Reckless Rites

Horowitz, Elliott

doi:10.1515/9780691190396

Cited by 67 publications

(3 citation statements)

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“…Horowitz, for example, notes how the Fijian experience with the Alternative Vote (AV) was less an example of the limitations of AV as a tool of moderation, but rather resulted from efforts on the part of Fijian negotiators to retain decidedly anti-centripetalist institutions like communal voting districts and constitutional rules that gave any party earning at 10 percent of the vote share a position in the government. 28 I very much agree with this claim and suggest that it reflects precisely the tensions between ethnic myths used by elites to reinforce their position and the professed desire to implement truly democratic institutions aimed at generating interethnic moderation.…”

Section: Democracy and Ethnicity In Bipolar Societiesmentioning

confidence: 78%

Ethnic Redistribution in Bipolar Societies: The Crafting of Asymmetric Policy Claims in Two Asia-Pacific States

Shoup¹

2011

Perspect. polit.

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Many post-colonial states use ethnically-based redistribution (EBR) programs to address economic inequalities between dominant minority communities and professedly autochthonous majority communities. Nevertheless, despite considerable efforts such programs have generally failed in terms of advancing the economic status of majorities. In this article I will suggest that EBRs in post-colonial states are not solely intended to ameliorate economic gaps, but rather are also a policy tool used by governing elites to advance a narrative of state ownership, and by extension a decidedly non-liberal notion of democratic citizenship. I explore this claim through an analysis of Malaysia and Fiji, two post-colonial states characterized by persistent asymmetric claims by ethnic majorities who claim legitimacy by virtue of indigenousness. The discussion will focus first on the formation, deployment, and persistence of claims of ethnic hierarchy by professedly indigenous groups. Second, attention will be paid to how such claims are linked to demands for ethnically based redistribution following a direct challenge to extant ethnic hierarchies. Finally, the policies will be assessed both in terms of their stated economic objectives and in terms of their ability to generate a broader sense of autochthonous identity.

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Section: Democracy and Ethnicity In Bipolar Societiesmentioning

confidence: 78%

Ethnic Redistribution in Bipolar Societies: The Crafting of Asymmetric Policy Claims in Two Asia-Pacific States

Shoup¹

2011

Perspect. polit.

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“…He argues that from the seventh to the nineteenth century Jews expressed outrage at their subjugation to Christians through ridicule, insults and on occasions even violence. 58 It was the Purim holiday which inspired this behaviour since the story, recorded in the Book of Esther, described how in Babylon in 368 bc the villain Haman who had planned to destroy the Jews was hanged on monstrously high gallows, which itself emboldened Jews to defy their overlords. 59 Moreover, an edict of the Theodosian code of 423-4 had set a precedent for the festival being connected to the mockery of the Christian faith, since it was believed that the Jews were not hanging Haman (as in the Book of Esther) but crucifying an image of him, which suggested that they were ridiculing Christ.…”

Section: Purim Activitiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Proselytizing at Purim

Aron-Beller¹

2020

Jews on Trial

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On 23 March 1625, five years before the Great Plague would come with fury to Modena and carry off almost half its population, the Jewish festival of Purim coincided with Palm Sunday. In the latter part of the morning, many poor Jews crowded the palazzo of the 73-year-old Jewish banker Moisè de Modena ('that old hunchback' , as he was endearingly called by his Christian clients), who lived in Via San Giorgio in Modena, as well as those of other prosperous Jews, in anticipation of receiving il buon Purim, a monetary gift for the Jewish holiday. 1 At this time, two Christian constables, officers of the Podestà, as well as a few other Christians visited the Jewish homes in the San Giorgio quarter and the Contrada Sanguinetti, collecting these gifts for themselves, calling it a buona manza, until they reached de Modena' s home. 2 At this point testimonies differ. Vincenzio, son of Don Felloni, also nicknamed the Mantuan, a 38-year-old Christian constable and delator who denounced de Modena to the Holy Office the following day, testified that when he and his colleague, the 50-year-old Cristoforo Fornavelo, entered Moisè de Modena' s house, one they had visited before, the banker rejected their request, saying more than once, 'Become Jews, and I will give you the Good Purim'. 3 When Fornavelo gave testimony after his companion on the same day, his report was slightly different. According to him, Moisè de Modena had said, 'if you want to become Jews, I will give you the good Purim' , turning a command into a suggestion. 4 This he had heard the Jew utter only once, nor did he state, as had his companion, that the Jew had asked them to leave. When Moisè de Modena was summoned the next day he explained to Inquisitor General Giovanni Vincenzo Reghezza that even though certain Christians had come to his house to receive the tip, he had refused to give it to any of them, since he had decided to give alms only to poor Jews at Purim, preferring to give the customary monetary gift to Christians once a year at Christmas. He told Inquisitor Reghezza he had said something like 'You're not Jews and this is not your festival, so I'm not giving you anything'. The Inquisitor accused the Jew of lying, and immediately charged him

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“…61 Such degrading policies had additional potential to provoke what Elliott Horowitz has called 'reckless rites', that is, deliberate acts by Jews mocking and sometimes even targeting Christian symbols such as the Host or the crucifix. 62 Indeed, conflicts between Christians and Jews during Christian ceremonies occurred with considerable frequency -and they often began at the window. 63 For the historian it is not always clear whether the acts that triggered such conflicts were intentional or accidental; even for contemporaries the line was sometimes blurred.…”

Section: Jews Against Christiansmentioning

confidence: 99%

‘They Shall Not Keep Their Doors or Windows Open’: Urban Space and the Dynamics of Conflict and Contact in Premodern Jewish–Christian Relations

Jütte

2016

European History Quarterly

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Jewish houses, and especially their apertures, were frequent targets of assault in premodern Europe. Were these attacks just a matter of Christians letting off steam, as some historians have argued, or were they signs that 'Jewish life was a perennial struggle for survival'? This question leads into a much larger methodological issue -namely, how historians should approach and frame violence in premodern Christian-Jewish relations. This article argues that assaults committed by Christians against Jews may well be said to form a specific category of violence; but to assess and analyse this phenomenon properly, one must take into account the general backdrop of the dynamics of violence -especially urban violence -at the time. In the specific case of windowsmashing, it is important to consider the symbolism as well as the complex function of liminal spaces such as windows in the everyday lives of Jews and Christians. The conclusion will outline how anti-Jewish window violence left an imprint on both cultural life and economic activities (such as glassmaking) in Jewish communities well into the twentieth century.

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Reckless Rites

Cited by 67 publications

References 0 publications

Ethnic Redistribution in Bipolar Societies: The Crafting of Asymmetric Policy Claims in Two Asia-Pacific States

Ethnic Redistribution in Bipolar Societies: The Crafting of Asymmetric Policy Claims in Two Asia-Pacific States

Proselytizing at Purim

‘They Shall Not Keep Their Doors or Windows Open’: Urban Space and the Dynamics of Conflict and Contact in Premodern Jewish–Christian Relations

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