Theme (narrative)

About: Theme (narrative) is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 13050 publications have been published within this topic receiving 159511 citations. The topic is also known as: narrative theme.

Pakistan Society: Islam, Ethnicity and Leadership in South Asia

Abstract: The central theme of this structured study revolves around the complexity and diversity of Pakistan society, illustrated by case studies from Pakistan. Drawing upon anthropological and historical evidence and the extensive personal field experience of the writer, the book highlights the complex relationship between ethnicity, political and leadership issues in South Asia.

Theme issue on social interaction and mundane technologies

Abstract: In ‘‘The Man Who Fell To Earth’’ [1, 2], a university professor Dr. Bryce, is stunned by the rapid development, adoption and deployment of a number of technologies— including, for example, ‘‘self-developing’’ photographic film. Bryce is shocked by the fact that these advances have passed him by, become mundane artefacts in everyday use, without him noticing, in a field, a discipline, where he is supposed to be an expert. For many of us, it is not only the sheer pace of technology change that is so bewildering but also the impact of new technologies on how different social interactions are performed [3] and orchestrated [4]—such as relationship behaviour, family obligations and the etiquette of social interaction. The call for papers for this theme issue on Social Interaction and Mundane Technologies was particularly motivated by this desire to examine, document and understand how everyday social interactions are effected by, inhibited by or facilitated through the use of a range of mundane technologies and applications. By mundane technologies we mean technologies and applications that are commonplace, which lots of people use, such as mobile phones, texting, email, word-processing applications (e.g. Microsoft Word), presentation software (e.g. OpenOffice.org’s Impress), electronic spreadsheets (e.g. Apple’s Numbers) and so on. As Michaels [5] suggests, ‘‘the term ‘mundane technologies’ connotes those technologies whose novelty has worn off; these are technologies which are now fully integrated into, and are an unremarkable part of, everyday life. To study mundane technologies is thus to explore how they mediate and reflect everyday life, how they serve in the reproduction of local techno-social configurations.’’ Thus, when we discuss mundane technologies we are not necessarily talking about what Hillman and Gibbs [6] in their book ‘‘Century Makers’’ describe as ‘‘things we take for granted which have changed our lives’’. For Hillman and Gibbs these are devices—like the ring-pull can, the Post-it note or the pocket calculator—that have played an important part in much larger social and socio-technical changes despite now appearing trivial, everyday and commonplace. What the full range of long-term impacts the various technologies documented in these papers might be we cannot, as yet, ascertain. The technologies do, however, share the ‘cleverness’ of Hillman and Gibbs’ clever things in ‘‘their capacity to be unnoticed, to quietly mediate, that is reproduce, what have become the commonalities of everyday life’’ [5]. Mundane technologies have also been the focus of other earlier work—both in organizational and domestic settings. For example, Michaels [7] has studied walking boots as a C. Graham is an independent researcher.

Tradition and Modernity in Postcolonial African Philosophy

Abstract: The relationship between tradition and modernity has been a central theme of postcolonial African philosophy. While African philosophers have examined this theme from many angles, several basic questions have become the focus of ongoing debate and discussion: What is the relevance of indigenous African traditions to the challenges of contemporary life? Do traditional modes of thought and behavior constitute resources or impediments to the projects of development and modernization in Africa? What, precisely, is meant by the terms "development" and "modernization" when they are used in reference to African countries? Discussion of such questions reveals a conflict between two broad perspectives. The first perspective, which Kwame Gyekye calls "cultural revivalism" (Gyekye 1997b, 233), assumes a basically reverential attitude toward the African cultural heritage. According to this view, the key to effectively addressing contemporary problems lies in reclaiming and revitalizing indigenous traditions that have been degraded and suppressed in the wake of colonialism. Colonialism violently disrupted African cultural traditions and imposed, with varying degrees of success, European forms of thought and social organization upon colonized peoples. Having achieved political independence, postcolonial Africans must now pursue a more decisive liberation, a "decolonization" of African minds and societies. While revivalists are often skeptical of calls for development and modernization, viewing them as thinly veiled calls for the continued imposition of European cultural norms, it is important to realize that they do not typically view their own project as antimodern. For revivalists, the key point is that genuine modernization in Africa can only be realized through the revitalization of African cultural norms. The second perspective assumes a more critical attitude toward the indigenous heritage. Adherents to this perspective argue that the revivalist project is fundamentally misguided and ill-suited to the challenges of contemporary Africa. According to critics, the call for a nostalgic return to the past is not merely naive and romantic, but positively dangerous. In their view, cultural revivalism diverts attention from pressing political issues, such as authoritarian oppression and class exploitation, and endorses forms of thought that interfere with the important goals of scientific and technological advancement. The most extreme form of this view, hinted at by some thinkers but seldom explicitly endorsed, suggests that Africans must make a "clean break" with the premodern past in order to address the most urgent demands of the present (Hountondji 1996, 48). Modernization, for them, requires a mental orientation commensurate with the problems of the present, not an attempt to resurrect ideas from societies of the distant past. It should come as no surprise that the debate between cultural revivalists and their critics hinges in large part on contrasting interpretations of "modernity" and "modernization." "Modernity" is a much discussed term in philosophy, and I will not engage the numerous arguments about the meaning of modernity, or the debates about whether modernity itself should be eclipsed by a "postmodern" sensibility. In order to understand the debate within African philosophy, it will suffice to identify two distinct aspects of modernization. The first and most conspicuous aspect involves scientific and technological development--that is, the emergence of science-based technologies that can be used to improve the basic conditions of human life. The second element is broadly political in nature. This aspect, described by one scholar as the "modernity of liberation" (Wallerstein 1995, 472), involves the development of political institutions that move away from authoritarian rule, toward forms of government that enhance the liberty and welfare of all citizens, rather than the select few. We can think of this political project as the "modernity of democratization. …

Through Many Tribulations: The Theology of Persecution in Luke-Acts

Abstract: This book, the first comprehensive study of persecution in Luke-Acts from a literary and theological perspective, argues that the author uses the theme of persecution in pursuit of his theological agenda. It brings to the surface six theological functions of the persecution theme, which has an important paraenetic and especially apologetic role for Luke's persecuted community. The persecution Luke's readers suffer is evidence that they are legitimate recipients of God's salvific blessings.