Category Archives: News

SEN News on Sunday: July 14-21, 2013

Britain to offer military training to Burma to help end ethnic conflicts: An ethnic Rakhine man holds homemade weapons as he stands in front of a house that was burnt during fighting between Buddhist Rakhine and Muslim Rohingya communities in Sittwe

* BBC Radio 4 (15/07/13) features a broadcast which provides an in depth look into the historical roots and present ambitions of the Scottish National Party (SNP).

* The Asia-Pacific Journal (15/7/13) features an analysis of the re-branding of Japanese nationalism by current Prime Minister, Abe Shinzo.

* France24 (15/7/13) reports that Sri Lanka has stopped a French cultural festival in its country after it screened a local film that the military considered insulting. The film, Flying Fish, is set against the backdrop of the country’s brutal civil war, and director Sanjeewa Pushpakumara discusses his reactions to the ban with the BBC.

* Euronews (15/07/13) reports on protests in Israel claiming ethnic cleansing, following the government’s decision to relocate 30,000 Bedouins from the Negev Desert in southern Israel.

* The Telegraph (14/7/13) reports that the United Kingdom has offered Burma (Myanmar) military training as a way of helping the country develop a more democratic system and resolve ethnic tensions.

* AskAKorean.blogspot.hk (11/07/13) featured a blog last week which argued against popular science writer Malcom Gladwell’s “ethnic theory of plane crashes” that connected Korean culture to plane crashes, which was elaborated on in his best-selling book, Outliers : The story of success. In response, Gladwell offered his retort to the blog, which can be read here.

 

Stay tuned for SEN Article Spotlights, which will be posted later in the week.

News compiled by Karen Seegobin.

If you would like to write a response to any of these news stories, please email us at sen@lse.ac.uk.

SEN News on Sunday: July 2 – 7, 2013

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  • The Economist (6/7/13) reports on the increase in outbreaks of ethnic violence in China’s Xinjiang region.
  • Migration Source (June 2013) features an article which provides an overview of migration and demographic changes in Central and Eastern Europe from the 1990s to present, and also examines attitudes toward diasporas and development.
  • Azernews.com (4/7/13) reports on the discouraging state of discussions concerning the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement process.
  • Scotsman.com (3/7/13) reports on fears that an independent Scotland may lead to the rise of a “narrow and inward-looking” English nationalism.
  • NPR.org (4/7/13) reports on the United States’ national independence day, held on July 4th, and features a radio broadcast on what independence means for the average American.
  • The Independent (2/7/13) features an article arguing that a child’s ethnicity should be taken into consideration when matching them to adoptive parents.
  • BBC (2/7/13) features an article on identity-building in Kosovo and resolving ethnic conflict in the Balkan region, and highlights the experiences of one woman whose life story mirrors the fractured history of the country.

Stay tuned for SEN Article Spotlights, which will be posted later in the week.

News compiled by Karen Seegobin.

If you would like to write a response to any of these news stories, please email us at sen@lse.ac.uk.

Ethnicity and Nationalism News Bites: March 19 – 23, 2013

  • The L.A. Times (23/3/13) reports on the death of Chinua Achebe, the acclaimed Nigerian writer, often called the grandfather of  modern African and post-colonial, literature. His novels have played an important role in debating national and ethnic African identities in the era of decolonization.
  • OpenDemocracy.net (19/3/13) features an article on the possibility of a “European Spring,” by which the region can become a “cosmopolitan society of national societies.” Another article explores the limits of liberalism and European society.

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Featured Book: Political Leadership, Nations and Charisma

Ibrahim, Vivian and Margit Wunsch (eds.), Political Leadership, Nations and Charisma, London: Routledge, 2012.

Political Leadership, Nations and Charisma, edited by Ibrahim and Wunsch, is an important and innovative contribution to current nationalism studies. The collection of papers drawn from the Association for the Study of Ethnicity and Nationalism’s 2010 annual conference examines the influence of charisma on power, authority and nationalism. The authors both apply and challenge Max Weber’s concept of ‘charisma’ and integrate it into a broader discussion of other theoretical models.

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