Political Culture
in Three Spheres
c. 711 – c.
1453
The
Questions
1. Historical Context: what/who are we talking about?
a.How would
you define your sphere chronologically and geographically?
b. What
political formations within your sphere do you consider relevant/do you wish to
discuss (regimes, dynasties, institutions …) and how do they (not) fit in?
c.What
social groups are/become politically involved in these formations (military,
bureaucrats, clergy, nobility, commoners, townspeople, women…), and how are
they involved (as groups incl. families/households, as individuals, active or
passive…)?
d. What are
these formations’ endemic tensions, fluctuations or paradoxes that affect their
political process? (inclusivity vs. exclusivity, blood vs. merit, family rule
vs. monarchic rule, centre vs. periphery, public vs. private domain, …)
e.What are
the essential religious co-ordinates in your Sphere and/or formation?
2. Ideology & propaganda: how do elites/would-be elites explain their
hegemony?
a.What are
the vital ingredients of political ideology in your sphere (in general and in
particular within each formation)?
b. To what
extent were there conflicting ideologies/ideas/concepts at work in your sphere
and/or formation?
c. What
types of power and authority did these ideologies underscore (autocracy,
oligarchy, monarchy, regional, universal, centralised, decentralised, communal,
imperialist, hegemonic, pragmatic, spiritual, secular, dynastic, hierarchic,
egalitarian, charismatic, tribal, patriarchal, patrimonial, legislative, soft…)
and (how) did they change over time?
d. How did
formations support/enhance these ideologies through propaganda (verbal &
non-verbal, including literature, historiography, rituals, ceremonials, art
& architecture) and (how) did this change over time?
e. How do
the essential religious co-ordinates (as identified in 1.e) influence political
culture and ideology in your sphere?
3. Practice & organisation: how do elites attain and maintain political
power?
a.What are
the practical sources for your formation’s elite’s hegemony (monopoly of
violence, of economic resources, of religious authority, of knowledge and
interpretation, of symbols…) and (how) did these change over time?
b. To what
extent was political power publicly organised in your formation
(administration, economy, justice, security, religion, ritual, law) and (how)
did it change over time?
c. To what
extent was political power devolved to the private domain (household politics),
and (how) did this change over time?
d. How
important is the geographical setting to your formation’s political culture?
e. How is
the continuation of an elite’s hegemony built into the political practice of
your formation?
f. What is the role of peace-keeping and violence
(internal and external) in your formation’s political practice?
4. Inner- & Inter-Sphere contacts: where do elites meet?
a.What kind
of exchanges occurred between your sphere’s formations and the other spheres and
(how) did this change over time?
b. How would
you define the relation of your sphere and your formation’s political culture
to any of the other spheres and formations?
c. How would
you define the relation of your sphere and your formation’s political culture
to formations not belonging to any of the three spheres?
Catherine
Holmes (
Jonathan
Shepard (
Jo van Steenbergen (Ghent)
Björn
Weiler (Aberystwyth)