Political symbolism

The study of empires in general, and the Roman empire in particular, may seem only remotely relevant to our understanding of present international politics and their ideological motivations. However, behind their diverse technologies, institutions and symbolic facades, the empires of the past responded to conditions and situations that on a more general level also unfold in our contemporary world.
Empires aim to establish control over vast tracts of space. Their purpose includes making place by, economically, militarily and ideologically controlling their populations and resources. What marks the empire in particular is its scale, and often its heterogeneity. In this sense empire is place-making on the grandest scale. This paper investigates certain aspects of how empires, particularly the Roman, succeeded or failed to expand and uphold the imperial space as an integrated yet diverse hierarchy of places. It is a hierarchy organised in ways that would facilitate the flow of resources into the imperial centre, while also producing and projecting power and policy from the centre towards the periphery, in an effort to uphold the overall system. I will argue that Rome has served as a model for conceiving and an analysing later imperial projects, and that this "imperial mirror" strongly characterises Roman heritage in the present. The heritage of the Roman Empire has contributed to the symbolic repertoire of later imperial projects precisely because its ruins, monuments and history could demonstrate so aptly how imperial power was and is symbolised as place.

What are the myths of Europe? This article provides the conceptual framework through which this question may be approached. It begins by defining myth in such a way as to distinguish it from other forms of political myths. From here, the relationship between mythical and historical narratives is analyzed via a study of how the main narrative cores through which Europeans have perceived themselves have worked in different periods and contexts as both. It concludes with a more detailed analysis of some of the icons that convey the myths of Europe.

The article discusses how the emerging genre of American and British science fiction symbolised and expressed Cold War anxieties after 1949. 
It begins by briefly showing how a popular Western symbolised the Berlin Airlift, then considers how several new Sci Fi novels, including "The Martian Chronicles," "The Day of the Triffids," "I am Legend," and "The Bodysnatchers" each respond more precisely to changing Soviet aggression. 
The chief writers explored are Ray Bradbury, Robert Heinlein, John Wyndham, Richard Matheson, Jack Finney, and the television writer Terry Nation.  Connections are drawn between key science fiction novels and public concerns about possible atomic war, espionage fears, future Soviet invasion, and the Cuban Missile Crisis.
It then suggests a shift in meaning affecting British science fiction from the mid-1950s, with rising fears about the demise of empire, and concerns that European civilisation is waning.  The chief writers discussed in this regard are John Christopher, whose work is linked with the Suez Crisis, & J.G. Ballard's "The Drowned World."  Strong links are also established between several British science fiction novels and William Golding's "Lord of the Flies."
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Che Gevara as a commercial brend

Некоммерческих символов не бывает. Как не бывает коммерции без символов — концентратов обмена — информационного, товарного, телесного. При этом самыми дорогими в коммерческом отношении являются торговые марки самых массовых продуктов. Если ваш продукт «кока-кола», то вы — обладатель самой дорогой торговой марки. А если ваш продукт — революция или массовое движение? Можно ли сравнивать серп и молот, силуэт Ленина, Маркса или Че Гевары с вензелем «кока-колы»?

Since Lucian’s "Conversation in the realm of the dead" each historical epoch tries to invite a dialogue of different generations of rulers. So people want to grasp the reasons of the similarities and differences in their policies and to understand their worldview and value systems.
In this book two Russian sovereigns "met": Ivan IV Vasilievich - the first tsar and the penultimate ruler of the Rurik dynasty and Alexis Mikhailovich - the second representative of the Romanov dynasty on the Russian throne. In the historical memory they were opposites: one is known as the Terrible, another - as the Most Peaceful.
Their "dialogue through time" shows that there were many similarities between them, from the property relationship (Ivan the Terrible married Anastasia Romanovna Zakharina-Yureva) to the issues of policy, the attitude toward the Orthodox Church and country residences. The political symbolism is fed, when Aleksei Mikhailovich appealed  to the memory of his "great-grandfather."
The book invites to dialogue not only kings, but also artefacts of the XVI and XVII centuries from the collections of the Moscow State United Museum Reserve, the State Historical Museum, the Sergiev Posad Museum Reserve, the Museum Reserve "Aleksandrovskaya Sloboda" and Zvenigorod Museum.
Начиная с «Разговоров в царстве мертвых» Лукиана из Самосаты, каждая историческая эпоха старается пригласить к диалогу правителей разных поколений. Таким образом человек хочет уловить причины сходства и различия их политики, понять их мировоззрение и систему ценностей.
В этой книге «встречаются» два российских государя: Иван IV Васильевич — первый царь и предпоследний правитель из династии Рюриковичей и Алексей Михайлович — второй представитель династии Романовых на российском престоле. В исторической памяти они оказались антиподами: одного потомки запомнили Грозным, другого — Тишайшим.
Их «диалог сквозь время» демонстрирует, что было много общего между ними, начиная со свойственных отношений (Иван Грозный был женат на Анастасии Романовне Захарьиной-Юрьевой) и заканчивая вопросами внутренней и внешней политики, взглядами на Православную церковь и загородные резиденции. Политический символизм обрел почву в практике обращения Алексея Михайловича к памяти своего «прадеда».
Книга приглашает к диалогу не только царей, но и памятники XVI и XVII веков из собраний Московского государственного объединенного музея-заповедника, Государственного исторического музея, Сергиево-Посадского музея-заповедника, Музея-заповедника «Александровская слобода» и Звенигородского музея-заповедника.

Book for a general audience that offers a vision of the development of the Tiwanaku society in the Lake Titicaca basin and its sphere of interaction in the South-Central Andes. The first part focuses on the urban-ceremonial core of Tiwanaku. The second part focuses on areas such as Arica, Moquegua, Cochabamba and San Pedro de Atacama. Six text boxes or inset on particular themes such as One Kingdom and two rulers, The significance of clothing in Tiwanaku, Keros and rites of libation, The “Treasure of San Sebastian”, Snuff trays and rites of inhalation, and The "Copper Man" are interspersed throughout the main text.
Libro de divulgación científica que ofrece una visión del desarrollo de la sociedad Tiwanaku en la cuenca del lago Titicaca y en su esfera de interacción en los Andes Centro-Sur. La primera parte se concentra en el núcleo urbano-ceremonial de Tiwanaku. La segunda parte se focaliza en zonas como Arica, Moquegua, Cochabamba y san Pedro de Atacama. A lo largo del texto se intercalan recuadros sobre temas particulares tales como un Reino y dos gobernantes, La importancia de la ropa en Tiwanaku, Keros y ritos de libación, El Tesoro de San Sebastián, Tabletas para alucinógenos y ritos de inhalación, y El “Hombre de Cobre”.

Abstract − Around 1486 Cecilia Gallerani was introduced to the court of Ludovico il Moro, becoming soon her favourite mistress. In 1491 she gave him the son Cesare, immediately legitimized as a Sforza. Her portrait painted by Leonardo da Vinci, celebrated in a sonnet by the courtisan Bernardo Bellincioni (c. 1490), is nowadays identified with the Lady with an ermine in the Czartoriskji Museum at Krakow. It may be interpreted also as a sort of political allegory due to the presence of the heraldic animal, alluding to Ludovico’s investiture (in the late 1486) to
the chivalric decoration entitled to San Michele and called Armellino, instituted by the King of Naples.
Key words: allegory, ermine, Moor, Sforza, Aragon

Riassunto − Cecilia Gallerani fu introdotta intorno al 1486 alla corte di Ludovico il Moro, divenendone ben presto la favorita e dando alla luce nel 1491 Cesare, prontamente legittimato. Il ritratto che di lei dipinse Leonardo da Vinci, celebrato in un sonetto encomiastico del poeta cortigiano Bernardo Bellincioni risalente al 1490 circa, si identifica unanimemente nella stupenda Dama con l’ermellino oggi nel museo Czartoriskji di Cracovia. Esso è anche interpretabile come allegoria politica sforzesca per la presenza dell’animale araldico, allusivo al conferimento dell’ordine cavalleresco di San Michele o dell’Armellino, ottenuto dal re di Napoli alla fine del 1486.
Parole chiave: allegoria, ermellino, Moro, Sforza, Aragona

The purpose of this article is to provide a general overview of all the marks, signs and symbols which appear in coins issued by different powers in the medieval Iberian Peninsula, both Christian and Muslim. It shows the evolution of iconographic symbols from the Suevic and Visigoths to Andalusi coins, as well as those from the Christian Kingdoms established
after the conquest of al-Andalus. Political and religious references will be analyzed, as well as their role in asserting the legitimacy of certain powers, their role in witnessing the evolution
of several ruling dynasties, and their political and territorial conflicts.

«Россия-Матушка» – один из наиболее известных символов русскости в России и за рубежом. Будучи важным концептом русского национализма, он выполняет функцию «символического пограничника» между Россией и Западом. В монографии исследуется история «России-Матушки» в XX веке, в том числе использование этого символа в основных военных конфликтах столетия (русско-японская война, Первая и Вторая мировые войны, Гражданская война, Холодная война). Книга показывает роль мифологии России-Матушки в определении русскости, в продуцировании Своих и Чужих, в конструировании внутренних и внешних Врагов, в легитимации и делегитимации власти, в поддержании и корректировке гендерного порядка в России. Исследование анализирует дискурсивную борьбу вокруг материнского символа России в различных направлениях русского национализма, которая обусловливает полисемантичность этого символа и гетерогенность национальной идентичности в целом. В отличие от других публикаций о «России-Матушке», эта книга рассматривает данный символ в кросс-культурном контексте, интерпретируя его через призму дискурса Модерности, делящего мир на «Запад и Все Остальное».

ÖZET: Yaşadığımız dönem, her geçen gün artan sayıdaki sembolün günlük hayat içerisine katıldığı zamanlara karşılık gelmektedir. Gördüğümüz, kullandığımız tüketim malları, hatta başımızı çevirdiğimiz her yer semboller ve onların sembolik anlamlarıyla doludur.
Sembollerin ve onların yansıması olan sembolik hareketlerin gündelik hayatın her alanında öne çıkması, politik alanda da yansımalarını çabuk bulmuştur. Böylece politik alan, sembollerin ve sembolik anlamların (söylem ve dil yoluyla) daha yoğun olarak kullanıldığı bir alan haline gelmiştir. Politikada artık sembolik davranışlar, ritüeller, törenler, ilişkiler, söylemler ve işaretlerin daha fazlasıyla ve daha bilinçli olarak yer aldığı söylenebilir.
Bu politik sembolizasyon, aslında politik aktörleri manipüle etmekte/yönlendirmekte, politik grubun iç dinamiğini sağlamakta, politik söylemi dolaşıma sokmakta, ve yaygınlaştırmaktadır. Bu, politik olarak “öteki”ni dışarıda bırakılması ve politik grubun bir “kimlik” etrafında toplanması demektir. Böylesi bir sembolizasyonu sağlayan bütün politik semboller ya da sembolik davranışlar, politik alanın her noktasına nüfus etmiş oldukları için, artık politika her zamankinden daha fazla “sembolik” şekillerle ifade edilir olmuştur.
Bununla birlikte,politikanın kendisini, çoğu kez sadece, bu şekillerde ifade eder bir duruma gelmesi, bu yöndeki diğer ifade tarzlarıyla da içli dışlı olmasıyla sonuçlanmıştır. Böylelikle politik sembollerin “görünür” olabilmeleri, yaygınlık kazanmalarıyla doğru orantılı olduğu için “popüler” imkânları kullanmaya yönelmişler, bu yönelim de onların popüler kültür tarzlarını olabildiğince çok, etkili ve yaygın bir şekilde kullanmaya sevk etmiştir. Öyle ki, politik semboller, artık sadece popüler kültüre ait ürünler ile değil, popüler kültüre has söylemlerle de sunulur olmuştur.
Bütün bunlar çerçevesinde iktidar egemenliğini devam ettirebilmek için, kendi politik sembollerini ideolojik olarak kullanmakta, bunu yaparken de popüler kültürden, tüketimden, politik kültürel mirastan yararlanmaktadır. Bunun sonucunda da ortaya popüler-politik semboller çıkmakta ve sembolik ilişki, davranış ve anlamları daha “değerli” kılmaktadır.
ABSTRACT: The period, in which we live, is gradually coming across the increasing number of symbols within the times that involve the daily life. Consumption goods that we see and use, even everywhere we turn our heads to, is full of symbols and their symbolic meaning.
Since the symbolic actions that precede in every area of the daily life, which are the reflections of symbols and theirs, their reflections in the political area rapidly discovered. Therefore, political area became a area in which the symbols and symbolic meanings (through discourse and language) were used more extensively. It can be stated that from now on, many more and more conscious symbolic behaviors, rituels, ceremonies, relationships, statements and sings will involve the politics.
This political composition in fact, is manipulating/directing political actors, is proving the internal dynamic of the political groups is putting political speeches into circulation and making them widespread. This, it means that the “other” is politically excluding and political group get together under an “identity.” Since all the political symbols that provide such a symbolization or symbolic behaviors penetrated in every point of political area, from now on politics is expressed through more “symbolic” figures than ever.
In addition to this, since politics itself often became expressible by ony these figures, it resulted in closely related with other types of statements. Therefore, they turned towards utilization of “popular” possibilities since “visibility” of the political symbols is directly proportional to being widespread and this turn caused them to use popular culture styles as much, effective and diffused as possible. So, political symbols from now on are proposed not only whit products concerning to popular culture but also the speeches related to popular culture.
In order for political power to continue its dominance, ideologically utilizes its own political symbols, while doing this it takes advantage of popular culture, consumption and political culture heritage. As a result of this, popular-political symbols appear and they make symbolic relationship, behavior and meaning more “worthy.”

This book first proves that the rationale behind Russia’s aggressive actions in its neighborhood resides in its goal of achieving certain geostrategic objectives which are largely predefined by the state’s imperial traditions, memories, and fears that the Kremlin may irretrievably lose control over lands which were once Russian. In other words, Russia constantly remains an expansion-oriented and centralized state regardless of epochs and political regimes ruling over it. That is its geopolitical modus operandi successfully tested throughout history. This book also scrutinizes Ukraine as a young post-colonial and post-communist state which, unlike Russia, is more prone to democratize and decentralize. To understand the logics of the ongoing Ukrainian transformation, its domestic and international developments are assessed in their connection to the Soviet political tradition and the medieval legacy of the Cossack statehood (15–18 centuries). This book outlines differences between the political cultures of Ukrainian and Russian nations. This envisages scrutiny of historical experiences and their impacts on the Ukrainian and Russian state-building, institutional structures, national identity, religious issues, and other features of sovereignty. Based on these discoveries, a structure of symbolic thinking which predefines indigenous understandings of justice and order has been constructed for Ukrainians and Russians.

It has long been held that Weimar democracy lacked the symbolic appeal necessary to bind collective sentiment and to win popular support. While recent revisionist histories of Weimar politics and culture take their cue from Peter Fritzsche's argument that “Weimar is less a cumulative failure than a series of bold experiments,” the turn toward new approaches and perspectives is uneven and incomplete even in those studies that avoid conflating the fragility of Weimar democracy with the overall lack or absence of democratic identifications. Detlev Peukert, while admonishing his readers not to minimize the Weimar experiment in democracy, also argues that the first German republic had no founding ritual, and that this absence in national history attests to a general lack of legitimacy. Eric Weitz, in his eloquent survey of the republic's promises and tragedy, has little to say about the proponents and forms of Weimar democratic culture. Thomas Mergel, who shows that the Weimar parliament was marked by a cooperative atmosphere of pragmatic republicanism, attributes to the republican Left a certain tendency “toward a rationalistic understanding of politics, toward the underestimation of the emotional attachment to a flag.” This assessment is entirely in line with the earlier claim that the rationalistic optimism (Gotthard Jasper) of the republican forces led to a “consequential underestimation of the integrative power of state symbols” (Klaus Wippermann).

Scholarship on collective memory often conceives struggles over the past as directly dependent on the structure of interests in the present. However, temporal constraints affect the way the past is selected and represented. In this article I focus on the appropriation of the memory of the Resistance by the Italian Communist Party in the years between 1943 and 1948. I highlight, following a growing literature on the path dependence of memory, that the consolidation of the memory of this period was conditioned not only by the political culture of the organization, but also by the internal dynamics and the specific genre of communist commemoration.

In Jammu and Kashmir, ethnoreligious conflict and its divisive identity politics have deeply affected how people perceive the “roots” and relics of their common past. This chapter addresses the various controversies that surround the use of statues in Jammu city. It explores the impact of the overwhelming presence of “military heroes” and asks how such figures and political leaders are reimagined through local and state patronage (or lack thereof). By highlighting the role of the state in choosing selective memories and inscribing them in the collective consciousness of the people vis-à-vis the frameworks of propagandist artworks, this chapter questions the intrinsic meaning of commemorative statues in disputed territories, where more than as cultural signifiers, they can act as structures of power.

This article analyses the perception of the symbols of the European Union (EU) by citizens. Relying on a survey of a representative sample of the population in eight countries (France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Poland, Romania, Spain and the United Kingdom) carried out in December 2020, it investigates to which extent these symbols are considered as good representations of the EU and differences related to political, cultural, social and economic belongings. Empirically, our findings show a large acknowledgement of these symbols in congruence with general attitudes towards the EU. Theoretically, it offers some evidence of the existence of a “banal Europeanism” taking - to a certain extent - European symbolism as granted in contrast with its politicisation in elite discursive struggles.

This article aims at reflecting on the political significance of distinct conceptions of temporality and their symbolic representation in the work of Walter Benjamin. In particular, the "clock" and the "calendar" will be addressed as symbols of, respectively, a linear and homogeneous conception of time and of a cyclical, uneven-and potentially revolutionary-temporality. The conception of time symbolized by clocks is criticized by Benjamin as a bourgeois understanding of progress, which inhibits revolutionary tensions in society by shifting the political focus on future, on the inevitability of progress and growth; on the other hand, calendars and ancient cyclical festivals' temporality constantly looks at the past, celebrating and re-actualizing the memory of previous revolutionary attempts. In the last section, the article will consider the role of symbols and allegories in Benjamin's philosophical writing, casting new light on the previous discussion.

The ‘European way of life’ (EWOL) has emerged as a new narrative in the communication of the European Union (EU) after the 2019 European elections. The article analyses the social relevance and meanings of this legitimizing narrative against the background of similar past communicative attempts; and compares its framing by EU institutions with its understanding by citizens. We rely on the results of a survey exploring the cultural and normative foundations of the European multi-level governance in eight countries, (France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Poland, Romania, Spain, UK). Our findings are twofold. First, the EWOL narrative does not differ much of previous narratives; and the popular perceptions of EWOL are in line with its institutional definition. Second, EWOL has a low public salience and remains an elusive topic. As a conclusion, it is unlikely to significantly alter EU legitimization.

In January 2016, the first publicized decision made by the president of the newly installed Venezuelan parliament, Henry Ramos Allup, was the removal of pictures from the legislative premises. In what transpired as a calculated performance, this member of the old political guard was captured on video dismissively instructing removal workers to send pictures of Chávez away to Sabaneta (Chávez's birthplace), or into the rubbish bin. He also commanded the removal of recent representations of Simón Bolívar, disqualifying them as ‘an invention of that mister [Chávez], a crazy thing’. This episode signalled the intensification of an ongoing struggle over political symbols in Venezuela. This article discusses the background and implications of such a struggle, focusing in particular on the figure of Chávez as the epitome of a contested national symbol. The fate of Chávez's corpse, currently located in a mausoleum, is at stake, but also the configuration of the institutionally sanctioned symbolic order with which political actors aim to condition political manoeuvring in years to come.

My contribution, initially written in French and translated into German by Christian Driesen is a short article about the visual symbolism of Ben Ali's (former President of the Tunisian Republic) visit to Mohamed Bouazizi's corpse lying, disfigured, on his hospital bed. The image is paralleled to Habib Bourguiba's dying corpse, during the visits by Ben Ali and Leila Trabelsi paid to the ailing Tunisian President, begrûnder of Modern Tunisia.

Today there is considerable attention being paid to what will be the long-term result of the WSIS. Since the time the Summit ended, an organizational infrastructure has been assembled within the UN system to implement the WSIS goals, and to routinely measure the effectiveness of these efforts. To the frustration of many, the WSIS did not achieve all that it could, while for others it represents little more than a polite gathering of diplomats, corporate public relations executives and NGO representatives that was likely never to produce any meaningful results. Of course, it is too soon to tell if the agenda outlined by the WSIS will be fully realized. But the WSIS unquestionably did produce one very positive outcome, which is that it has concentrated attention to the ongoing political, economic, social and cultural significance of the global resources for information dissemination and communication. By examining the institutions and practices that are widely understood to define the international human rights regime, this essay offers a perspective for thinking about the symbolic significance of international Summits and resulting Declarations in general, and of the outcomes of the WSIS in particular. Introduction The World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) was an international policy forum, organized in two phases (in 2003 and 2005), under the auspices of the United Nations. The Summit resulted in a series of documents aimed at outlining a rationale and strategies for improving access to the benefits of digital information and communication technologies. With explicit statements about intended compliance with the UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) that are targeted for achievement by the year 2015, the WSIS set out to articulate social policies aimed at putting ICTs at the service of ending global poverty and other widespread social ills. 1 Although this was the stated agenda, considerable attention also was focused on a geopolitical power struggle over future control of the global information infrastructure. Not surprisingly, the UN system was unable to wrest this oversight power from its base in the United States, at least for the time being (Hope, 2005; Markoff, 2005; Williams, 2005; " Keep UN's mitts off, " 2005). Today there is considerable attention being paid to what will be the long-term result of the WSIS. Since the time the Summit ended, an organizational infrastructure has been assembled within the UN system to implement the WSIS goals, and to routinely measure the effectiveness of these efforts. To the frustration of many, the WSIS did not achieve all that it could, while for others it was little more than a polite gathering of diplomats, corporate public relations executives and NGO representatives that was likely never to produce any meaningful results. Of course, it is too soon to tell if the agenda outlined by the WSIS will be fully realized. But the WSIS unquestionably did produce one very positive outcome, which is that it has concentrated attention to the ongoing political, economic, social and cultural significance of the global resources for information dissemination and communication. By examining the institutions and practices that are widely understood to define the international human rights regime, this essay offers a perspective for thinking about the symbolic significance of international Summits and resulting Declarations in general, and of the future outcomes of the WSIS in particular.

I was invited as a UGC Visiting Fellow at the Department of Sociology, Delhi School of Economics, Delhi University during 29th August- 12th September 2006. I had lectured in the classes of  M.A. Part I and Part II students on “Common Property Resource Management in the Context of Village Studies in India” and “Combining Qualitative and Quantitative Data in Development Study with Special Reference to Resettlement and Rehabilitation Research in West Bengal.” Delivered a seminar lecture on Political Symbolism in the Context of an 18th Century Peasant Rebellion in West Bengal.