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41. 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

42. 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

43. 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

44. "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

45. 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

46. 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

47. 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

48. 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

49. 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

50. 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