The Dual National Identity of the Korean Minority in China: The Politics of Nation and Race and the Imagination of Ethnicity

By Jin Woong Kang

Volume 8, Issue 1, pages 101-119

Abstract

This article explores the historical changes in the national identity of the Korean minority in China from the period of Japanese colonial invasion through to the present. Existing studies have taken an ethno-cultural approach to the Korean minority’s dual identity, but they have ignored the importance of political identity-formation which creates, re-creates, and transforms national identity. The Korean minority’s national identity has been determined by political and economic factors rather than ethnic and cultural backgrounds. In this regard, the Korean minority’s double-minded self-understanding of its own nationhood has shifted from an ethnicity-centred dual identity to a nationality-centred dual identity. This article notes that the Korean minority’s national identity has been created and re-created by political identity-formation, and its imagination of ethnicity has been transformed through this political process.

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Post-communist extremism in Eastern Europe: The nature of the phenomenon

By Othon Anastasakis

Volume 1, Issue 2, pages 15-26

Abstract

The recent electoral gains of extreme right parties in many countries of Europe have made European citizens realise that the extreme right is not to be regarded exclusively as a fringe phenomenon but as a force that can penetrate mainstream democratic politics. The resilience and occasional rise of the radical right poses a serious challenge for social scientists and policy makers. Social scientists are called upon to examine the nature of the phenomenon, the factors conducive to the existence and resilience of the forces of extremism and the impact of far right political mobilisation within national societies and Europe, at large. Governments and policy makers for their part explore ways to marginalise these forces in order to sustain, in Western Europe- and consolidate, in Eastern Europe, democracy in the continent. But while there is ample analysis of the West European experience, there is an inadequate understanding of the conditions and circumstances that breed extreme right forces in Eastern Europe. In what follows, the paper will attempt to address the academic debate on the causes and nature of the contemporary East European extreme right. It will assess the relevance of a western oriented approach in the East European context. The article mostly refers to extremism in countries like Poland, Hungary, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Bulgaria and Romania. These countries are, by and large, functioning democracies, where extreme right parties compete in elections and in some of them are quite influential. All of these countries are applying to become members of the European Union, and this membership is subject to strict political criteria, requiring democratic principles, the rule of law and respect for human rights.

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The Role of the International Criminal Court (ICC) in Reducing Massive Human Rights Violations Such as Enforced Disappearances in Africa: Towards Developing Transitional Justice Strategies

By Jeremy Sarkin

Volume 11, Issue 1, pages 130-142

Introduction

Over the last two decades the human rights situation on the African continent has improved, albeit slowly and unevenly (Sarkin 2010). In July 2010 the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon observed in a report to the General Assembly that while fourteen African countries were engaged in armed conflict in the late 1990s, there were only four countries in a state of violent conflict at the time the report was presented (United Nations 2010). It was, however, found that in spite of the improvement ‘many States remain institutionally weak and severely challenged in their ability to promote security and prosperity for their peoples’ (ibid.:5). Amnesty International (2008) has noted that human rights violations continue to be a persistent problem in Africa; economic and social rights are illusory for millions of people; internal violent conflicts accompanied by gross human rights abuses including unlawful killings, torture, and rape are on-going in several countries; and some states do not tolerate dissent and many of them restrict freedom of expression or are reluctant to cooperate with international human rights institutions. […]

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Identity, Issues, and Religious Commitment and Participation: Explaining Turnout among Mosque-Attending Muslim Americans

By Jangsup Choi, Gamal Gasim, and Dennis Patterson

Volume 11, Issue 3, pages 343-364

Abstract

While work on the political behaviour of religious groups in America has shown that, among other things, religious commitment and strong opinions on salient issues can encourage turnout and raise the probability of these groups’ members voting in national elections, much less is known about these relationships with respect to Muslim Americans. Using data collected at mosques in 2006 during the holy month of Ramadan, this article maps the turnout patterns of Muslim American respondents and then investigates the factors that explain the political participation of members of this increasingly important religious group. The article focuses on reported turnout in the 2004 presidential election and shows that, more than anything else, strong opinions on salient issues boosted the participation rates of members of this religious group in the election, even when controlling for other factors known to help explain turnout.

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The Emergence of a New Form of Mexican Nationalism in San Antonio, Texas

By Luis Xavier Rangel-Ortiz

Volume 11, Issue 3, pages 384-403

Abstract

This article explores the role played by a growing community of Mexican national entrepreneurs who are crafting a new form of Mexican nationalism in San Antonio, Texas. This population of Mexican business people is growing in size and influence in the city. The experiences of Mexican entrepreneurs differ from understood forms of Mexican immigration and acculturation to the United States. They differ from previous waves of affluent groups of political and religious Mexican refugees that flourished in San Antonio from 1908 through the 1940s. The integration and cultural adaptation experiences of Mexican entrepreneurs represent a new form of Mexican nationalism that engages both Mexican and American nationalisms in a bidirectional acculturation process. Blending attitudes, values, beliefs, and behaviours of both countries represent a new form of Mexican and American culture emerging in San Antonio at the beginning of the twenty-first century. To better understand the experiences and dynamics of these business people, this study builds on Pierre Bourdieu’s principles of capital and power.

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