Between Steeple and Stove; A Huguenot gourmet

Translated from the original French manuscript - Le protestantisme à table. Les plaisirs de la foi. Genève, Labor et Fides: 2000 - by Steve Moyer

Three essays on metamorphoses of social capital and associational culture in Eastern Europe

Ce triptyque d’essais présente le caractère versatile et évasif du concept moderne de capital social à plusieurs niveaux – global, national et régional, ainsi que dans le présent et dans le passé. Le premier article conteste l’hypothèse prédominante selon laquelle il y a une cohabitation entre l’engagement civique et la démocratie. Malgré sa validité au niveau général, la relation n’est pas confirmée si les catégories hétérogènes sont désagrégées. Pour les pays post-communistes de l'Europe, la relation entre le type de régime et la tendance de s'associer ressemble à celle des démocraties latines consolidées si la participation dans les associations volontaires est choisie comme mesure de la vitalité du capital social. Par conséquent, la vie civique moins intense ne prédit pas de difficultés pour la démocratie. Le deuxième article est une compilation originale de plus de 100 organisations classifiées selon les standards contemporains et une collection de présentations d'une douzaine d'organisations bulgares, les plus populaires depuis le XIXème siècle. Cette contribution importante à l’historiographie de la vie associative bulgare jusqu’à 1944 est le résultat d'un travail qui combine des entrevues avec des historiens et une recherche dans les archives. Le panoptique organisationnel sert de réfutation empirique de l’hypothèse qui attribue la faiblesse organisationnelle présente du poste-communisme à la pénurie de vie organisationnelle développée par le passé. ii Les mérites du troisième article sont doubles. Au niveau empirique on démontre que l’organisation culturelle la plus importante en Bulgarie a apparu comme une institution nationaliste imitant les organisations similaires des autres pays Européens. Elle s’est développée graduellement par une adaptation des expériences étrangères aux conditions locales. La collection des références bulgares est unique et représente le produit d’un travail méticuleux sur les documents et les entrevues. Au niveau abstrait, on confirme l’applicabilité de la théorie du transfert de la politique publique à un cas historique existant avant la théorie elle-même. Finalement, l’analyse détaillée des précurseurs du cabinet de lecture bulgare représente une contribution à la sociologie politique de l’histoire de la lecture. Mots clés: Europe de l’Est, poste-communisme, démocratie, société civile, engagement civique, organisations volontaires, troisième secteur, affiliation, transfert d'idées, apprentissage organisationnel.

The word in the world : "Fallen preachers" in Zora Neale Hurston's Jonah's Gourd Vine and Flannery O'Connor's The violent bear it away

Thèse numérisée par la Division de la gestion de documents et des archives de l'Université de Montréal

Of tradition and conversion : a comparative study of two Phuo griottes

La version intégrale de ce mémoire est disponible uniquement pour consultation individuelle à la Bibliothèque de musique de l’Université de Montréal (www.bib.umontreal.ca/MU).

The role of European Union integration in post-communist democratization in Bulgaria and Macedonia

Cette recherche porte sur la dimension interprétative de l'intégration européenne et sur son rôle dans la démocratisation au sein des pays postcommunistes. Je focalise mon attention sur la signification pour les gens desdits pays que revêtent la participation politique, la compétence politique, et l’action collective. Cette signification prend forme selon des circonstances spécifiques, agencées par les relations de pouvoir asymétriques avec l’Union européenne (UE). J’examine la littérature sur le rôle de l'intégration européenne dans la démocratisation des pays postcommunistes et je distingue deux paradigmes théoriques principaux : un premier qui met l'accent sur le processus institutionnel, l’autre sur le processus instrumental stratégique. Au sein de ces deux approches, je présente différents auteurs qui voient l'UE soit comme un facteur pro-démocratique, soit comme un facteur antidémocratique dans le contexte postcommuniste de transition politique. Cette recherche ne suit pas théoriquement et méthodologiquement les études contenues dans la revue de la littérature. Plutôt, elle s’appuie sur un modèle théorique inspiré des recherches de McFalls sur la réunification culturelle allemande après 1989. Ce modèle, sans négliger les approches institutionnelles et stratégiques, met l’accent sur d'autres écoles théoriques, interprétatives et constructivistes. Mes conclusions se basent sur les résultats de séjours d'étude dans deux pays postcommunistes : la Bulgarie, membre de l'UE depuis 2007, et la Macédoine, pays-candidat. J’ai recours à des méthodes qualitatives et à des techniques ethnographiques qui triangulent des résultats puisés à des sources multiples et variées pour exposer des trajectoires dynamiques de changement culturel influencées par l'intégration européenne. Les conclusions montrent sous quelles conditions les idéaux-types de changement politique conventionnels, soit institutionnel ou stratégique, représentent des modèles utiles. Je présente aussi leurs limitations. Ma conclusion principale est que l'intégration européenne représente un phénomène complexe dans le monde des significations. C’est un facteur qui est simultanément un amplificateur et un inhibiteur de la culture politique démocratique. Les gens créent des sous-cultures différentes où des interprétations multiples du processus d'intégration européenne mènent à des effets dissemblables sur la participation politique, la compétence et l’action collective. La conversation discursive entre les gens qui composent de telles sous-cultures distinctes peut produire des effets divergents au niveau national. Cette recherche n’est pas une analyse de l’UE comme mécanisme institutionnel ; elle ne pose ainsi pas l’UE comme une institution qui détermine directement le processus de démocratisation postcommuniste. Plutôt, elle s’intéresse au processus d’intégration européenne en tant qu’interaction qui affecte la culture politique au sein des pays postcommunistes, et à la manière dont cette dernière peut agir sur le processus de démocratisation. Mon point d’intérêt central n’est donc pas l’européanisation ou le processus de devenir « comme l’Europe », à moins que l’européanisation ne devienne une composante de la culture politique avec des conséquences sur le comportement politique des acteurs.

Gender discrimination in the law of divorce and succession among christians

The present work deals with the Gender discrimination in the law of divorce and succession among christians.Inquiries Into the personal laws bereft of the historical develcpment of the concerned communities will be extremely inadequate as they may not help the researcher to Identify the laws' real source.In this view, the origin and development of Christian law In india has not so far been adequately gone into. Keeping In view the Importance of such a study calling for an exploration of the origin and development of the Christian community and its branching out In india as a prelude to the inqury into the Christian laws, the history of the conmunity in india was examined and the present study IndIcates that christianity In india has a diverse origin in dIfferent parts of India.And this diversity has resulted in the development of different systems of personal law for different sects among them. At present Christians in India constitute a minority but their numerical strength is not negligible. Yet they have not been able to act as an Influential group either socially or politically.The social changes and developments that swept away the community of its feet have overturned the position and the liberals in the community inspired by the changes elsewhere could bring in some statute law to govern the arena traditionally held by the customs.The history of reception of canon law concepts In different parts of India throws some light on the differences In the personal laws applicable to Christians In India.

Communism.

La caída del muro de Berlín en 1989 marca el final de la Europa comunista cómo un poder a nivel mundial y, también, el final tras setenta años, de un experimento político considerado fallido.Se repasa la historia de este sistema político desde que llegó al poder en Rusia en 1917 hasta la actualidad, y que se extendió por varios continentes. Se analizan sus características políticas, económicas, sociales, educativas y culturales. El enfrentamiento entre los sistemas comunista y capitalista marcó las relaciones internacionales durante parte del siglo XX.

Rethinking Polycentric Structures in the Postcolonial Church: Dangers of “Drone Missiology” or Afghanization of Christianity

In this brief essay I shall obviously draw from my reflections which I shared over the past three decades and to which I have provided some bibliographical references. It is clear from them that I had several opportunities to share my views beyond the Anglo-Saxon world, and some of them in events organized by K. Koschorke himself in the German academic circles as Munich-Freising Conferences. It is important that we do not get misled by words. We also need clarity of the concepts involved. Koschorke’s emphasis on “ploycentric structures” requires to be discussed and analysed critically to sort out its geographic components and its political-cultural implications, in order to be clear where lie the priorities. Without such exercise we will run the risk of hiding behind the ambiguity of words and concepts. My gut feelings make me believe that “polycentric structures” is just what the West needs in the postcolonial era to replace the control it has lost with decolonization.

A Lady of York: migration, ethnicity and identity in Roman Britain

Modern methods of analysis applied to cemeteries have often been used in our pages to suggest generalities about mobility and diet. But these same techniques applied to a single individual, together with the grave goods and burial rite, can open a special kind of personal window on the past. Here, the authors of a multidisciplinary project use a combination of scientific techniques to illuminate Roman York, and later Roman history in general, with their image of a glamorous mixed-race woman, in touch with Africa, Christianity, Rome and Yorkshire.

Natural Theology: A Reevaluation of Christianity's Relationship to the Natural World

In this thesis I offer two separate arguments for the creation of an environmentally friendly Christian theology. These arguments, although interconnected, are roughly divided into the main chapters of the thesis. I will begin in Chapter Two by offering a negative argument against the assumption that the natural world is sinful. In their article Hauerwas and Berkman suggest that the suffering of animals is both an example of the sinful state of the environment and a justification for human separation from an unholy natural environment. In response to this view I will argue in the second chapter that the suffering of animals can be seen as part of God's intentions for our world. Suffering, in both the human and the larger world, is not evidence of a fundamental flaw in natural systems. Instead, the cycle of death and life found in the natural world can be profoundly spiritual.

The BRICS: some historical experiences, growth challenges and opportunities

The acronym BRICS was a fad among the media and global investors. Now, the acronym sounds passé. However, the group of countries remains important, from both political and economic reasons. They have a large aggregate size, 28% of the global GDP and 42% of the world’s population, high growth potential due to the current significant misallocation of resources and relatively low stock of human capital, structural transformation is in progress and one of them, China, is taking steps to become a global power and a challenger to the US dominance. This paper provides a brief overview of the five economies, Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. We focus on some aspects of their history, the Chinese initiatives in international finance and geopolitical strategic moves, their growth experience and structural transformation over the last 35 years, trade and investment integration into the global economy and among themselves, the growth challenges faced by their economies and the potential gains to the Brazilian economy from a stronger integration with the other BRICS. In association with its efforts to be a global power, China aims to become a major player in global finance and to achieve the status of global currency for the renminbi, which would be the first currency of an emerging economy to attain such position. Despite the similarities, the BRICS encompass very diverse economies. In the recent decades, China and India showed stellar growth rates. On the other hand, Brazil, Russia and South Africa have expanded just in line with global output growth with the Russian economy exhibiting high volatility. China is by far the largest economy, and South Africa the smallest, the only BRICS economy with a GDP lower than US$ 1 trillion. Russia abandoned communism almost 25 years ago, but reversed many of the privatizations of 90’s. China is still ruled by communism, but has a vibrant private sector and recently has officially declared market forces to play a dominant role in its economy. Brazil, Russia and South Africa are global natural resources powerhouses and commodity exporters while China and India are large commodity importers. Brazil is relatively closed to international trade of goods and services, in marked contrast to the other four economies. Brazil, India and South Africa are dependent on external capital flows whereas China and Russia are capital exporters. India and South Africa have younger populations and a large portion living below the poverty line. Despite its extraordinary growth experience that lifted many millions from poverty, China still has 28% of its population classified as poor. Russia and China have much older populations and one of their challenges is to deal with the effects of a declining labor force in the near future. India, China and South Africa face a long way to urbanization, while Brazil and Russia are already urbanized countries. China is an industrial economy but its primary sector still absorbs a large pool of workers. India is not, but the primary sector employs also a large share of the labor force. China’s aggregate demand structure is biased towards investment that has been driving its expansion. Brazil and South Africa have an aggregate demand structure similar to the developed economies, with private consumption accounting for approximately 70%. The same similarity applies to the supply side, as in both economies the share of services nears 70%. The development problem is a productivity problem, so microeconomic reforms are badly needed to foster long-term growth of the BRICS economies since they have lost steam due a variety of factors, but fundamentally due to slower total factor productivity growth. China and India are implementing ambitious reform programs, while Brazil is dealing with macroeconomic disequilibria. Russia and South Africa remain mute about structural reforms. There are some potential benefits to Brazil to be extracted from a greater economic integration with the BRICS, particularly in natural resources intensive industries and services. Necessary conditions to the materialization of those gains are the removal of the several sources of resource misallocation and strong investment in human capital.

Socialists vs. fascists and communists in Italian São Paulo in the 1920s

The action of São Paulo's Italian reformist socialists at the beginning of the 20th century had a political impact on the way of considering the question of democracy both in the state of São Paulo and the whole of Brazil. In fact not only did the socialists oppose the fascist political project and the symbolic roots of its aggressive behavior, but they also faced the opposition of the theoretical proposals coming from other leftist groups. This article intends to present the main interlocutors of these socialists and understand how this theoretical dispute has developed.