The Influence of Ibn Sīnā on al‐Ghazzālī in Qur'anic Hermeneutics

Al‐Ghazzālī criticized Muslim philosophers in general and Ibn Sīnā in particular in a number of matters notwithstanding, he was deeply influenced by philosophy and Ibn Sīnā's views as to some issues. Of the contexts in which al‐Ghazzālī is under the clear influence of Ibn Sīnā are the interpretations of some Qur'ānīc chapters and verses which are related to the demonstration of the existence of God and the explanation of some divine attributes and names. In many of his works, al‐Ghazzālī reproduces Ibn Sīnā's interpretation of the verses in harmony with the ontological proof. One can observe Ibn Sīnā's influence on al‐Ghazzālī in relation with the hierarchy of beings, too. However, the context in which Ibn Sīnā's influence is most obvious is the interpretation of the 35^th verse of the Sūrah Nūr. Ibn Sīnā's interpretation of the terms occurring in this verse as symbols of the human faculties exercised a profound impact on the thought of al‐Ghazzālī, which manifests itself in his interpretation of the verse in Mishkāt al‐Anwār. Another of such contexts is the topic of human psychology and the interpretations of the verses related wherewith. Immensely influenced by the psychological views of Ibn Sīnā, al‐Ghazzālī adopted Ibn Sīnā's notion of the simultaneous creation of soul and body, interpreting some Qur'ānic verses in harmony with this notion. This article is intended to illustrate that al‐Ghazzālī, who is opposed to the blind imitation of any school of thought, did not make a wholesale denouncement of the views of philosophers; on the contrary, he made an extensive use of Ibn Sīnā's ideas in conformity with his general attitude of benefiting from all schools of thought.     

Negotiating belonging and perceptions of citizenship in a transnational world: Singapore,a cosmopolis?

The complex mappings of inflows and outflows of people, capital, images and ideas in global city spaces create particular challenges for nation-states that are deeply embedded in the international circuit of capital. Through an empirical study of Singapore, an aspiring global city-state, I offer an analysis of how the state-sponsored cosmopolitan project is contested by Singapore citizens. I also present evidence to highlight the contradictions of belonging and citizenship in a transnational world, with particular reference to the postcolonial racial and nationality dynamics that inflect these discourses.

Négocier l'appartenance et les perceptions de la citoyenneté dans un monde transnational: Singapour comme ville cosmopolite?

Les mappages complexes des mouvements des personnes, du capital, des images et des idées à travers les espaces urbains mondiaux posent un défi particulier aux états-nations qui sont très fortement intégrés dans le circuit international du capital. Singapour, ville-état mondiale en croissance, est le sujet d'une étude empirique dans laquelle je présente une analyse du projet cosmopolite soutenu par l'état et comment ce projet est contesté par les citoyens de Singapour. Je présente également des éléments de preuve pour faire ressortir les contradictions entre l'appartenance et la citoyenneté dans un monde transnational, en précisant entre autres les dynamiques qui touchent aux identités raciales et nationales postcoloniales qui pèsent sur ces discours.

Mots-clefs: appartenance, citoyenneté, mobilité transnationale, cosmopolitanisme, Singapour.

La negociación de pertenencia e ideas de ciudadanía en un mundo transnacional: Singapur, ¿un cosmópolis?

Los complejos mapeos de la entrada y salida de personas, capital, imágenes e ideas en los espacios de ciudades globales crean desafíos particulares para naciones-Estados, los cuales están estrechamente vinculados al circuito internacional de capital. Por un estudio empírico de Singapur, que aspira a ser reconocido como ciudad-estado global, ofrezco un análisis de cómo los ciudadanos de Singapur contestan este proyecto cosmopólito patrocinado por el Estado. También presento pruebas para destacar las contradicciones inherentes en las nociones de pertenencia y ciudadanía en un mundo transnacional, con referencia particular a la dinámica racial y de la dinámica de nacionalidad poscolonial que salpican estos discursos.

Palabras claves: pertenencia, ciudadanía, movilidad transnacional, cosmopolitanismo, Singapur.     

Colonial Tutelage and Industrial Colonialism: reindeer husbandry and early 20th-century hydroelectric development in Sweden

The incentives for large-scale hydropower development in Sweden are usually explained in terms of the early 20th-century belief in progress and the need for energy to fuel industrialization and modernization. For reindeer husbandry, the consequences and cumulative effects of this large-scale landscape conversion, and the societal changes it entailed are still largely a story to be told as impacts and effects constantly evolve in the socio-ecological system of the reindeer grazing lands. The present article ¹ 1 This article is part of the multi-disciplinary research project ‘Adaptations of Natural Resource-based Communities to Climatic and Societal Changes: Sami Reindeer Herding in the Past, Present and Future’ funded by The Swedish Research Council, FORMAS, The National Space Board and Faculty of Humanities, Umeå University. investigates hydropower development in the northern parts of Sweden, and how the reindeer husbandry of the indigenous Sami people was involved, through a case study of three hydropower projects in the early 20th century. An additional perspective is illuminated: how early hydroelectric development in the reindeer grazing areas was made possible through an immersed colonialism.     

Seismic Overstrength of Shear Walls in Parking Structures with Flexible Diaphragms

The objective in current design practice for parking structures is that energy is dissipated through the formation of plastic hinges at the base of shear walls while floor diaphragms remain elastic and are vertically supported by a combination of shear walls and gravity resisting columns. Unfortunately, this objective is not always achieved due to inaccuracies in current methods for calculating demands on shear walls and in calculating the capacity of shear walls (IBC 2003 International Building Code. International Conference of Building Officials. Whittier, CA.  [Google Scholar], ACI code). When demands are overestimated and capacity underestimated, then diaphragm can fail prior to flexural yield of shear walls as was observed in several parking structures in the 1994 Northridge earthquake.

Eigenvalue and inelastic dynamic response analyses were performed in order to investigate the effects of diaphragm flexibility on wall responses and of wall overstrength on diaphragm responses. The elongated periods of parking structures due to diaphragm flexibility were found to significantly decrease seismic force demand on shear walls relative to what is calculated using codes of practice in which diaphragms are assumed to be rigid. This leads to the over design of shear walls, which further compounds the problem by preventing the flexural yielding of these walls and thereby driving inelastic response to diaphragms. Various degrees of diaphragm flexibility, shear wall layout, seismic zone, and the number of stories were considered in these analyses.

Inelastic static pushover analyses were preformed to investigate the design and capacity evaluation of shear walls. The results illustrate that the shear capacity of walls may be close to twice that calculated by codes of practice. The largest overstrengths were observed in shear walls with low height-to-length ratios in which a significant portion of the lateral load was taken by direct strut action to the foundation and without placing demands on the longitudinal tension reinforcement in the shear walls. The article concludes that methods in codes of practice for calculating shear wall demands and capacities need to be improved if good seismic performance of parking structures is to be achieved.     

SEISMIC ENERGY DEMAND IN STEEL MOMENT FRAMES

The present paper investigates the seismic energy demand in steel moment-resisting frames. The frames, with 3, 6 and 10 storeys, and 4 and 8 spans, are designed according to current seismic code provisions. The energy response (energy quantities and their distributions) in the frames subjected to an ensemble of six earthquake ground motions recorded on different soil conditions, is investigated by nonlinear time history analysis. The study concludes that (1) the results of energy response can be developed into a rational method of seismic evaluation and design for steel moment-resisting frames; (2) the energy concept based on the single-degree-of-freedom has limitations when extended to the realistic structural system for design purposes; and (3) it is necessary to develop the energy-based approach for seismic evaluation and design based on the seismic response of a realistic multi-degree-of-freedom structural system.     

A THEORETICAL ATTENUATION MODEL FOR EARTHQUAKE-INDUCED GROUND MOTION

A theoretical attenuation model of earthquake-induced ground motion is presented and discussed. This model is related directly to physical quantities such as source and wave motion parameters. An attenuation formula for rms acceleration of ground motion is derived and verified using acceleration data from moderate-sized earthquakes recorded in Iceland from 1986 to 1997. The source parameters and the crustal attenuation are computed uniformly for the applied earthquake data. Furthermore, attenuation formulas for peak ground acceleration are put forward.