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A Messiah Uncaged: Jiddu Krishnamurti and the Rejection of an Orientalist Future
No full textTheosophy is an occult group founded in the nineteenth century by Russian-born Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, who based her teachings on what she learned from occult Masters she met during her travels of Asia. Unsurprisingly, Theosophy has been understood to be an Orientalist venture, an understanding which undergirds much of this paper. Orientalism assumes an inherent difference between the “East” and “West,” and Blavatsky appropriated and claimed authority over ideas from the East. Blavatsky’s English-born protege Annie Besant took these Theosophical ideas and, along with her colleague Charles Leadbeater, created a new form of Theosophy. Their belief in the imminent appearance of a messianic figure, the World-Teacher, was still Orientalist in nature due to its imperialist underpinnings and belief in the authority of Europeans and the Masters they claimed to contact. Leadbeater ‘discovered’ a young boy by the name of Jiddu Krishnamurti in Adyar, India, whom he and Besant promptly began to raise with a Western education under the belief that he would become the World-Teacher. In his youth his ideas resonated with those of the Theosophical Society, but as he matured, especially after the death of his younger brother in 1925, he became alienated from many Theosophical teachings. Instead of merely propagating the views of these Theosophists, he eventually taught that spiritual salvation lay within each individual, and they should not rely on him or any other authority for spiritual guidance. This paper argues that Krishnamurti ultimately transcended the East-West binary central to Orientalist thought. Rather than reversing the power dynamic by privileging Eastern over Western spirituality, he rejected all dogmatic systems and emphasized individual spiritual liberation without intermediaries, thereby developing a universal teaching that emphasized direct perception of truth without reliance on spiritual authorities, texts, or traditions
A Lack of Pluralism: How Christian Nationalism Imminently Threatens Democracy
No full textWhy do some people endorse pluralism, while others do not? Pluralism is essential for a functioning democracy. I argue that the rise of Christian Nationalism in the republican party has led to an erosion of pluralism which is undermining a core pillar of democratic society. White Christian nationalism is an identity growing in popularity; no longer a fringe movement or outlier, Christian nationalism is embraced by constituents and politicians alike. This identity was the motivating force behind the January 6th 2021 storming of the capitol. While claiming to be patriots, American citizens attacked the very center of democracy. Using the 2021 Baylor Religion Survey, I test the connection between Christian Nationalism and pluralism, showing that there is statistical significance between the two even when controlling for variables such as age, gender, political affiliation, and education level
Cultural Foundations of Harmony: A Psychological Exploration of Authority, Conformity and Cooperation in China’s Collectivist Society
No full textA collectivist society prioritizes the group over the individual. Preserving harmony through conformity, cooperation, and deference to authority is common. The basis of these values stems from Confucianism. Although it is a philosophy that dates back thousands of years, it is deeply ingrained in modern Chinese culture. Confucianism stresses mutual respect, social harmony, and group cohesion (Hagen, 2022). Collectivist culture reflects many of the same values as Confucianism. Members of a collective society also prioritize group goals and interdependence. I analyze Eastern and Western perspectives to understand how each explains facets of deference to authority in China. The Face and Favor model presents evidence for the preservation of harmony through deference to authority, conformity and cooperation. Besides the Chinese cultural model, the Authoritarian Personality Model and Two Polarity Model of Personality are also investigated as Western based concepts in preservation of harmony. In spite of the growing influence of modernization and globalization, traditional norms still prevail in China
Residual Conservation: A Political Ecology of Marine Protected Area Creation in Argentina
No full textViewed through ecological indicators, while Argentine MPAs protect a significant section of the country’s marine biodiversity, they leave large swathes of its marine territory vulnerable to extractive industry. Using an institutional analysis which focuses on the discourses used to describe marine conservation in the country, I contend that this configuration of MPAs is the deliberate product of an effort to tie international standards of marine conservation to national issues of economic development, nationalism, and scientific exploration. This approach represents a novel political ecological model for understanding the reinterpretation of global environmental standards under the conditions of the global periphery. As a case emerging from Latin America in particular, Argentina showcases the capacity for local innovation in conservation, made possible by the region’s relationship with international civil society networks and strong government capacity. On a global scale, this case presents a model for foregrounding local agency and political realities in implementing and recasting international conservation policy
Relics of Homeland: “Ce que la Palestine apporte au monde” at L’Institut du monde arabe
No full textDebuting in the summer of 2023, L’Institut du monde arabe (Institute of the Arab World, IMA) in Paris showcased the exhibit “Ce que la Palestine apporte au monde” (What Palestine Brings to the World). “Ce que la Palestine apporte au monde” presented a collection of contemporary Palestinian artwork that aspired to become a permanent Palestinian national arts museum in occupied East Jerusalem. I draw from methods from the study of material religion to constructively theorize “Ce que la Palestine apporte au monde” before and after October 7th. Through the artwork, the exhibit negotiated themes of state and subject identity, presenting France as a benefactor of Palestinian nationhood through the exhibit as a French national shrine to Palestine. This is consequential for how the IMA communicates about France’s post-colonial identity. On October 7th, Hamas attacked Israel, prompting Israel’s retaliatory, genocidal invasion of Gaza. Subsequently, the IMA extended the anticipated November closure of the exhibit to the end of the year. In this paper, I ask how “Ce que la Palestine apporte au monde” became a different exhibit. By extending the exhibition to the end of 2023 against the backdrop of the bombardment of Gaza, the IMA rendered itself a reliquary of sorts for Palestine. Visitors could experience Palestinian artwork within “Ce que la Palestine apporte au monde” as relics of Palestinian homeland which negotiated Frenchness and Palestinian identity through a new kind of object. I argue that after the transformation of the artwork, the IMA was now enculturating its post-colonial identity through a reliquary, changing what the exhibit was communicating. I interrogate what kinds of justice tending to the material legacies of mass suffering can offer, drawing extensively from Laura Levitt’s scholarship in The Objects That Remain
Moving Beyond Compliance: A Three-Pronged Approach to Strengthening the Clery Act and Its Implementation
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Vershönerung
No full textVerschönerung is a composition focused on repurposing existing music, developing formal structure from a non-standard base, and exploring a new (for me) genre. The piece involved writing and recording pieces of music, sampling and breaking apart those pieces, and fitting them together into a new whole, making an “audio collage.