Portal:Society/Selected article/archive


 * August 7, 2008

Chinese society during the Song Dynasty (AD 960–1279) was marked by political and legal reforms, a philosophical revival of Confucianism, and the development of cities beyond administrative purposes into centers of trade, industry, and maritime commerce. The inhabitants of rural areas were mostly farmers, although some were also hunters, fishers, or government employees working in mines or the salt marshes. Conversely, shopkeepers, artisans, city guards, entertainers, laborers, and wealthy merchants lived in the county and provincial centers along with the Chinese gentry&mdash;a small, elite community of educated scholars and scholar-officials. As landholders and drafted government officials, the gentry considered themselves the leading members of society; gaining their cooperation and employment was essential for the county or provincial bureaucrat overburdened with official duties. In many ways, scholar-officials of the Song period differed from the more aristocratic scholar-officials of the Tang Dynasty (618–907). Civil service examinations became the primary means of appointment to an official post as competitors vying for official degrees dramatically increased. Frequent disagreements amongst ministers of state on ideological and policy issues led to political strife and the rise of political factions. This undermined the marriage strategies of the professional elite, which broke apart as a social group and gave way to a multitude of families which provided sons for civil service. (more...)

Tamil people are a Dravidian people from the Indian subcontinent with a recorded history going back more than two millennia.The oldest Tamil communities are those of southern India and north-eastern Sri Lanka. There are also a number of Tamil emigrant communities scattered around the world, especially in central Sri Lanka, Malaysia, South Africa, Singapore, and Mauritius with more recent emigrants found in New Zealand, Australia, Canada, the United States, and Europe. There are an estimated 77 million Tamils around the world.
 * October 12, 2007

The art and architecture of the Tamil people encompass some of the greatest contributions of India to the art world. The music, the temple architecture and the stylised sculptures favoured by the Tamil people are still being learnt and practiced. The classical language of Tamil, one of the oldest languages in India, has the oldest extant literature amongst other Dravidian languages.

Unlike many ethnic groups, Tamils were not governed by a single political entity during most of their history; Tamilakam, the traditional name for the Tamil lands, was politically united for only a brief period, between the 9th and 12th centuries, under the Chola Empire. The Tamil identity is primarily linguistic, although in recent times the definition has been broadened to include emigrants of Tamil descent who maintain Tamil cultural traditions, even if they no longer regularly speak the language. Tamils are ethnically, linguistically and culturally related to the other Dravidian peoples of the Indian subcontinent. (more...)

Pope Benedict XVI (Latin: Benedictus PP. XVI; Italian: Benedetto XVI), born Joseph Alois Ratzinger on April 16, 1927, in Marktl am Inn, Bavaria, Germany) is the 265th and reigning Pope of the Roman Catholic Church, and as such, Sovereign of the Vatican City State. He was elected on April 19, 2005, in a papal conclave, celebrated his papal inauguration mass on April 24, 2005, and took possession of his cathedral, the Basilica of St. John Lateran, on May 7, 2005. Pope Benedict XVI has both German and Vatican citizenship. He succeeded Pope John Paul II, who died on April 2, 2005. (More...)
 * January 8, 2007

The Iranian people are a collection of ethnic groups primarily defined by their usage of Iranian languages. The Iranian people live chiefly in the Middle East, Central Asia, the Caucasus, and parts of South Asia, though speakers of Iranian languages were once found throughout Eurasia, from the Balkans to western China. As Iranian people are not confined to the borders of the current state of Iran, the term Iranic people is sometimes used as an alternative in order to avoid confusion with the citizens of modern Iran. The series of ethnic groups which comprise the Iranian people are traced to a branch of the ancient Indo-European Aryans known as the Iranians or Proto-Iranians. Some scant information about the way of life of these early Aryans has been elucidated through archaeological finds in Russia, Central Asia and the Middle East. The Iranian people have played an important role throughout history: the Achaemenid Persians established the world's first multi-national state, and the Scythian-Sarmatian nomads dominated the vast expanses of Russia and western Siberia for centuries and gave birth to the infamous Amazons. In addition, the various religions of the Iranian people, including Zoroastrianism and Manichaeism, were important early philosophical influences on Judeo-Christianity. Early Iranian tribes were the precursors to many diverse modern people, including the Persians, the Kurds, the Pashtuns, and many other, smaller groups. The southern Iranian people survived Alexander the Great's conquests, Muslim Arab attempts at cultural dominance, and devastating assaults by the Mongols, whereas the Iranians of the north were largely assimilated by the Slavs and other European people. (More...)
 * June 10, 2006

The economy of India is the fourth-largest in the world as measured by purchasing power parity (PPP), with a GDP of $3.3 trillion. When measured in USD exchange rates it is the tenth largest in the world, with a GDP of $691.8 billion. However India's huge population results in a relatively low per capita income ($3,100 at PPP). Services are the major source of economic growth in India today, though two-thirds of Indian workforce earn their livelihood directly or indirectly through agriculture. In recent times, India has also capitalised on its large number of highly-educated populace fluent in the English language to become a major exporter of software services, financial services and software engineers. For most of India's independent history, a socialist inspired approach was adhered to, with strict government control and regulation on private sector participation, foreign trade and foreign direct investment. Since the early 1990s, India has gradually opened up its markets through economic reforms by reducing government controls on foreign trade and investment. The socio-economic problems India faces are the burgeoning population, growing inequality, lack of infrastructure, growing unemployment and growing poverty.
 * May 23, 2006

The Tamil people are an ethnic group from South Asia with a recorded history going back almost two millennia. The oldest Tamil communities are those of southern India and north-eastern Sri Lanka. Unlike many ethnic groups, the Tamils have at no time been governed by a single political entity; Tamil̲akam, the traditional name for the Tamil lands, has always been under the rule of more than one kingdom or state. Despite this, the Tamil cultural identity has always been strong. Historically, this identity has been primarily linguistic, with Tamils being those whose first language was Tamil. In recent times, however, the definition has been broadened to also include emigrants of Tamil descent who maintain Tamil traditions, even when they no longer speak the language. Tamils are ethnically, linguistically and culturally related to the other Dravidian peoples of South Asia. There are an estimated 74 million Tamils around the world. (read more...)
 * December 24, 2005

The term Human rights denotes the view that human beings have certain pre-determined universal rights, and status, regardless of legal jurisdiction and other localizing factors, such as ethnicity and nationality. For many, the concept of "human rights" is based in spiritual and religious principles, or else is otherwise directly related to them. Within particular societies, "human rights" refer to standards of behavior as accepted (frequently disregarding moral values) within their respective legal systems regarding: 1) the well being of individuals, 2) the liberty and autonomy of individuals, and 3) the representation of the human interest in government. These rights commonly include the right to life, the right to an adequate standard of living, the prohibition of genocide, freedom from torture and other mistreatment, freedom of expression, freedom of movement, the right to self-determination, the right to education, and the right to participation in cultural and political life. (read more...)
 * June 19, 2005