Showing papers on "Honour published in 2009"

Islam, gender, and immigrant integration: boundary drawing in discourses on honour killing in the Netherlands and Germany

Abstract: Public discourse on Muslim immigrant integration in Europe is increasingly framed around the presumed incompatibility of Islam and Western values. To understand how such framing constructs boundaries between immigrants and majority society in the media, we analyse newspaper discussions of honour killing in the Netherlands and Germany. These debates reinforce existing bright boundaries, or a strong sense of us versus them, between immigrants from Muslim and/or Turkish backgrounds and the majority population. Limited elements of boundary blurring are also present. We extend existing theory by showing that these boundaries are inscribed in the intersection of ethnicity, national origin, religion and gender.

Of God(s), Trees, Kings, and Scholars: Neo-Assyrian and Related Studies in Honour of Simo Parpola

Abstract: The rather euphemistic “lady of the house”,2 bēlat bēti,3 appears twelve4 times in the extant Neo-Assyrian sources. The overall interpretation of the compound must, however, be more complex than its straightforward translation. In this article, we will aim at clarifying the identity of the ladies who carried this title in the NeoAssyrian period as well as briefly discussing the possible problems and/or prospects resulting from the proposed identifications. We will argue that more than half of the occurrences clearly use the term “lady of the house” to indicate the wife of the

The Ends of Life. Roads to Fulfilment in Early Modern England. By Keith Thomas (oxford: oxford University Press, 2009. xvi plus 393 pp.).

Abstract: oxford in 2000, is a wonderfully rich survey of the cultural landscape of early modern Eng - land. Written with humanity and insight, it is a delight to read and an ideal introduction. With over ninety pages of endnotes, it also provides scholars with a happy hunting-ground. Six wide-ranging chapters explore a number of 'ends'- military prowess, work and vocation, wealth and possessions, honour and reputa - tion, friendship and sociability, and fame and the afterlife. Tracing shifts over the period, they chart the transformation of 'friendship' from vertical to primarily horizontal ties, and its gradual separation from family and kin, changes in the nature and expectations of marriage, the emergence of new forms of sociability (coffee-house, club, tea-party), and the development of 'taste' in the acquisition of material goods and furnishings, along with much else. Thomas is fully aware of the conceptual and evidential problems inherent in his project. How far can we speak of individuality in the early modern period? How far were people con - scious of the possibility, let alone propriety, of seeking a personal fulfilment? Elite families generally subordinated individual wishes to the interest of the family as a whole, and its lineage. Jacobean satirists and dramatists such as Ben Jon - son thought primarily in terms of 'character' types. Even spiritual autobiography quickly assumed a generic form, with writers tracing broadly similar paths from sinfulness through conversion to grace. But if individuality still had far to go, Thomas stresses how far it had already come. The conventional discourse urg- ing acceptance of one's given station in life has to be set against "widespread evidence of active agency, mobility, self-help, and independence of spirit" (p.41). To the evidence he adduces we might add the idiosyncratic autobiography of the Tudor musician Thomas Whythorne, and the deeply personal travails of the Stu art nonconformist Agnes Beaumont. Finding clues to an individual's inner drives poses a different kind of problem, especially for the poor and less literate. While we can trace misbehaviour through court records, there is little direct evidence on the inner thoughts of the silent and outwardly respectable majority; Quaker and similar writings, however rich, are highly unrepresentative. The surviving evidence is weighted heavily towards the social and intellectual elites, and the book inevitably reflects this, though Thomas does all he can to probe attitudes lower down the social scale. He acknowledges too the fact that for the poor, life was bound by constraints that generally left little room to pursue personal ends. For most, life was about survival and providing for their families. And for women, especially, it was widely regarded as inappropriate to pursue any personal goal other than to be a good wife, mother, and neighbour.

The Ends of Life: Roads to Fulfilment in Early Modern England

Abstract: Introduction 1. Fulfilment in an Age of Limited Possibilities 2. Military Prowess 3. Work and Vocation 4. Wealth and Possessions 5. Honour and Reputation 6. Friendship and Sociability 7. Fame and the Afterlife Note on References Abbreviations Notes Index

Violence, prejudice and sexuality

Abstract: 1. Understanding Sexual Diversity 2. 'Homophobia' and the Social Context of Sexual Prejudice 3. Violence and 'Hate Crime' 4. Researching Anti-Homosexual Killings 5. Killings as 'Hate Crimes'? 6. Male Honour and the 'Homosexual Advance' 7. Violence, Identity and Panic 8. Demons and Victims Conclusion: Essentialism, Activism and Citizenship

The crusade over the bodies of women

Abstract: Anti-Muslim prejudice finds its roots in the history of the West. Since the time of the Crusades, Islam and its adherents have been cast as the strange and deviant Other, the polar opposite to the reasonable and civilized West. It is suggested, however, that it is only in recent times that we have seen such prejudice become a normalized part of the very fabric of society. 9/11, 7/7 and the ‘war on terror’ have propelled Muslims and their faith into the limelight, forcing them to become accountable en masse for the sins of the few. Rhetoric—both social and legal—focuses on the barbarity, brutality and oppressiveness that is Islam, and the bodies of women form the battlefield on which this verbal crusade is waged. Starting with this premise, Fernandez suggests that anti-Muslim prejudice is increasingly subsumed and hidden behind a concern for women. She explores the discourse around gender-based practices such as veiling, forced marriages and honour killings to reveal the ways in which expressions ...

The fiscal military state in eighteenth-century Europe : essays in honour of P. G. M. Dickson

Abstract: Contents: Introduction: the fiscal-military state in the a "longa (TM) 18th century, Christopher Storrs The fiscal-military state and international rivalry during the long 18th century, Hamish Scott The Habsburg monarchy from 'military-fiscal' state to ' militarization', Michael Hochedlinger Prussia as a fiscal-military state, 1640a "1806, Peter H. Wilson Russia as a fiscal-military state, 1689a "1825, Janet Hartley The French experience, 1661a "1815, JoA"l FA(c)lix and Frank Tallett The triumph and denouement of the British fiscal state: taxation for the wars against Revolutionary and Napoleonic France, 1793a "1815, Patrick Karl O'Brien The Savoyard fiscal-military state in the long 18th century, Christopher Storrs Index.

On Art and War and Terror

Abstract: Introduction: Out of the Marvellous, or, Scholarship and the Magic Arts 1. The Artist and the Terrorist, or, The Paintable and the Unpaintable: Gerhard Richter and the Baader-Meinhof Group 2. The Face, or, Senseless Kindness: War Photography and the Ethics of Responsibility 3. Provenance, or, Authenticity: The Guitar Player and the Arc of a Life 4. Broomstick Horrors, or, The Fog-Walker in the Wood: Keeping up Appearances in the Great War 5. The Strategy of Still Life, or, Art and Current Affairs: Georges Braque and the Occupation 6. All This Happened, or, The Real Waugh: Sword of Honour and the Literature of the Second World War 7. The Secret Life, or, The Soldier's Tale: Military Diaries 8. Like a Dog, or, Animal House on the Night Shift: Kafka and Abu Ghraib 9. It's All Fucked Up, or, The Non-Fiction Horror Movie: The Cinema and the War on Terror 10. Waiting for the Barbarians, or, The Hospitality of War: Civilization and Barbarism in the War on Terror Acknowledgements Index.

Republican imperialism: J.A. Froude and the virtue of empire

Abstract: In this article I pursue two main lines of argument. First, I seek to delineate two distinctive modes of justifying imperialism found in nineteenth-century political thought (and beyond). The 'liberal civilizational'li model, articulated most prominently by John Stuart Mill, justified empire primarily in terms of the benefits that it brought to subject populations. Its proponents sought to 'civilize'lthe 'barbarian'. An alternative `republican' model focused instead on the benefits - glory, honour and power above all - that accrued to the imperial state. Less concerned with spreading civilization, its proponents concentrated on fortifying the imperial polity. Second, I offer a 'republican' interpretation of the writings of the historian and public moralist J.A. Froude (1818-94), arguing that he both diagnosed the problems of modern Britain and prescribed imperial solutions to those problems, based on his reading of the fate of the Roman republic.

Ambition and Corruption isn Xenophon’s Education of Cyrus

Abstract: What knowledge enables Cyrus to rule easily over multitudes? Why does Xenophon convey it in a novel? Cyrus possesses knowledge of ambition’s effects in the honour-loving soul. He perceives that honour-loving men can be ensnared into abject dependence if they can be made to accept any one individual’s will as the sole source of honour; easier still is the task of ruling those far more numerous men whose love of honour is infused with or subordinated to the love of the material rewards that accompany victory. Cyrus creates a hierarchy of dependence, with himself at the apex, and he rules his honour-loving followers easily, creating the institutions of an empire that endured to Xenophon’s own day. Xenophon depicts this arrangement in a historical romance, rather than describe it in a treatise, in ordermore effectively to inspire the love of virtue in his readers.

Emotions as bio-cultural processes

Abstract: Introduction.- Homo Sapiens-The Emotional Animal.- Part I: Concepts and Approaches. Emotions as Bio-Cultural Processes: Disciplinary Debates and an Interdisciplinary Outlook.- On the Origin and Evolution of Affective Capacities in Lower Vertebrates.- Emotions: The shared Heritage of Animals and Humans.- Neurobiological Basis of Emotions.- Milestones and Mechanisms of Emotional Development.- Gravestones for Butterflies: Social Feeling Rules and Individual Experiences of Loss.- Emotion by Design: The Self-Management of Feelings as a Cultural Program.- Emotion, Embodiment, and Agency: The Place of a Social Emotions Perspective in Cross-Disciplinary Understandings of Emotional Processes.- On the Nature of Artificial Feelings.- Part II: Empirical Studies: Shame and Pride-Prototypical Emotions Between Biology and Culture. 'Honour and Dishonour': Connotations of a Socio-Symbolic Category in Cross-Cultural Perspective.- 'Honour and Dishonour' and the Quest for Emotional Equivalents.- 'The End of Honour': Emotion, Gender, and Social Change in an Indonesian City.- 'Beggars' and 'Kings': The Emotional Regulation of Shame Among Street Youths in a Javanese city in Indonesia.- The Search for Style and the Urge for Fame: Emotion Regulation and Hip-Hop Culture.- Shame and Pride: The Invisible Emotions in Classroom Research.- Anger, Shame, and Justice: The Regulative and the Evaluative Function of Emotions in the Ancient and Modern World.

The philosophy of higher education

Abstract: Introduction : The philosophy of higher education is about the empowerment of human beings so as to fully realise their potentials as rational beings. The reason is because the contributions which these individuals can give towards the development of the society are invaluable for the stability and progress of a country. The reason is simply because a nation that is heterogeneous can only be progressive and live in harmony if it has a society that shares common goals and aspirations. This leads one to conclude that a state can achieve its goal when its four components; territory, government, population and sovereignty reinforce one another. This in turn would mean that the government and the people understand their responsibilities in ensuring their territory and sovereignty are properly guarded hence the honour of their countries will be protected. On the otber hand, if these four components of a state are in conflict with one another then social unrests will take place and the state will be stagnant. Since it is said that the pbilosophy of higber education is to empower human beings, one can make an assumption that the importance of having a philosophy of higher education will determine the behaviours of the people of a state.

International human rights monitoring mechanisms : essays in honour of Jakob Th. Möller

Abstract: , J. Grimheden, B. Ramcharan & A. de Zayas (Eds.) INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS MONITORING MECHANISMS: ESSAYS IN HONOUR OF JAKOB TH. MOLLER. The Hague: Brill, 2008 (2nd revised edition, forthcoming)

The Body of War: Media, Ethnicity and Gender in the Break-Up of Yugoslavia

Abstract: Dubravka Zarkov. The Body of War: Media, Ethnicity and Gender in the Break-up of Yugoslavia. Next Wave: New Directions in Women's Studies. Durham: Duke University Press, 2007. x, 286 pp. Index. Bibliography. Notes. Illustrations. $23.95, paper.Dubravka Zarkov' s The Body of War: Media, Ethnicity and Gender in the Break-up of Yugoslavia deals with the compelling subject matter of how ethnic identities were produced through the media war immediately preceding and during the war in Yugoslavia. The ethnic war, rather than being the product of deeply rooted historical enmities between essentially different peoples forced to live together in a coercively unified socialist Yugoslavia, was the product of carefully crafted media campaigns in Belgrade and Zagreb, which deployed familiar tropes and easily accepted stereotypes to create a demonized ethnic Other against which atrocities could be justifiably committed. To make her case, Zarkov relies primarily on the textual analysis of articles and photographs that appeared in the major daily newspapers and weekly news magazines of Serbia and Croatia between 1 986 and 1 994. This textual analysis is supplemented by a series of life-history interviews conducted with Serbian, Croatian, and Bosnian women who lived through the war, but it is the close reading of print media sources that dominates The Body of War. As such, the book falls methodologically within the purview of cultural studies, and therefore would be of interest to a broad range of interdisciplinary scholars, particularly those interested in media, gender, and South-Eastem European studies.The book is divided into three parts with eleven substantive chapters following a theoretical introduction. Zarkov examines the multiple ways in which commonly held assumptions about gender, sexuality and ethnicity were symbolically produced by the growing tensions in Yugoslavia, and how male and female bodies, both literal and figurative, became a shared language through which various forms of heroism, victimization, and violent action were essentialized as the inherent characteristics of particular categories of ethnically marked men and women.The first part of the book focuses on the "maternal body," beginning the narrative in 1986. Zarkov describes Serbian women's public protests against an inopportune comment by an Albanian party member who alleged greater promiscuity among ethnically Serbian versus Albanian women. She reveals how the honour of the nation was discursively tied to the supposed purity of the women within it, and argues that this controversy was an important foreshadowing of how the construction of ethnicity and national identity would become inextricably linked to gendered bodies in the years to come. …

‘He outfitted his family in notable decency’: Slavery, Honour and Dress in Eighteenth-Century Lima, Peru

Abstract: For elite Spaniards in eighteenth-century Lima, elegant clothing provided a language for expressing their wealth, status and honour. They frequently made their way around town in the company of elegantly dressed slave attendants, whose presence underscored their owners' privilege. Yet many slaves found opportunities to function as more than mere canvasses for the expression of their owners' identities. Indeed, for a surprising number of slaves, elegant clothing was a key tool with which they negotiated their status and laid claim to their own definitions of honour. By mapping the study of material culture onto the study of slavery, this paper brings into relief the social meanings that clothing contained for slaves, and highlights the possibilities that urban life contained for the creation of social identities that fell outside the social and colour lines drawn by the colonial state.1

Multicultural jurisprudence: comparative perspectives on the cultural defense

Abstract: As individuals travel across borders, societies have become more and more pluralistic. The result of increased migration is the interaction among cultural communities and inevitably clashes between state law and customary law. These cultural conflicts have given rise to a new multicultural jurisprudence. In this volume scholars grapple with the immense challenges judges are currently experiencing everywhere. To what the extent can and should courts accommodate litigants' request by taking their cultural backgrounds into account? This collection brings together powerful examples of the cultural defense in many countries in Western Europe, North America, and elsewhere. It shows the ubiquity of this defense, contrary to the mistaken impression that it has been invoked principally in the United States. This book makes the case for undertaking studies of the use of the cultural defense in jurisdictions all over the world where this has not been previously documented. Many of the essays concentrate on criminal cases including homicide in the context of honour crimes, provocation based on "loss of face" or witchcraft killings. Some deal with other areas of law such as asylum jurisprudence, family law, and housing policy. They show in concrete cases how cultural claims have arisen and how legal systems wrestle with these arguments. It is clear that judges have had considerable difficulty handling many of the cultural claims. The authors demonstrate persuasively the need to reconsider the proper use of cultural evidence in legal proceedings. Those interested in the ways in which expertise influences the disposition of cases will find this book compelling.

Neither Gold nor Braided Hair (1 Timothy 2.9; 1 Peter 3.3): Adornment, Gender and Honour in Antiquity

Abstract: This article examines the relationships between adornment, gender and honour in the Graeco-Roman world in order to provide a broad context for understanding the attempts to curtail women's adornment in 1 Tim 2.9 and 1 Pet 3.3. It argues that while many male writers criticize women who adorn themselves, often accusing such women of luxuria, not all women shared such a perspective. Rather, women may well have valued jewellery, fine clothes and elaborate hair as means of conveying status and honour, and as important forms of economic power. These factors require consideration when attempting to understand why the authors of 1 Timothy and 1 Peter counsel women to avoid gold, pearls, braided hair and fine clothing.

Quantum reality, relativistic causality, and closing the epistemic circle : essays in honour of Abner Shimony

Abstract: I. Introduction II. Philosophy, Methodology, and History III. Bell's Theorem and Nonlocality IV. Probability, Uncertainty, and Stochastic Modifications of Quantum Mechanics V. Relativity VI. Concluding words

Terroni and Polentoni : where does the truth lie? : an anthropology of social networks and ethnicity in Palermo (Sicily), Italy

Abstract: In this thesis, I argue that while Palermo and Sicily, must be understood in the context of both Mediterranean and Italian ethnography, the unique factors which lead to the subordinate economic position of Sicily have also resulted in distinct ethnic and identity politics. Ultimately, however, I suggest that the reduction of importance of the Italian nation-state, in relation to the emerging supra European Union state, renders much of Palermitan distinctiveness less relevant both economically and culturally. Although Italy’s North/South division is primarily based on economic criteria, the transformation of the poor economic conditions of the Italian south into a cultural issue helps perpetuate stereotypes which fuels tensions between the North and the South. Recent ethnic conflicts in Europe, as well as conflict over European Union expansion, have questioned the stability of national borders and have rendered research on national identity both timely and necessary. This anthropological study, carried out in Palermo, the capital of the autonomous region of Sicily, precisely addresses processes of national integration by critically assessing concepts and topics which have marked the anthropology of the Mediterranean. In addition to providing an ethnographic contribution of the particularities of Palermitan ethnic and identity construction, this thesis aims to deconstruct stereotypes that misrepresent Sicilian society. Palermo and its residents are shaped through relationships of unequal power between the centre and the periphery. Sicily’s integration into the European Union, paradoxically, appears to resolve several ongoing issues of national integration. One of the principle conceptual tropes of Mediterranean anthropology has been the honour/shame debates popular from the 1960s. I argue that while such debates have served a variety of fruitful purposes, they neglect the complexities of contemporary Sicily. Instead, I concentrate on the conceptual cluster of honour, the family, social networks and power, as the means by which different levels of society interact, in order to better explain the dynamic relationship between local and national identity. I examine the ways in which the local and the national contrast with one another and how out of such contrasts emerges an identifiable Sicilian, if not Palermitan, identity. The thesis is based on data produced during extended field research in Palermo from April 2005 until August 2006 as well as brief subsequent visits in 2008.

God, Grief and Community:Commemoration of the Great War in Huddersfield, c. 1914-1929

Abstract: This thesis is concerned with the borough of Huddersfield, in the West Riding of Yorkshire, during and after the First World War. It examines the creation of war memorials at all levels, from the borough-wide official scheme, through those relating to smaller geographical areas within it, and down to individual voluntary associations. The source material underpinning the study is not primarily derived from the surviving memorials themselves, but on the contemporary evidence of minutes, newspaper reports, and orders of service. Chronologically, the story is taken from August 1914 to October 1929, when the Imperial War Graves Commission erected a Cross of Sacrifice in the town's main cemetery. However, as it emerged that an integral part of the story of the borough memorial scheme was the continuing legacy of the creation of the Boer War memorial, in 1905, a chapter is also devoted to that link. The study demonstrates how post-war activity grew out of the wartime creation of rolls of honour, which were used during the war as dynamic working documents for supporting absent servicemen, as well as for remembering the increasing numbers of war dead. That dual concern for the living and the dead continued into the postwar phase of remembrance. The rolls also played an important role in defining the boundaries of "our servicemen" and "our dead" for each community. Comment is made on the use of public and private space for memorials, and on the shifting position of the parish church and churchyard within perceptions of public space. Memorial inscriptions, and the content of dedication ceremomes, predominantly expressed the grief of the communities involved, with the more simplistic expressions of patriotism playing a much more subordinate role. Words and music conveyed spiritual comfort, through both traditional means and a new emphasis on a continuing fellowship with those beyond the grave.

Special Feature Article

Abstract: Since 9/11 Muslim women have played a critical role in unsettling and reconfiguring the boundaries of citizenship and belonging in the Canadian national imaginary. Muslim women have been at the centre of several contemporary debates in Muslim cultural politics in Canada, such as proposals for sharia-based tribunals in Ontario, a Citizen's Code in Herouxville, Quebec outlawing face veils, banning hijab in girls' soccer and the ‘honour killing’ of a Pakistani Canadian teen. My aim is to examine through these case studies how gender and religion have become discursively located within broader political negotiations of national identity, citizenship and belonging. All of these flashpoints have galvanised debates about the ‘limits of multiculturalism’, the boundaries of nation and citizenship and ‘good’ versus ‘bad’ immigrants. The discussion will be framed around three primary themes: (1) disciplining culture, (2) death by culture, (3) death of culture.

A Season of War: Warriors, Veterans and Warfare in American Nationalism

Abstract: In 1814, members of the United States’ House of Representatives found themselves embroiled in an increasingly heated debate over the appropriate means of raising additional troops for the war that the nation was then engaged in; its second armed conflict against Great Britain. In January of that year, leading American spokesman, nationalist and politician Daniel Webster reminded the House that ‘[u]nlike the old nations of Europe, there are in this country no dregs of population, fit only to supply the constant waste of war … Armies of any magnitude can here be nothing but the people embodied,’ he asserted, ‘and if the object be one for which the people will not embody, there can be no armies.’ The issue remained unresolved between those who would utilise the state militias, and those who preferred that a more regular, federal force be raised to deal with the military threat to the nation’s borders. A suspicion both of military coercion and of standing armies, along with the belief that America was never intended for ‘a great military nation’ informed much of the debate, but one main assumption underlay it. The American fighting man, the symbol of the nation’s military prowess, was perceived to be the citizen-soldier, a New World Cincinnatus, exemplified by George Washington during the Revolutionary war and found again in the War of 1812, a war fought by an army ‘collected hastily from the plough, the loom, and the workshops — without discipline, without even the rudiments of the military science,’ yet nevertheless capable of ‘deeds of heroism and of gallant daring that would have done honour to the best days of Greece and Rome.’2

Doctors, Honour and the Law: Medical Ethics in Imperial Germany

Abstract: Medical ethics in Imperial Germany were deeply entangled in professional, legal and social issues. This book shows how doctors' ethical decision-making during the Kaiserreich was guided by their notions of male honour and professional reputation and by considerations of professional politics rather than by concern for patients' interests. It illustrates how medical men adhered to a paternalistic conception of the doctor-patient relationship, despite experiencing pressures from lawyers and patients to recognize a right of the sick individual to self-determination. Initiatives like that of the Berlin psychiatrist Albert Moll, who in 1902 published a detailed account of how medical ethics could be built upon a contract relationship between doctor and patient, remained exceptional.

States of Shame: South African Writing after Apartheid

Abstract: We who have grown up on a diet of honour and shame can still grasp what must seem unthinkable to peoples living in the aftermath of the death of God and tragedy: that men will sacrifice their deare...