Theater State and the Formation of Early Modern Public Sphere in Iran

Theater State and the Formation of Early Modern Public Sphere in Iran
Author: Babak Rahimi
Publisher: BRILL
Total Pages: 404
Release: 2011-11-11
Genre: History
ISBN: 9004207562

During the Safavid period, the Shi'i Muharram commemorative rites which had been publically practiced since the 7th century, became a manifestation of state power. Already during the reign of Shah 'Abbas I (1587-1629) the Muharram rituals had transformed into an extraordinary rich repertoire of ceremonies and ceremonial spaces that can be defined as 'theater state'. Under Shah Safi I (1629-1642) these ceremonies ultimately led to carnivalesque celebrations of misrule and transgression. This first systematic study of a wide range of Persian and European archival and primary sources, analyzes how the Muharram rites changed from being an originally devotional practice to an ambiguous ritualization that in combination with other public arenas, such as the bazaar, coffeehouses or travel lodges, created distinct spaces of communication whereby the widening gap between state and society gave way to the formation of the early Iranian public sphere. Ultimately, the Muharram public spaces allowed for a shift in individual and collective identities, opening the way to multifaceted living fields of interaction, as well as being sites of contestation where innovative expressions of politics were made. In particular, the construction of the new Isfahan in 1590 is linked with the widespread proliferation of the Muharram mortuary rites by discussing rituals performed in major urban spaces.

Varieties of Multiple Modernities

Varieties of Multiple Modernities
Author:
Publisher: BRILL
Total Pages: 265
Release: 2015-11-24
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 9004306714

To date, the nascent consequential notion of ‘multiple modernities’ has been predominately grounded in historical research with the purpose of validating the theory. Yet, the notion of multiple modernities represents a radical transformation in the way modernity and, indeed, the contemporary world is viewed. As such, the central aim of this volume is to explore the implications and hidden understanding of the multiple modernities research project beyond historical analysis in order to investigate its wide ranging omnipresent implications as they exist in communication and in the social order of societal membership in contemporary societies. This volume collects new research about multiple modernities and globalization. It shows the new turn of sociological theory in the contemporary scene with respect to multiple modernities, multi-centrism, transglobality, hybridization and multiculturalism, and explores it as a new area of societal communication – one that takes effect in the sectors of a global society as a ‘society of societies’. The studies in this book converge to demonstrate that the route of Western modernization, its cultural program and its institutional structure, does not follow the pathway of modernization that we have thus far observed in the emerged new area. Rather, the continuation of the multiple modernities research program is given a new design, researching the social structure and dynamic of postmodern societies, their exchange and the debate about the flow of free resources. But the studies are also evidence that the sociological theory has no normative foundation. Contributors are: Mehdi P. Amineh, Barrie Axford, Eliezer Ben-Rafael, Shmuel N. Eisenstadt, Mark Jarzombek, Werner Krawietz, Judit Bokser Liwerant, Manussos Marangudakis, Jan Nederveen Pieterse, Gerhard Preyer, Roland Robertson, Luis Roniger, Yitzhak Sternberg, and Michael Sussman.

The Contradictions of Israeli Citizenship

The Contradictions of Israeli Citizenship
Author: Guy Ben-Porat
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
Total Pages: 321
Release: 2011-05-24
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1136727388

This book examines the nature of citizenship in Israel as pertaining to particular group demands and to the dynamics of political life in the public arena. Focusing on a wide range of social groups from the military, through ethnic minorities, religious groupings, and the gay and lesbian community, contributors explore different aspects of citizenship through the needs, demands and struggles of minority groups to provide a comprehensive picture of the dynamics of Israeli citizenship and the dilemmas that emerge at the collective, group and individual levels.

Collective Dreams

Collective Dreams
Author: Keally D. McBride
Publisher: Penn State Press
Total Pages: 164
Release: 2007-08-09
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 0271046120

How do we go about imagining different and better worlds for ourselves? Collective Dreams looks at ideals of community, frequently embraced as the basis for reform across the political spectrum, as the predominant form of political imagination in America today. Examining how these ideals circulate without having much real impact on social change provides an opportunity to explore the difficulties of practicing critical theory in a capitalist society. Different chapters investigate how ideals of community intersect with conceptions of self and identity, family, the public sphere and civil society, and the state, situating community at the core of the most contested political and social arenas of our time. Ideals of community also influence how we evaluate, choose, and build the spaces in which we live, as the author’s investigations of Celebration, Florida, and of West Philadelphia show.Following in the tradition of Walter Benjamin, Keally McBride reveals how consumer culture affects our collective experience of community as well as our ability to imagine alternative political and social orders. Taking ideals of community as a case study, Collective Dreams also explores the structure and function of political imagination to answer the following questions: What do these oppositional ideals reveal about our current political and social experiences? How is the way we imagine alternative communities nonetheless influenced by capitalism, liberalism, and individualism? How can these ideals of community be used more effectively to create social change?

The Collective and the Public in Latin America

The Collective and the Public in Latin America
Author: Luis Roniger
Publisher: Liverpool University Press
Total Pages: 344
Release: 2000
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN:

This collection of essays on Latin America traces the interplay between the public structuring and regulation of identities and the creative processes of collective identification, appropriation and evasion of identities.

Religion in the Public Space

Religion in the Public Space
Author: Rinaldo Cristofori
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 578
Release: 2016-12-05
Genre: Law
ISBN: 135190499X

Religion in the public sphere is one of the most debated issues in the field of law and religion. This volume brings together articles which address some of the more prominent recent cases relating to religion and education, religion and the workplace, family law and religious symbols. The essays discuss the meaning of secularism today and the difficult issue of religion in the public sphere and reflect a wide variety of viewpoints. This volume maps the key elements of this multi-faceted problem, offers essential material and provides an important starting point for an understanding of the issues in this century old debate.

New Horizons in Sociological Theory and Research

New Horizons in Sociological Theory and Research
Author: Luigi Tomasi
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 421
Release: 2020-07-24
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1000160254

This title was first published in 2001. This book tackles the important issue of the tasks that confront sociology in the third millennium. It examines the sociological interpretations of the World-Wide revolution which - amid unprecedented scientific and technological progress and the globalization of markets - has generated new inequalities, poverty, structural unemployment and mass conditionings. A number of the most distinguished living sociologists (including Boudon, Beck, Eisenstadt, Tiryakain, Wieviorka) furnish profound and innovative interpretations of changes in world society, while outlining the frontiers of sociological research for the 21st Century. The contributions to the book not only prompt reflection on the structure and organization of sociological research, but also revitalize sociological inquiry by conducting original and stimulating analysis of theoretical and methodological issues - an undertaking essential for the survival of the discipline itself.

The Theatrical Public Sphere

The Theatrical Public Sphere
Author: Christopher B. Balme
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 233
Release: 2014-06-12
Genre: Drama
ISBN: 1139991817

The concept of the public sphere, as first outlined by German philosopher Jürgen Habermas, refers to the right of all citizens to engage in debate on public issues on equal terms. In this book, Christopher B. Balme explores theatre's role in this crucial political and social function. He traces its origins and argues that the theatrical public sphere invariably focuses attention on theatre as an institution between the shifting borders of the private and public, reasoned debate and agonistic intervention. Chapters explore this concept in a variety of contexts, including the debates that led to the closure of British theatres in 1642, theatre's use of media, controversies surrounding race, religion and blasphemy, and theatre's place in a new age of globalised aesthetics. Balme concludes by addressing the relationship of theatre today with the public sphere and whether theatre's transformation into an art form has made it increasingly irrelevant for contemporary society.

Beyond the Regulatory Polity?

Beyond the Regulatory Polity?
Author: Philipp Genschel
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Total Pages: 305
Release: 2014
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 0199662827

This volume explores the involvement of the European Union in the exercise of core state powers such as foreign and defense policy, public finance, public administration, and the maintenance of law and order.

Identity

Identity
Author: Francis Fukuyama
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Total Pages: 203
Release: 2018-09-11
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 0374717486

The New York Times bestselling author of The Origins of Political Order offers a provocative examination of modern identity politics: its origins, its effects, and what it means for domestic and international affairs of state In 2014, Francis Fukuyama wrote that American institutions were in decay, as the state was progressively captured by powerful interest groups. Two years later, his predictions were borne out by the rise to power of a series of political outsiders whose economic nationalism and authoritarian tendencies threatened to destabilize the entire international order. These populist nationalists seek direct charismatic connection to “the people,” who are usually defined in narrow identity terms that offer an irresistible call to an in-group and exclude large parts of the population as a whole. Demand for recognition of one’s identity is a master concept that unifies much of what is going on in world politics today. The universal recognition on which liberal democracy is based has been increasingly challenged by narrower forms of recognition based on nation, religion, sect, race, ethnicity, or gender, which have resulted in anti-immigrant populism, the upsurge of politicized Islam, the fractious “identity liberalism” of college campuses, and the emergence of white nationalism. Populist nationalism, said to be rooted in economic motivation, actually springs from the demand for recognition and therefore cannot simply be satisfied by economic means. The demand for identity cannot be transcended; we must begin to shape identity in a way that supports rather than undermines democracy. Identity is an urgent and necessary book—a sharp warning that unless we forge a universal understanding of human dignity, we will doom ourselves to continuing conflict.