Theocracy,Eschatology, and the Ephemeral Church: Graham Ward and the “Crisis of Democracy”

This article offers a critical assessment of Graham Ward’s political theology and critique of modern democracy. Ward argues that modern democracy expresses a nihilistic metaphysics and lacks an adequate account of the embodiment of sovereignty within the social, with the result that it tacitly harbors totalitarianism. As an alternative, Ward advances a theocratic model of the social, with the aim of providing an account of the social embodiment of sovereignty lacking in democracy. The article argues that Ward is ultimately unsuccessful in this attempt. His eschatological focus separates the church from the world, undermining his account of the embodiment of sovereignty and reinforcing the very emptiness at the heart of the social his theology is intended to counter.     

The invisible war on nature: the Abyssinian war (1935–1936) in newsreels and documentaries in Fascist Italy

This contribution to the special issue focuses on newsreels and documentaries that were produced concerning the Second Italo–Ethiopian War (1935–1936), commonly known as the Abyssinian War. It aims to contextualise LUCE's filmic production on the war, so as to create a framework in which the institute can be understood not only as being part of a wider politics of propaganda in Fascist Italy, but as an example of a modern socio-technical organisation that enabled the discursive construction of East African nature as ‘Other’ and therefore helped to justify colonial war as a process of sanitised creative destruction aimed at replacing a previous, negative ‘first nature’ with a positive, Fascist and Italian ‘second nature’. The article draws on archival documents from Mussolini's government cabinet, and on LUCE documentaries and newsreels; these sources are used to create a background against which LUCE's concern with the Second Italo–Ethiopian War can be understood.     

Reactions of the Governments of Nigeria and Biafra to the Role of the Catholic Church in the Nigeria–Biafra War

Abstract

The high incidence of conflict in the world today, and the overwhelming influence of religion on man and his society, have resulted in an increasing engagement of religion in conflict management. However, in spite of its high profile in managing conflict, religion can sometimes form a barrier to conflict resolution. The Nigeria–Biafra war was one of those wars in which religion, as an instrument of conflict management, played a double-edged sword. This paper examines the reaction of the parties to this conflict to the role of the Catholic Church in managing the conflict.

The involvement of the Catholic Church in the Nigeria–Biafra war has ever remained one of the highly controversial themes of this war. While the role played by the church appeared to be a welcome development on the part of the Biafran Government, the Federal Military Government of Nigeria (FMG) was against the church and its activities, particularly its relief programme in Biafra during the war. From the available evidence, the church’s relief services, just like those of the International Committee of the Red Cross, were carried out on both sides of the war. The difference was on the level of dependence on it, as well as the degree of its exploitation by the two parties. In addition to its high dependence on the Caritas airlift, the Biafran Government, in its war of propaganda hinged on religion, was out to exploit every available opportunity provided by the church’s relief programme in Biafra. It therefore made its overtures of ‘friendship’ to the church in Biafra and beyond as it assumed the status of a ‘maligned child’ of the mother church. To the FMG that was out to crush a rebellion, such manipulation of religion, using the platform of the church’s programme of relief in Biafra was more than a frustration of its war effort. Its anger was thus directed against the church both locally and internationally such that the latter, among other things, could achieve little or nothing in terms of conflict resolution, although the relief programme of the church in general saved the Biafran population from a war in which starvation was obviously an instrument.     

The Catholic Church,religious Revival,and the nationalist movement in East Timor, 1975–98

’We have nothing left to lose. We are human beings and they have treated us like insects. We will never accept them here. Even if we have to die resisting, we will resist. We have our dignity and our own identity. And God is with us!‘     

Patterns of the Future? British Mediterranean Strategy and the Choice Between Alexandria and Cyprus 1935–8

During the 1935–6 Abyssinian Crisis, the value of Malta as a British naval base came into question, as the island was vulnerable to Italian air attack. The British then examined the possibility of developing the Cypriot port of Famagusta as a naval base. However, by 1938 the project was rejected on the grounds of cost, while the 1936 Anglo-Egyptian Treaty gave London a more acceptable alternative, namely Alexandria, with its excellent port next to the Suez Canal. The examination of Cyprus’ possible role as a naval and air base and the evident strategic interrelation of the British positions in Egypt and in Cyprus in 1935–8 were indicative of future, post-war developments in British military thinking and strategic priorities.     

Canadian Civil Aviation 1935–45: Flying Between the United States and Great Britain

This article examines Canada's role in post-war planning for international civil aviation and how it was influenced by plans emanating from both London and Washington. Canadian aviation policy was driven by ambitions not easily reconciled: collective-security idealism; commercial advantage; the desire to reconcile British and US policies; and to raise Canada's international profile. These issues are explained and analysed in the lead-up to and in the events of the Chicago International Civil Aviation Conference in November–December 1944. What emerges challenges a considerable part of the conventional wisdom about Canada's diplomacy and the role it played at Chicago through a more nuanced picture of both motives and the stage upon which the civil-aviation drama was played out.     

A Review of “Church,State, and Society: An Introduction to Catholic Social Doctrine”

Abstract

The Mandragola is a microcosm of Machiavelli's thought. As a comedy, every detail is under Machiavelli's control, and there are no losers: private vices yield public benefits. All Machiavelli's characters are not equal in either the choice worthiness of their goals or abilities. Who is the hero of this comedy? Machiavelli's clues prompts exploring his allusions to classical and patristic sources but, most importantly, to Livy. Parallels in The Mandragola and Livy connect Nicia with the Roman founder, Brutus. In his ambitious goal, freedom from conventional shame, and consequent triumph over misfortune, Nicia emerges as exemplifying Machiavellian virtue.     

Reformation in the Far North: Cumbria and the Church, 1500–1571

Abstract

In the early industrial period, financial and professional services were mainly accommodated within residential premises. Centrally located houses became increasingly given over to office use. Eventually, converted parlours and bedrooms proved inadequate and enterprises started to commission specially designed premises: the era of purpose-built offices eventually arrived, brought about by a combination of growing commercial wealth, institutional reform, residential suburbanisation and acceptance of new fashions in the use of architecture. This study of the emergence of the office district of Leeds illustrates the transformation of urban space in the early industrial era. New light is cast on the relationship between the growth of office uses and the process of suburbanisation, and there is a detailed analysis and mapping of the transformation of particular streets and of the role played by individual professions. The paper covers the era up to 1861 when the purpose-built office era can be said to have become established in Leeds.     

Hats,Hotels, Mayhem and Marx: Film,Theatre and the Cinematic Collaborations of the Groupe Octobre, 1932–1936

The Groupe Octobre, an agit-prop theatre group formed in April 1932 and disbanded in summer 1936, holds a mythical place in French film history. Though the primary activities of this troupe were theatrical, it provided the formative ground for cinema actors, screen-writers, directors, set designers, and film musicians, reflecting the close relationship between film and theatre which had evolved throughout the silent period. However, the coming of sound in 1928–29 opened up new debates surrounding this relationship, notably with regard to the critically despised genre of ‘filmed theatre’. This article proposes to look at two cinematic collaborations of the Groupe Octobre, L'Affaire est dans le sac (P. Prévert, 1932) and L'Hôtel du libre échange (M. Allégret, 1934), to examine how the group's contribution—coming from the distinctly alternative tradition of revolutionary workers' theatre yet also performing in mainstream films—reflects a more fruitful and diverse relationship between theatre and film in the early 1930s than has generally been critically acknowledged hitherto.

Le groupe Octobre, une troupe théâtrale formée en avril 1932 et qui s'est dissoute pendant l'été 1936, occupe une place mythique dans l'histoire du cinéma français. La plupart des activités de la troupe se déroulaient sur scène; mais le groupe a néanmoins joué un rôle formateur pour de nombreux acteurs, scénaristes, réalisateurs, musiciens et décorateurs de cinéma, reflétant ainsi les liens étroits qui s'étaient formés entre le cinéma et le théâtre pendant la période du muet. L'arrivée du parlant en 1928-29 a été à l'origine de nouveaux débats autour de cette relation, notamment à l'égard du ‘théâtre filmé’ – genre qui suscitait le mépris de bien des critiques. Cet article analyse deux collaborations cinématographiques du groupe Octobre, L'Affaire est dans le sac (P. Prévert, 1932) et L'Hôtel du libre échange (M. Allégret, 1934), afin d'examiner comment la contribution du groupe – venant de la tradition non-conventionnelle du théâtre ouvrier et révolutionnaire mais en même temps participant dans des films traditionnels – indique une relation entre le théâtre et le cinéma du début des années trente plus fructueuse et diverse que celle que l'on a décrite jusqu'à présent.