Periodization as Decolonization

SUMMARY: Mark von Hagen’s article offers an interpretation of the changes that occurred in the study of Russian and Soviet history, and suggests the concept of “Eurasia” as an anti-paradigm facilitating the description of the region that combines the legacies of multinational empires and of Soviet-style socialism. At the same time, “Eurasia” is an anti -paradigm because it points to a variety of ways to revise many assumptions about Russian, Soviet, and Eurasian histories. For von Hagen, three separate processes heralded the arrival of new historiographical approaches. First, there is the increasingly prominence of works interpreting the history of Russia and the USSR not as that of a national state, but rather stressing its multinational and imperial character. Second, historians are constantly paying a greater attention to borderlands in the context of the prevailing view of boundaries as porous and fluctuating. Third, diasporas – including émigrés and exiles – have been “rediscovered” and their works are now returning to their countries of origin. Von Hagen also analyzes what he considers as “two paradigms” of the historical perception of Russia and the USSR. The first, “Russia as Orient”, attempted to present the Russian-Soviet historical experience as essentially rooted in centuries long Oriental and despotic traditions of Russia. Using Edward Said’s concept of Orientalism, von Hagen argues that this perception of Russia as Orient helped sustain a Western “occidental” identity. It often walked hand in hand with a belief in the unique experience of Russian history, a belief that von Hagen terms “neo-Slavophile”. The second paradigm is that equates the Soviet Union with modernization. According to von Hagen, this paradigm was partly rooted in the liberal tradition of the Russian “state school” of historiography, which saw the privileged role of the state led by an enlightened bureaucracy as the driving force of Russia’s path to modernization. Opposed to attempts to “essentialize” Russian history within the “Russia as Orient” paradigm, the modernization paradigm attempted to “normalize” the Soviet experience. Assumptions of the inevitable ethnic and national homogenization of the Soviet Union became prevalent in the modernization paradigm. Von Hagen then explores the legacy of Eurasianist thinkers, a group of Russian émigrés who offered their vision of Eurasia as a space of interaction between the Russians and the Turkic and Finnish peoples. Their vision of Eurasia also implied a positive evaluation of the Mongol presence in Russian history and a critical approach to Eurocentric assumptions. Von Hagen asserts that, in his view, the new Eurasian anti-paradigm avoids problematic apects of the Eurasianist legacy, such as the political views of the Eurasianist thinkers and their geopolitical views. The new Eurasian anti-paradigm retains their critique of “essentializing” approaches to such concepts as Europe and Asia in order to offer an opportunity to deepen our understanding of the complex pasts of Central and Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. For von Hagen, the Eurasian anti-paradigm has been profoundly impacted by the current “decentralization” of historical narratives, which is the result of interaction between historians and linguists, anthropologists, sociologists, etc. Eurasia allows one to part with the dominance of national narratives while accepting the importance of modern nationalism in historical processes. According to von Hagen, Eurasia does not coincide with the former Russian Empire or the former Soviet Union or with any other particular state. Its chronological boundaries are also not rigidly determined. In the age of globalization, von Hagen argues, it is important to remember that the great continental empires constituted an important element of global history. In the last part of his article, von Hagen surveys literature that he believes attests to the emergence of the Eurasian anti-paradigm in Russian-Soviet history. According to the author, the Eurasian anti-paradigm does not preclude any specific approaches to the past; even less is it meant as a judgment about the likelihood of one or another country of joining the European Union, NATO, or for that matter any of the Asian organizations. It is meant as a concept that opens up new horizons in the study of history and signifies a return of the Eurasian space into global history after almost a century of isolation.

SEER, 92, 3, JULY 2014 554 which presented a new perspective on the co-reign issue in documents 14 and 15. Meanwhile, the most recent publications cited are from 2010. There are also various errors in dating, the first being that of Stephen Nemanja’s charter for the Holy Virgin’s monastery at Polimlje (8), which is without reason dated from 1168–96 rather than the wider 1166–96. Stephen Nemanja’s charter for the Chilandar monastery (9) is given as the widest possible (after June 1198, before 13 February 1199) even though the narrower (the autumn of 1198) has been proven in the literature as very probable. Similarly, Stephen Nemanjić’s second Žiča charter (15) is dated ‘1221–1224?’, even though the cited literature reveals that there is no reason for setting 1224 as a borderline. Stephen Nemanjić died in 1227, therefore the only viable dating can be 1221–27. Other shortcomings include the manuscript of Stephen Nemanjić’s charter for Chilandar (12) — previously considered to be the original — which is for the first time here described as ‘original (?)’ (p. 79) but without any explanation why. In some places the identity of the author of the manuscripts is mentioned, but for documents 4 and 12 this information is omitted, even though one of the cited references points out that both were written by the same person. Lastly, dates in the list of contents are misleading, as they sometimes differ from dates given in descriptions of particular documents in the Zbornik itself. In summary, the Zbornik offers a complete edition of sources with useful indexes. However, this prominent publication is not free of methodological and meritorical shortcomings in its accompanying materials. Łódź B. Szefliński Merridale, Catherine. Red Fortress: The Secret Heart of Russia’s History. Allen Lane, London and New York, 2013. xvii + 506 pp. Maps. Illustrations. Notes. Suggestions for further reading. Index. £30.00. History can be focused and organized in any number of ways. Microhistory à la Carlo Ginzburg can produce startling new visions of the world; a variety of this approach is to select a city, street, institution, building, and craft a history around that object. In her Red Fortress, Catherine Merridale has produced a stimulating narrative of Russian history by focusing — none too narrowly — on the most famous building in Russia: the Kremlin. The rather silly subtitle of the British edition (cited above) only partly captures Merridale’s vision; the American subtitle (History and Illusion in the Kremlin) better reflects the book’s content. In any case, this is an admirable and serious romp through Russian history from the twelfth to the twenty-first century. Merridale’s approach is chronological but does not limit itself to the building we now know as the Kremlin. Rather, while keeping this fortress, the buildings REVIEWS 555 within it and its environs in central Moscow as the book’s centre of gravity, she does not hesitate to pursue — sometimes at considerable length — various topics, anecdotes, people, events that illuminate larger issues in Russian and Soviet history. This approach probably makes the book more engaging for non-specialists, who are given a great deal of general Russian historical background even while the author pursues in detail the specific architectural and artistic history of this object. For example, Merridale expounds at some length (pp. 87–98) on the events of Ivan the Terrible’s reign but in the end comes back to the Kremlin itself and the changes to it during these years. To take another example, chapter six covers both Peter I’s reign (wars, conflict with conservative forces, reforms) on the one hand and the impact of these years (fire, plans for buildings in the classical style, decay, attempts at restoration), not to mention a capsule history of Moscow’s changed role as the second capital after Peter’s founding of St Petersburg. The narrative is stately, occasionally a bit slow-moving, but full of delicious anecdotes, curiosities and solidly-researched history that goes back and forth between narrow focus (the Kremlin itself) and the wide lens (Russia). The fate of the Kremlin in the decades from March 1917 may well be the least known part of this story...

Systematic literature review on adaptation towards climate change impacts among indigenous people in the Asia Pacific regions

Curricula and educational practices in schools largely define the collective understanding of what society has deemed relevant, accurate, and valued. From the earliest days of colonial contact, the narrative of the presence and role of Indigenous peoples has been offered from a primarily Eurocentric perspective. This process has become normalized and ingrained in the educational system and dictated stereotypes and biases about Indigenous nations and peoples. This process continues to do harm to Indigenous as well as non-Native learners. While this state of affairs has been clearly documented, and the harm is ongoing and pervasive, there are practices and policies that have been successful in mitigating these deleterious effects. Within a framework of conceptual change, educational leaders are called upon to help all stakeholders recognize more culturally appropriate and accurate representations of Indigenous nations and people.KeywordsIndigenous learnersCurriculum revisionMulticultural educationDecolonizing educationSystemic racismSystemic biasAmerican IndianNative AmericanIndigenous nationsIndigeneityEducational leadershipIndigenous sovereigntySettler orientation

This study aims to examine the recognition of Indigenous land rights in Indonesia, the challenges faced in their implementation, and provide policy recommendations to strengthen the protection of Indigenous rights in the land sector. Although Indonesia already has regulations that recognize indigenous peoples ' rights, such as the 1945 Constitution and various sectoral laws, implementation of recognition of Indigenous land rights is often hampered by regulatory overlap and conflicts of interest between the forestry, plantation, and mining sectors. In addition, the role of indigenous peoples in policy making is still limited. This study identifies the gap between regulation and field reality, as well as analyzing the social, economic, and environmental implications of the recognition of Indigenous land rights. The results showed the importance of harmonizing regulations, increasing the participation of indigenous peoples, and accelerating the certification of indigenous lands to increase legal certainty. This study suggests multi-stakeholder collaboration as a strategic step to strengthen the position of indigenous peoples in the management of their lands and Natural Resources.

This article will explore and analyse a complex and multifaceted question of the rights of nature and the role of Indigenous Peoples in the creating, shaping, and defining of such rights. This perplexing question has legal and philosophical dimensions, which is multi-layered and not easily resolved. The author of this article will endeavour to analyse the rights of nature, the role of Indigenous way of thinking in forming of these rights and whether the rights of nature form a part of Indigenous Peoples’ identity. Indigenous Peoples and nature are notions which are frequently linked together. However, the relationship between Indigenous Peoples and mature is challenging and complex. The analysis will be conducted at both the national and international levels, exploring both national and international case law.

The Historical Dictionary of the American Frontier covers early Euro-American exploration and development of frontiers in North America but not only the lands that would eventually be incorporated into the Unites States it also includes the multiple North American frontiers explored by Spain, France, Russia, England, and others. The focus is upon Euro-American activities in frontier exploration and development, but the roles of indigenous peoples in these processes is highlighted throughout. The history of this period is covered through a chronology, an introductory essay, and an extensive bibliography. The dictionary section has over 300 cross-referenced entries on explorers, adventurers, traders, religious orders, developers, and indigenous peoples. This book is an excellent access point for students, researchers, and anyone wanting to know more about the development of the American frontier.

We conducted a qualitative study (2019–22) to contextualise Colombia's energy policy for sustainable development and renewable energy diversification, focusing on the new governance toolbox of market incentives, weak institutions, security risks in areas of limited statehood, and the role of indigenous people. We also examined how geopolitical events, such as COVID-19 and the Russian invasion of Ukraine, are affecting fossil fuel and decarbonisation strategies. Our findings suggest that weak institutions are a major obstacle to Colombia's energy transition. The Western definition of energy democracy takes for granted good governance in line with SDG 16: Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions; however, in Colombia, the context of social unrest, violence, corruption, and inequality hinders its implementation. Colombia's energy policy considers green investment a market opportunity rather than a way of institution building or phasing down fossil fuels, and there is no meaningful communication with civil society, especially indigenous people, to develop small-scale green investment initiatives. This study enhances energy policy by emphasising the role of governance and strong institutions in energy democracy. We argue that if governments and corporations were committed to climate change mitigation, they would invest in institution building over renewable energy.

The website of the Arctic Council rather proudly refers to the designation of Indigenous peoples as ‘permanent participants’ in the Council’s work as a unique feature, but some Indigenous leaders are less than fully satisfied. In this article it is argued that this arrangement in significant ways falls behind the role of Indigenous peoples in the United Nations, in particular its human rights and environment programs. Drawing on this comparison, the article concludes with placing a few suggestions before the Arctic Council.

The article analyzes socio-political conditions in which contemporary myths about the regional past are constructed. It focuses on ethno-national histories, which are integral to the current ideologies of ‘national republics’ in the Russian Federation. In the 1990s, the Republic of Tatarstan, situated in the middle Volga region, epitomized the ‘parade of sovereignties’ of ethnic regions of Russia. The political drift towards sovereignty was reproduced in regional history writing. Since the early 2000s, however, as the ‘vertical of power’ has been strengthened, attempts were made to develop a unified historical canon for the whole of Russia. At present Tatarstan’s historical narrative follows the preferences of the regional political elite, which aims at creating a separate segment in the puzzle of Russia’s ‘new past’ while mitigating conflictual entanglements of common history. Nevertheless, the History of Tatarstan was not subsumed by the History of Russia, and this disciplinary independence – inherited from the History of Tatar Soviet Socialist Republic – facilitated the fast ‘sovereignization’ of regional history. The separate historical narrative of Tatarstan persistently brings up the concept of ‘Tatar world, which competes in a way with its Russian counterpart – ‘Russian world’. The competition between the federal and regional levels of history writing is caused by the administrative and territorial division of Russia rather than by the genuine ‘struggle of ideas’ and it reflects the complexity of imperial legacy rather than confirms the emergence of a civic nation.
 Keywords: myth, ethno-national history, Tatarstan, Bolğar, ‘Tatar world’

Empires and Encounters: 1350-1750, edited by Wolfgang Reinhard. Cambridge and London, The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2015. vii, 1152 pp. $39.95 US (cloth). The 1150-page Empires and Encounters: 1350-iyyo is a colossal undertaking. The five historians who contributed to this volume have crafted a comprehensive history of the world in five linked geopolitical macro-regions: Continental Eurasia; The Ottoman Empire and the Islamic World; South Asia and the Indian Ocean; Southeast Asia and Oceania; and Europe and the Atlantic World. In doing so, these chapters present an global history that incorporates a variety of themes and topics of interest to professional historians and general readers alike, including regular attention to environmental history as well as the history of seas and oceans. As its title suggests, the text focuses on both empire building around the world as well as how, when, and why various contacts began to develop between these empires at this time. In this way, whether writing about Tokugawa Japan, Safavid Iran, Habsburg Spain, Mughal India, Aboriginal Australia, Songhai Africa, or Iroquois Canada, this study blends attention to both core cultural and political arenas. These fields include political history, social interactions, and religious and cultural life in each region, as well as hybrid and contact zones, migration, and contact between these regions as they developed globally during the period. The volume's sheer size presents certain challenges to offering any systematic summary of its contents. An overview of one of its five sections allows for a sense of the book's topical foci and rhetorical feel. Peter Purdue's section on Continental Eurasia, for instance--the first section of the volume--considers the rise and fall of the Mongol, Ming, and Qing Empires, the practices of Ming administration and the development of its class of civil servants, Chinese geopolitical expansion into north-western Eurasia as well as the South Seas, and the exchange of luxury goods in China. Additional chapters in Purdue's section on Eurasia consider similar topics in the history of Russia, Central Eurasia, Japan, Korea, and Vietnam, instructing the reader on the main political forces at work in each region, its principal cultural and social practices, and its developing contacts with other states and regions that surrounded it. While each author has organized his or her section of the volume in slightly different ways, this overarching approach, a focus on central practices as well as peripheral zones and exchanges, characterizes the volume as a whole. While the volume may be read as a narrative history, its real value may be, in the end, as a work of reference. In general, the study of global history can usually be boiled down to two main approaches: a comparison of different regions or an examination of exchanges between regions. This volume, through its form and content, endeavours to do both. The book's strengths lie in two main areas. First, through the direct comparison of these macro-political regions, the volume defines clearly what modernity meant in a global sense. Meaning, if we posit that the Western construction of the early modern historical period had a global meaning--that it entailed a certain set of historical events and practices around the world at this time--this text helps us to understand concretely what they were. Namely, these authors demonstrate how all of these regions, in one way or another, experienced population growth, frontier expansion, an increase in trade (and often global trade), various forms of state formation, the growth of bureaucracies, and the domination of local and subservient populations related to these growing states. Each region experienced these phenomena to varying degrees; for instance, the authors point out that many parts of the world at this time experienced limited or even no forms of statehood and were inhabited by stateless populations, especially in Southeast Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa. …

In the declaration of the Conference on Environment and Development at Rio de Janeiro 1992, the role of indigenous people in environmental management and development for achieving sustainability was recognized because of their knowledge and traditional practice. However, the value and traditional practices of the indigenous communities today has gradually disappeared due to pressure from modernization and influence of market economy, which penetrated them. The study examine the extent to which the knowledge and practice of the Orang Asli community comply with sustainable development principles and how their knowledge and practice could be used to derive a framework for sustainable development strategies of Orang Asli community. As an introduction, this article present an alternative thought on the concept and also suggestions on the characteristics of sustainable community. This study revealed that, sustainable community should be guided by a set of system which maintains the relationship of trinity; i.e. relationship between Man and his Creator, Man and Man, and Man and Environment. Eventually, this would help to attain balanced and sustained development economically, socially, environmentally and spiritually. Another part of the study involves an in-depth case study on the selected Orang Asli Temiar settlements in the state of Perak. Based on a case study of Orang Asli Temiar communities of Kampung Perjek and Kuala Mu, the study evaluated the level of sustainability of the community's base on the indicators formulated. Forty-five (45) indicators were finalized in a comprehensive 1nanner covering economic, social and physical dimensions. These indicators were then categorized into behaviour, system and situational components. Fieldworks were conducted and the level of sustainability of each indicator was analyzed based on the information collected and index was used to measure the overall sustainability. This study shows variability of sustainability levels of each indicator. Findings from the first part of the analysis (sustainability level for each indicator) showed that only nine of the 16 behaviour indicators have achieved sustainability level. Under system category, only two out of 10 indicators achieved the level of sustainability and for indicators under state category, seven out of 19 indicators achieved the sustainability level. Meanwhile, for the index analysis (overall sustainability level of each dimension) it showed that the levels of sustainability were moderate for the social and physical/ecological indicators (42.1 % and 60.0%) and low for the economic indicators (25.0%). Based on the findings and discussions with the local community, this study suggests a framework for the sustainable development strategy which includes; (1) conserve or encourage continuation of current sustainable practices, (2) improve or change the unsustainable or low level of sustainable practices and (3) develop the potential of the area in a sustainable manner.

In this chapter, the Lalgarh movement is addressed by putting together and comparing the narratives of different actors. The Lalgarh movement started with mass mobilisation of people against state violence, and through nonviolent strategies they managed to keep the state out of a large area. After the Maoists claimed to be leading the movement, and the state launched an operation to crush them, the movement turned into a violent conflict. This chapter explores how different actors told different versions of this story. This narrative comparison offers a different perspective on themes that are very prevalent in academic explanations of violent conflict, particularly explanations of the Maoist insurgency, such as the role of indigenous people, land alienation, forest management, extraction of resources, and state violence.

The Role of Indigenous People in Maintaining Cultural Existence in the Era of Modernization

List of Contributors Acknowledgments Introduction - Harry N. Scheiber, Director, LOSI Part I: Adjudication (ch. 1) Tullio Treves, and Science in the Jurisprudence of the Tribunal for the of the Part II: An Historical Overview (ch. 2) James Kraska From the Age of Discovery to the Atomic Age: Conflux of Marine Science, Seapower and Oceans Part III: Ecosystem and Sustainability in Ocean Use (ch. 3) Ronan Long, European Perspective: Science, Technology, and New to Ocean Law (ch. 4) Ruth Davis and Quentin Hanich, Developing an Equitable and Ecosystem-Based Approach to Fisheries Management (ch. 5) David L. VanderZwaag, Sustaining Atlantic Marine Species at Risk: Scientific and Legal Coordinates, Sea of Governance Challenges (ch. 6) Justin Rose, Implementing the Nagoya Protocol in Pacific Island Countries Part IV: Resource Above and Below the Oceans (ch. 7) Kathryn Mengerink, The Deep Ocean: Advancing Stewardship of the Earth's Largest Living Space (ch. 8) Tara Davenport, Submarine Communications Cables and Science: A New Frontier in Ocean Governance? (ch. 9) Maria Gavouneli, Energy: Troubled Waters in the Eastern Mediterranean (ch. 10) Alexander Proelss, International Legal Concerning Marine Scientific Research in the Era of Climate Change (ch. 11) Richard J. McLaughlin, 'Idle Iron' versus 'Rigs-to-Reefs': Surviving Conflicting Policy Mandates in the Gulf of Mexico Part V: Regional Issues: Arctic and the South China Sea (ch. 12) Clive Schofield, Dividing and Managing Increasingly Waters: Delimiting the Bering Sea, Strait and Beyond (ch. 13) Jordan Diamond, The Role of Indigenous Peoples in Managing Offshore Arctic Resources (ch. 14) Jun Zhao, China's Emerging Arctic Strategy and the Framework of Arctic (ch. 15) Joel C. Coito, Boundary Conflict: China-Philippines Confrontation over the Scarborough Reef, and the Viability of UNCLOS Dispute Resolution Procedures Part VI: Enforcement in Ocean Regimes (ch. 16) Stuart Kaye, Combating Illegal and Unauthorized Fishing: An Assessment of Contemporary Practice Part VII: (ch. 17) A Remembrance of Stefan A. Riesenfeld John Briscoe Index