active citizenship, capacity building, and non-formal education in fostering intercultural dialogue among youth.
Topic:: Education, Culture, Youth, Activism, and Gender
Political Geography:: Europe and North Macedonia

98. Eyes that Lead: The History of Guide Dogs for the Blind in East Central Europe and Beyond

Publication Date:: 04-2022
Content Type:: Video
Institution:: The Harriman Institute
Abstract:: The lecture explores a hitherto overlooked episode in the history of the human-animal relations: the establishment of professional guide dog training after the First World War, which had its origins in Central Europe. Under this scheme, dogs became helpers, and, furthermore, equal partners to disabled soldiers and soon thereafter also to blind civilians. The lecture shows how the resultant cooperation between guide dogs and their owners placed the human–animal bond on a new footing. It also reveals how an idea initiated by veterans of the German and Austro-Hungarian army spread across the world and what adjustments were necessary to make the scheme suitable for different economic, cultural and social settings. In a broader context the lecture seeks to call attention to the potentials of the burgeoning fields of animal studies and disability histories for the study of East Central Europe.
Topic:: Culture, Disability, and Animals
Political Geography:: Europe

99. Byzantium as Seen by the White Russians in Constantinople

Publication Date:: 04-2022
Content Type:: Video
Institution:: The Harriman Institute
Abstract:: or the broad public in pre-revolutionary Russia, Byzantium belonged to religious discourse; it also became a battle cry for Russian imperialism. And, by an irony of history, it was that long-coveted Byzantium that greeted the White Russians as they, orphaned refugees, disembarked in Constantinople following their defeat in the Civil War. What sentiments did the Byzantine monuments inspire in them? It appears that their attitudes were more nuanced than pure nostalgia or dismissal. Sergey A. Ivanov is a member of the British Academy. He has published more than 200 scholarly works on Byzantine culture and the relations between Byzantium and the Slavs. Among his monographs are Holy Fools in Byzantium and Beyond (Oxford, 2006), “Pearls Before Swine:” Missionary Work in Byzantium (Paris, 2015) and "Византийская культура и агиография" (Moscow, 2020, Byzantine Culture and Hagiography). His guidebook "В поисках Константинополя" was first published in Russian in 2011, went through three editions and was translated into Bulgarian and Turkish. It was published in English as In Search of Constantinople. A Guidebook Through Byzantine Istanbul and Its Surroundings in March 2022.
Topic:: Culture, Urban, Cities, and Monuments
Political Geography:: Russia, Europe, Turkey, and Istanbul

100. China and America: From Trade War to Race and Culture Confrontation

Author:: Walter Woon
Publication Date:: 03-2021
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: PRISM
Institution:: Institute for National Strategic Studies (INSS), National Defense University
Abstract:: The Thucydides Trap is an intellectual trap for the unwary when uncritically applied to China. China is not a rising power; it is a returning power. The psychology is different. Misapprehending the nature of the problem will exacerbate it. First and foremost, it is essential to recognize that it is not “China” and “the Chinese” that challenge America’s dominance. America’s adversary is the People’s Republic of China (PRC) led by the Communist Party of China (CCP). The Republic of China (ROC) in Taiwan has been an ally of America since World War II. The millions of people of Chinese descent abroad are not automatically aligned with the PRC. To refer unthinkingly to the “Chinese” challenge is intellectually flabby and politically misguided.
Topic:: Race, Culture, Trade Wars, and Strategic Competition
Political Geography:: China, Asia, North America, and United States of America

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COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY PRESS