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11. Deconstructing the EU’s “Standards of Civilisation”: The Case of Turkey

Author:
Münevver cebeci
Publication Date:
12-2019
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Uluslararasi Iliskiler
Institution:
International Relations Council of Turkey (UİK-IRCT)
Abstract:
Arguing that the European Union’s (EU) imposition of its norms and values on Turkey is a continuation of the logic of “European standards of civilisation”, this article offers a second reading of European discourses about Turkey. It regards enlargement conditionality as an apparatus through which the EU constructs its own identity as “ideal” and its others as imperfect. Thus, it attempts to deconstruct the EU’s standards of civilisation through three major lines on which they are built: the authoritative application of standards, unequal treatment and a geopolitical approach – as set by Hartmut Behr in 2007.
Topic:
Foreign Policy, Geopolitics, and Civilization
Political Geography:
Europe, Turkey, Middle East, and European Union

12. A Dialogue of Rivers

Author:
Kishalay Bhattacharjee and Shiv Visvanathan
Publication Date:
09-2019
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
India International Centre (IIC)
Abstract:
Welcome to a series of talks and dialogues that hopes to challenge the imagination of the ‘mainstream’. The river conversation is critical in re-evaluating histories, reconnecting civilisations, cultures and peoples, ideas and regions and opening streams of thought for a future with exciting possibilities. However, why do we need to talk about rivers? Titash Ekti Nadir Naam is a very well-known film by Ritwik Ghatak, but it is also a book written by Adwaita Mallabarman, where he writes, ‘the bosom of Bengal is draped with rivers and their tributaries, twisted and intertwined, like tangled locks streaked with white foamy waves’, and he describes the river like a human being. There are an estimated 71 riverine novels written in Bengal. Yet, very few pieces of this literature have come from fishermen, boatmen or even floodplains farmers themselves. Padma Nadir Majhi published in 1934, is top-quality riverine writing written by Manik Bandopadhyay. However, as Adwaita Mallabarman said that for all the great artistry, the author of Padma Nadir Majhi came from an educated Brahmin family, and knew of the life of the fisherfolk only from the margins. It reflected the Brahmin son’s romantic view. Titash… is probably the only example of a riverine novel written by a fisherman’s son. Today’s discussion is an attempt to develop a river imagination and let the river speak!
Topic:
History, Culture, Civilization, and Rivers
Political Geography:
South Asia and India

13. Who Owns the Indian Past: The Case of the Indus Civilization

Author:
Dilip K. Chakrabarti
Publication Date:
07-2009
Content Type:
Research Paper
Institution:
India International Centre (IIC)
Abstract:
The question 'who owns the past' is not a rhetorical question. On the one hand, itis tied to the issue of identities, which have played a major role in archaeological research since its very inception, and on the other, it is bound up with the various features of cultural resource management including the thorny relationship between mainstream archaeology and the rights of indigenous people in countries like the USA, Australia and Canada. There is a vast amount of literature on both themes. The first one, i.e. the question of identity, is linked to the establishment of national identity as well as various other collective identities like gender, ethnicity and religion. The issue of identity may assume many forms and generatemany debates. In the context of Israel and the Palestinian territory, it has been argued/ for instance, that there are four types of 'desired pasts' there: (1) the Israeli desired past which is sought by the Israeli state and the Jewish organizations of the United States; (2) the conservative Christian past which is championed by the Christian fundamentalist organizations, the American School of Oriental Research and the Biblical Archaeological Society; (3) the Palestinian desired past, favoured by the Palestinian rights organizations and Palestinian archaeologists and intellectuals; and finally, (4) the diplomatic desired past, as represented by the appointed officials of the US State department.
Topic:
Religion, History, Israel, Judaism, Christianity, Civilization, and Palestine
Political Geography:
India