The First World War, also called the Great War would shake-up then existing power equations within Europe and prime the region for the Second World War two decades later. While America’s participation in the latter was more substantial than the former, it nevertheless played a crucial supportive role to its conventional allies. It’s support to…
Tag: Europe
Why is constitutional engineering crucial but difficult for the former communist countries?
When communism was imposed as the incontestable political doctrine at the culmination of the Second World War, many Eastern European nations set upon a new chapter in their respective histories. During the forty odd years as part of the Soviet Union a degree of economic, political and constitutional homogeneity was brought into this region, which…
Overview of Orientalism by Edward Said
Orientalism as a geo-political and sociological concept has attracted much controversy. It remains author Edward Said’s definitive work, alongside other titles such a The Question of Palestine and Covering Islam. Orientalism as a scholarly work is the combined study and analysis of Oriental “philology, linguistics, ethnography, and the interpretation of culture through the discovery, recovery,…
Is Max Weber’s analysis of the rise of modern society a “debate with the ghost of Karl Marx”?
Intellectuals such as Karl Marx and Max Weber have proposed important theories toward understanding the dynamics of societies. Marx’s ideas in particular have profoundly affected later generations of sociologists, including his compatriot Max Weber. Marx’s achievement lies in attempting to explain social situations and problems from the point of view of economic class of constituent…
Two Lives of Charlemagne by Einhard and Notker the Stammerer: Summary and Analysis
Charlemagne, translated into English as Charles the Great, was the King of the Franks, who expanded his empire to as further south as Italy. We learn from the two biographies that Charlemagne was instrumental in the spread of culture and arts to all corners of his kingdom. By closely associating himself with the Papacy, he…
In what ways does ‘sociological sense’ differ from ‘common sense’?
Sociology as a discipline of study took off only in the twentieth century. The growth in communications technology, coupled with unprecedented levels of human migration, both facilitated and made necessary the study of human interaction from the perspective of ethnicity, race, class, gender, etc. Intellectuals such as Karl Marx, Max Weber, Emile Durkheim, Talcott Parsons…
Article Review: ‘Burials, Houses, Women and Men in the European Neolithic’ by Ian Hodder
What does the author say is his/her goal in this article or chapter? What is the point he/she is going to make? At the outset, the Ian Hodder tries to make clear the two varying interpretations of neolithic megalith structures. The first view assumes that the megalith monuments of ancient Europe were products of emerging…
Socrates and the notion of an examined life
According to Socrates, a commitment to moral reasoning is an essential condition of a well-lived life. An individual should base his actions upon the outcomes of such internal dialogues. The exercise of self-examination and introspection as a way of arriving at moral truths is of paramount importance to Socrates. So much so that he unequivocally…
Science, the Enlightenment and Politics: Which is more important?
This essay argues that the Enlightenment is the most important concept among the three given in the title. The Age of Enlightenment was a period in early modern history when western societies, led by its intellectuals, made a marked shift from religion based authority to one of scientific reason. Prior to this period, the Church…
The rationality and irrationality of ethnic violence
Aggressive nationalisms always claim that they are regrettable but rational defensive reactions against perceived external threats; but this claim that aggression is defence, and that aggression is rational, is always (or often?) itself an irrational claim. Explain and comment upon this statement Every ethnic group in the world had faced or initiated aggression against another throughout…