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42. 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
43. "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
44. 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
45. 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
46. 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
47. 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
48. 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
49. 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
50. 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
51. 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
52. 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
53. 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
54. 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
55. 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
56. 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
57. 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
58. 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
59. "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
60. 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