Groundings Undergraduate Journal
type: channel
description: Groundings UG is an accredited academic journal for undergraduate students at the University of Glasgow, supported by the Glasgow University Union Board of Management and the University Chancellor's Office. The Journal was established in 2007 under the stewardship of the Dialectic Society, who published and oversaw the project until after the 2018 edition, when ownership was transferred to the Glasgow University Union’s Libraries Committee (GUU). Excluding the years of 2009, 2020, and 2021, the Journal has been published annually- including a special edition in collaboration with the other Ancient Universities of Scotland (Groundings- Ancients), which ran between 2013 and 2018. These previous editions have been a resounding success, enabling the publication of well-over 200 student authors to date– many of whom have since gone on to lead world-changing careers, from academics at Yale through to gaining (and remaining in) careers in academic publishing itself. A student-led, peer-reviewed journal like Groundings is a rare thing throughout the academic world, and we pride ourselves on the opportunities and exposure to the academic process we are able to provide at the University, both to our authors and the whole editorial team.
publisher: Glasgow University Union
language: en
publication name: Groundings Undergraduate Journal
issn: 1754-7474
copyright: The CC BY 4.0 license is a Creative Commons license. This is a non-copyleft free license that is good for art and entertainment works, and educational works. It is compatible with all versions of the GNU GPL; however, like all CC licenses, it should not be used on software. People are free to: Share — copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format; Adapt — remix, transform, and build upon the material for any purpose, even commercially. The licensor cannot revoke these freedoms as long as you follow the license terms. But they must conform to the following terms: Attribution — You must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use. No additional restrictions — You may not apply legal terms or technological measures that legally restrict others from doing anything the license permits. Please check individual article PDF copies to see if any additional restrictions apply.
items: Dissident Ghosts of Queer Language in Hope Mirrlees and E. M. Forster
items: Addressing over-inclusiveness and under-inclusiveness of Patrick Macklem’s Sovereignty of Human Rights
items: Euripides and Opera from the Baroque Period to the 20th Century
items: Peculiarly Criminal: Resolving the prudential deterrence problem
items: Making History
items: Russian Nationalism
items: Muriel Spark as Auto-Biographer in Curriculum Vitae
items: Inequality and Identity in Contemporary Processes of Labour Market Restructuring
items: The Evolution of Morality
items: Eyes
items: The Impacts of Colonial Law and Policy on Indigenous Family Life in Australia
items: Political representation and revolution
items: Positive liberty
items: The legacy of sovereignty
items: The demise of state legitimacy
items: WWSD: What Would Socrates Do?
items: A new anti-paternalist theory
items: The significance of the changes that Sulla made to the Roman constitution, and to what extent these changes had been reversed by 70 B.C.
items: ‘The blissful change’
items: The evolution burial practice among the Ertebølle
items: Transitions in the Avant-garde
items: ‘The age of chivalry is gone.’
items: Scotland is Fucked
items: How has NATO enlargement impacted on NATO-Russia relations?
items: The Evolution of the Jihad Doctrine
items: Did Communist rule in the German Democratic Republic live up to its rhetoric regarding women’s emancipation?
items: A Transtheoretical Understanding of the Emotions
items: Stories Which Transfix Society
items: ‘The price we had to pay’
items: Perceptions of an Icon

Dissident Ghosts of Queer Language in Hope Mirrlees and E. M. Forster
type: item
description: The essay compares Paris: A Poem by Hope Mirrlees and Howards End, a novel by E. M. Forster. I start by arguing that death is portrayed as a mysterious spectacle resulting in the ghostly presence of the dead among the living in both works. The spectre of Ruth Wilcox in Howards End and the dead haunting Paris subvert institutions: they act against the capitalist market resisting commodification of life and death while also opposing the rigid heteronormative timelines mixing past present and future. Ultimately, the ghosts in Forster and Mirrlees's works emphasise the ephemerality of text and language, inventing new ways to talk about queer identity freed from oppressive 'othering'. Escaping through the fractures in the institutions, the ghosts signify the desire for a new language to speak in a non-normative, 'queer' way.
subject: Vol. XVI Articles
  topic: section
subject: modernism
  topic: keywords
subject: queer
  topic: keywords
subject: ghosts
  topic: keywords
subject: Literature
  topic: subjects
subject: English Literatrue
  topic: subjects
subject: Modernism
  topic: disciplines
creator: Maiia Marina
rights: Copyright (c) 2026 Maiia Marina https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
date: 2026-02-13
publication date: 2026-02-13
doi: 10.36399/GroundingsUG.16.461

Addressing over-inclusiveness and under-inclusiveness of Patrick Macklem’s Sovereignty of Human Rights
type: item
description: The critiques of Macklem’s theory, particularly regarding its perceived over-inclusiveness, underscore the necessity of distinguishing “human rights in international law” from the narrower regime of IHRL. Macklem’s theory emphasizes the broader role of human rights across diverse areas of international law, where human rights principles play a significant yet distinct role. By addressing critiques that conflate these concepts, this essay has highlighted how Macklem’s legal conception of human rights enriches our understanding of their dynamic and multifaceted function within the international legal order. Moreover, recognizing the interplay between human rights and other areas of international law, my extended theory proposed in this essay not only mitigates the risk of fragmentation but affirms the adaptability and positive role of human rights in addressing the complexities of global justice.
subject: Vol. XVI Articles
  topic: section
subject: Philosophy of Law
  topic: subjects
creator: Lilliana Fan
rights: Copyright (c) 2026 Lilliana Fan https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
date: 2026-02-05
publication date: 2026-02-05
doi: 10.36399/GroundingsUG.16.471

Euripides and Opera from the Baroque Period to the 20th Century
type: item
description: This essay aims to report on any connections between Eurpides' tragedies and opera over its 500 year history. I will begin by laying out the thematic concerns that are central to Euripides’ writing as the summaries his tragedies that have most often been adapted to opera, which are including but not limited to Medea, Alcestis, and the Bacchae. This argument will focus on key operas that connect the art form to Euripides, mostly by being direct adaptations of one or more plays, such as Lully's Alceste, Cherubini's Medea, and Wellesz's Alkestis. Any diversions from the source material, whether thematic or narrative, will then be assessed and accounted for within the wider musical and historical context. This will determine that, as I hypothesise, the extent to which the plays of Euripides had a place in shaping the development of Western opera was significant.
subject: Vol. XVI Articles
  topic: section
subject: Euripides
  topic: keywords
subject: Greek tragedy
  topic: keywords
subject: Classical Reception
  topic: keywords
subject: Opera
  topic: keywords
subject: Music History
  topic: keywords
subject: Classics
  topic: subjects
subject: Classical Reception
  topic: subjects
subject: Euripides
  topic: subjects
subject: Greek Tragedy
  topic: subjects
subject: Opera
  topic: subjects
subject: Music History
  topic: subjects
subject: Classics
  topic: disciplines
subject: Classical Studies
  topic: disciplines
subject: Music History
  topic: disciplines
creator: Sevrin Draper
rights: Copyright (c) 2026 Sevrin Draper https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
date: 2026-02-13
publication date: 2026-02-13
doi: 10.36399/GroundingsUG.17.437

Peculiarly Criminal: Resolving the prudential deterrence problem
type: item
description: This article contributes to the debate in the philosophy of law over the justification of punishment. It focusses on the ‘communicative’ theory of punishment as articulated by Antony Duff in his chapter of the recently published Oxford Handbook of the Philosophy of Punishment (2024). In the chapter Duff elaborates his theory and proposes that the ‘prudential deterrence’ problem is the most serious objection to it. In this article I propose a novel solution to the problem. I argue that the problem arises from Duff’s failure to properly outline the role of his theory in relation to the different kinds of law (principally criminal and non-criminal). Accordingly, I clarify this relation by suggesting that the communicative theory ought to be designated as what justifies the criminal law in particular, while the considerations raised by the prudential deterrence problem are what defines the law apart from particular criminal or non-criminal considerations.
subject: Vol. XVI Articles
  topic: section
subject: Law
  topic: keywords
subject: Philosophy of Law
  topic: keywords
subject: Philosophy of Law
  topic: subjects
subject: Philosophy of Punishment
  topic: subjects
subject: Philosophy
  topic: disciplines
creator: James Farrow
rights: Copyright (c) 2026 James Farrow https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
date: 2026-02-13
publication date: 2026-02-13
doi: 10.36399/GroundingsUG.16.433

Making History
type: item
description: The postmodernist re-evaluation of historical study has led to an awareness of the value of the moving image to the historian. Film can present us with glimpses of a past independent of discourse and its unique link with reality carries with it inevitable assumptions of authenticity. Yet the selection and manipulation of material by the filmmaker, and the dependence on causality or the establishment of ‘fact’, makes historical documentary as problematic as any other mode of historiography. National history is shaped as national identity, and, ultimately, acts of commemoration say as much about the present as the past.
subject: Vol. I Articles
  topic: section
subject: Documentary
  topic: keywords
subject: The World at War
  topic: keywords
subject: History
  topic: keywords
subject: Historiography
  topic: keywords
subject: National History
  topic: keywords
subject: Television
  topic: keywords
subject: Humanities
  topic: subjects
subject: Arts
  topic: subjects
subject: Film Studies
  topic: disciplines
subject: Television Studies
  topic: disciplines
subject: History
  topic: disciplines
subject: Historiography
  topic: disciplines
creator: Laura Smith
rights: Copyright (c) 2007 Laura Smith https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
date: 2007-09-01
publication date: 2007-09-01
starting page: 83
ending page: 93
doi: 10.36399/GroundingsUG.1.277

Russian Nationalism
type: item
description: A shared sense of identity within a state is a stabilising structure allowing a focus for citizens to rally around. As a multi-ethnic state Russia has always been faced with the problem of how to imbue its citizens with a sense of identity that strengthens the state without causing dissent among the majority ethnic Russians or the many different minorities encapsulated within its territory. The choice between a civic based identity and an ethnically based national identity has faced the ruling apparatus for hundreds of years, and still poses a problem for both the people and the government of today’s Russia.
subject: Vol. I Articles
  topic: section
subject: Nationalism
  topic: keywords
subject: National Identity
  topic: keywords
subject: Russia
  topic: keywords
subject: Soviet
  topic: keywords
subject: Post-soviet
  topic: keywords
subject: Identity
  topic: keywords
subject: Dissent
  topic: keywords
subject: Civic-based
  topic: keywords
subject: Government
  topic: keywords
subject: Humanities
  topic: subjects
subject: Social Sciences
  topic: subjects
subject: Politics
  topic: disciplines
subject: Russian Politics
  topic: disciplines
subject: Russian History
  topic: disciplines
subject: History
  topic: disciplines
creator: Rhiannon J. Price
rights: Copyright (c) 2007 Rhiannon J. Price https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
date: 2007-09-01
publication date: 2007-09-01
starting page: 68
ending page: 82
doi: 10.36399/GroundingsUG.1.276

Muriel Spark as Auto-Biographer in Curriculum Vitae
type: item
description: Examining Muriel Spark’s main aims as an auto-biographer in her work Curriculum Vitae brings important resources in the exploration of the genre of autobiographical writing. This, with theoretical engagement, allows consideration of the critical issues surrounding the roles of author and reader in the construction of the literary self. Spark demands the reader participate in the construction of textual meaning; overturning the conventions of autobiography, satirising its claims to omniscience and highlighting the impossibility of an authentic voice with regards to the self.
subject: Vol. I Articles
  topic: section
subject: Muriel Spark
  topic: keywords
subject: Autobiography
  topic: keywords
subject: Curriculum Vitae
  topic: keywords
subject: Self
  topic: keywords
subject: Literary Theory
  topic: keywords
subject: Textual Meaning
  topic: keywords
subject: Conventions
  topic: keywords
subject: Satire
  topic: keywords
subject: Voice
  topic: keywords
subject: Arts
  topic: subjects
subject: Humanities
  topic: subjects
subject: Literature
  topic: disciplines
subject: English Literature
  topic: disciplines
creator: Anna Kirkwood
rights: Copyright (c) 2007 Anna Kirkwood https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
date: 2007-09-01
publication date: 2007-09-01
starting page: 57
ending page: 67
doi: 10.36399/GroundingsUG.1.275

Inequality and Identity in Contemporary Processes of Labour Market Restructuring
type: item
description: Contemporary processes of labour market restructuring have resulted in increasing social and spatial inequalities in the United Kingdom. While the well-discussed issues of class, race and gender continue to be correlated to inequality, the decline in numbers of manufacturing jobs and rise in low-level service work has brought a new reality of identity-correlation. To remain employed, workers must increasingly present an identity that is appealing to employers: one that transcends geography and current job role. Thus, in today’s labour market with its increasing economic polarisation, previously strong social and work identities are challenged by the logic of capital.
subject: Vol. I Articles
  topic: section
subject: Market Restructuring
  topic: keywords
subject: Inequality
  topic: keywords
subject: Gender
  topic: keywords
subject: Class
  topic: keywords
subject: Trade Unions
  topic: keywords
subject: United Kingdom
  topic: keywords
subject: Flexibility
  topic: keywords
subject: Spatial Inequality
  topic: keywords
subject: Economic Policy
  topic: keywords
subject: Social Sciences
  topic: subjects
subject: Economics
  topic: disciplines
subject: Business Studies
  topic: disciplines
subject: Labour Relations
  topic: disciplines
subject: Public Policy
  topic: disciplines
creator: Andrew C. Forsyth
rights: Copyright (c) 2007 Andrew C. Forsyth https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
date: 2007-09-01
publication date: 2007-09-01
starting page: 44
ending page: 56
doi: 10.36399/GroundingsUG.1.274

The Evolution of Morality
type: item
description: Morality is essential to human identity. Since Darwin and Wallace proposed natural selection to explain the complexities of organisms, evolutionary biologists have sought explanations for all aspects of human nature including morality. One way to establish how far morality is exclusive to humans is to examine moral precursors in closely-related species. The advantage of such a characteristic initially seems contrary to the ‘selfish’ process of natural selection, however various ways in which such a trait has adaptive value have been proposed. Also, the extent to which morality is actually part of human identity, a product of sophisticated human culture rather than being hard-wired into our minds by evolutionary process, is a fascinating and current area of scientific dialogue.
subject: Vol. I Articles
  topic: section
subject: Morality
  topic: keywords
subject: Evolution
  topic: keywords
subject: Human Identity
  topic: keywords
subject: Natural Selection
  topic: keywords
subject: Selfish
  topic: keywords
subject: Culture
  topic: keywords
subject: Dialogue
  topic: keywords
subject: Humanities
  topic: subjects
subject: Social Sciences
  topic: subjects
subject: Philosophy
  topic: disciplines
subject: Evolutionary Biology
  topic: disciplines
creator: Matthew Rutherford
rights: Copyright (c) 2007 Matthew Rutherford https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
date: 2007-09-01
publication date: 2007-09-01
starting page: 34
ending page: 43
doi: 10.36399/GroundingsUG.1.273

Eyes
type: item
description: While staring right at us, the varied representations of eyes in sculpture have largely gone unrecognised. Their consideration is essential, however, for the contemporary viewer’s perception of, and identification with, the political and mythology subjects of eighteenth and nineteenth century statuary. A historical overview of the depiction of eyes reveals contradictions in neo-classical sculptural practices: a move from the emulation of the antique, with coloured eyes, to the presentation of uncarved marble eyeballs. This is highly significant for the individualisation of a statue is most achieved through the expression of the eyes both in facial appearance and gaze.
subject: Vol. I Articles
  topic: section
subject: Eyes
  topic: keywords
subject: Sculpture
  topic: keywords
subject: Perception
  topic: keywords
subject: Identity
  topic: keywords
subject: Statuary
  topic: keywords
subject: Gaze
  topic: keywords
subject: Arts
  topic: subjects
subject: History of Art
  topic: disciplines
subject: Fine Art
  topic: disciplines
creator: Anna Vermehren
rights: Copyright (c) 2007 Anna Vermehren https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
date: 2007-09-01
publication date: 2007-09-01
starting page: 25
ending page: 33
doi: 10.36399/GroundingsUG.1.272

The Impacts of Colonial Law and Policy on Indigenous Family Life in Australia
type: item
description: From the moment that Britain colonised the landmass of Australia, the continuation of traditional Indigenous family life was threatened. It has even been argued that the policy and legislation of successive governments attempted to destroy the rights of Indigenous peoples to their children. Indigenous children were removed from their communities. These children are now known as the Stolen Generations. Past colonial law and policy continues to impact upon the enjoyment of traditional family life with disproportionately high removal rates of Indigenous children from their families and communities. Nationwide solutions such as the Aboriginal Child Placement Principle have gone some way in redressing this issue. In its present form, however, it remains a victim of poor implementation, funding, and inadequate consultation with Indigenous communities.
subject: Vol. I Articles
  topic: section
subject: Law
  topic: keywords
subject: Australia
  topic: keywords
subject: Aboriginal
  topic: keywords
subject: Torres Strait Islander
  topic: keywords
subject: Policy
  topic: keywords
subject: Legislation
  topic: keywords
subject: Stolen Generations
  topic: keywords
subject: Removals
  topic: keywords
subject: ACPP
  topic: keywords
subject: Indigenous
  topic: keywords
subject: Aboriginal Child Placement Principle
  topic: keywords
subject: Social Sciences
  topic: subjects
subject: Law
  topic: subjects
subject: Law
  topic: disciplines
subject: Australian Law
  topic: disciplines
subject: Family Law
  topic: disciplines
subject: Public Policy
  topic: disciplines
subject: Politics
  topic: disciplines
creator: Fraser A. W. Janeczko
rights: Copyright (c) 2007 Fraser A. W. Janeczko https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
date: 2007-09-01
publication date: 2007-09-01
starting page: 7
ending page: 24
doi: 10.36399/GroundingsUG.1.271

Political representation and revolution
type: item
description: At the heart of the idea of constitutionalism lies a paradox: on the one hand, the legitimacy of governmental power rests on the consent of individuals; on the other, such consent can only be expressed indirectly through already-established institutional forms. The political will, whether as a product of political representation, or as a rare moment of revolution, seems to be in a relationship of mutual antagonism with individual liberties. But if the moral reasoning underlying rights can only be the product of politics, then it is clear that politics must prevail over law and constitutional reason.
subject: Vol. II Articles
  topic: section
subject: Constitutionalism
  topic: keywords
subject: Legitimacy
  topic: keywords
subject: Government
  topic: keywords
subject: Consent
  topic: keywords
subject: Law
  topic: keywords
subject: Social Sciences
  topic: subjects
subject: Law
  topic: disciplines
subject: Politics
  topic: disciplines
subject: Political Theory
  topic: disciplines
subject: Jurisprudence
  topic: disciplines
creator: James A. Grant
rights: Copyright (c) 2008 James A. Grant https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
date: 2008-09-01
publication date: 2008-09-01
starting page: 75
ending page: 93
doi: 10.36399/GroundingsUG.2.269

Positive liberty
type: item
description: Freedom is a word we hear a lot. Yet it is often unclear what is meant by it. Recent anti-terrorism laws have been argued by some as safeguarding freedoms and argued by others as restricting them. In this paper, I aim to create and defend an explanation of the nature of freedom that is practical and useful. Through offering a set of criteria, and answering potential criticisms, I conclude that “freedom” must consider people’s strongest desires and take into account the multitude of internal barriers to the fulfilment of these desires. Such a definition will hopefully help us gain a clearer understanding of when our liberty is under threat: putting us in a better position to defend it.
subject: Vol. II Articles
  topic: section
subject: Freedom
  topic: keywords
subject: Liberty
  topic: keywords
subject: Positive Liberty
  topic: keywords
subject: Agency
  topic: keywords
subject: Good
  topic: keywords
subject: Morality
  topic: keywords
subject: Significant Action
  topic: keywords
subject: Social Sciences
  topic: subjects
subject: Philosophy
  topic: disciplines
subject: Political Theory
  topic: disciplines
creator: David P. Macpherson
rights: Copyright (c) 2008 David P. Macpherson https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
date: 2008-09-01
publication date: 2008-09-01
starting page: 64
ending page: 74
doi: 10.36399/GroundingsUG.2.268

The legacy of sovereignty
type: item
description: The study of democratic transition, or what makes some nations more conducive to the rise of democratic institutions than others, is vitally important in the modern world. Lithuania and Belarus are generally overlooked by literature on the subject of democratisation, but, due to their long historical ties and very different political paths since they established independence from the USSR, they provide an interesting case study into the historical reasons for the adoption of certain political systems. In brief, this article will deal with why since 1991 Lithuania has become democratic, whilst Belarus has become increasingly autocratic. To do this I compared the historical legacy of the interwar years in both states and focussed on the effects this period had on post-independence politics. This research revealed crucial differences, in that Lithuania’s experience of independent statehood laid the foundations for the later transition to democracy, whilst the failure to establish a sovereign Belarusian state made continued authoritarian rule far more likely. Overall this showed the importance of historical legacies when attempting to establish democracy.
subject: Vol. II Articles
  topic: section
subject: Belarus
  topic: keywords
subject: Lithuania
  topic: keywords
subject: Independence
  topic: keywords
subject: Democracy
  topic: keywords
subject: Democratic Transition
  topic: keywords
subject: Case Study
  topic: keywords
subject: Autocracy
  topic: keywords
subject: Interwar
  topic: keywords
subject: Social Sciences
  topic: subjects
subject: History
  topic: disciplines
subject: Politics
  topic: disciplines
subject: Political History
  topic: disciplines
subject: Central and Eastern European Studies
  topic: disciplines
creator: Benjamin Hiscox
rights: Copyright (c) 2008 Benjamin Hiscox https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
date: 2008-09-01
publication date: 2008-09-01
starting page: 49
ending page: 63
doi: 10.36399/GroundingsUG.2.267

The demise of state legitimacy
type: item
description: The legitimacy of the state has traditionally been a core element in how we understand the relationship between individuals and institutions in modernity. Its demise is therefore an important subject of analysis. The concept of globalisation has provided an important theoretical framework which explains many of the profound challenges to the legitimacy, and even existence, of the state. However, this framework risks perpetuating modernity’s tendency towards oversimplification by focusing too much on the state in particular and geopolitics in general, over other sites and processes of governance. The complexities of the problems must be reflected in theories proposing to answer them.
subject: Vol. II Articles
  topic: section
subject: State
  topic: keywords
subject: Legitimacy
  topic: keywords
subject: Globalisation
  topic: keywords
subject: Political Theory
  topic: keywords
subject: State Legitimacy
  topic: keywords
subject: Sovereignty
  topic: keywords
subject: Social Sciences
  topic: subjects
subject: Politics
  topic: disciplines
subject: Political Theory
  topic: disciplines
subject: International Relations
  topic: disciplines
creator: Christopher M. J. Boyd
rights: Copyright (c) 2008 Christopher M. J. Boyd https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
date: 2008-09-01
publication date: 2008-09-01
starting page: 30
ending page: 48
doi: 10.36399/GroundingsUG.2.266

WWSD: What Would Socrates Do?
type: item
description: “This is for your own good” is often the aphorism of governments and social institutions in their claims upon our freedoms. Our obedience is framed as collective self-preservation, but can it ever be so simple? Yet philosophical debate often seems to overcomplicate the issue. This article argues that the responsible protection of our rights arises, instead, with a constant reappraisal of citizenship. Freedom and obedience are ultimately two sides of an abacus with objective counters with subjective values; each individual’s calculations must be represented for there to be an accurate model of obligation.
subject: Vol. II Articles
  topic: section
subject: Socrates
  topic: keywords
subject: Politics
  topic: keywords
subject: Political Theory
  topic: keywords
subject: Freedoms
  topic: keywords
subject: Self-preservation
  topic: keywords
subject: Protection
  topic: keywords
subject: Rights
  topic: keywords
subject: Citizenship
  topic: keywords
subject: Legitimacy
  topic: keywords
subject: Obligation
  topic: keywords
subject: Humanities
  topic: subjects
subject: Social Sciences
  topic: subjects
subject: Philosophy
  topic: disciplines
subject: Politics
  topic: disciplines
creator: Maitiu Corbett
rights: Copyright (c) 2008 Maitiu Corbett https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
date: 2008-09-01
publication date: 2008-09-01
starting page: 19
ending page: 29
doi: 10.36399/GroundingsUG.2.265

A new anti-paternalist theory
type: item
description: If an agent acts so as to harm only himself, then is state interference with that action ever legitimate? Paternalistic legislation has been the subject of much debate. For John Stuart Mill, the only legitimate ground for state interference was the harm principle: state interference to prevent an actor harming others is legitimate; the state, however, may not interfere with actions which harm only the actor himself. I introduce a distinction between (1) long-term desires and short-term desires and (2) current desires and future desires. I will argue that state interference with current, long-term desires is never legitimate.
subject: Vol. II Articles
  topic: section
subject: Anti-paternalism
  topic: keywords
subject: Paternalism
  topic: keywords
subject: Legislation
  topic: keywords
subject: Theory
  topic: keywords
subject: State interference
  topic: keywords
subject: Long-term
  topic: keywords
subject: Short-term
  topic: keywords
subject: Desire
  topic: keywords
subject: Humanities
  topic: subjects
subject: Social Sciences
  topic: subjects
subject: Philosophy
  topic: disciplines
subject: Law
  topic: disciplines
creator: Elouisa M. Leonard
rights: Copyright (c) 2008 Elouisa M. Leonard https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
date: 2008-09-01
publication date: 2008-09-01
starting page: 6
ending page: 18
doi: 10.36399/GroundingsUG.2.263

The significance of the changes that Sulla made to the Roman constitution, and to what extent these changes had been reversed by 70 B.C.
type: item
description: The time when Sulla rose to the dictatorship of the Roman Republic was one in which the power of the Senate was waning. On his accession Sulla implemented changes which sought to re-establish the authority of the Senate thus regaining stability within the state. Here I consider: the impact the reforms had on the existing Roman constitution; the reception of the reforms by different social groups; the political and social context surrounding their implementation and, where applicable, their reversal with the ultimate aim of establishing the reforms’ overall success in achieving the goals of their author.
subject: Vol. III Articles
  topic: section
subject: Roman Politics
  topic: keywords
subject: Sulla
  topic: keywords
subject: Sullan Reforms
  topic: keywords
subject: Constitution
  topic: keywords
subject: Rome
  topic: keywords
subject: Senate
  topic: keywords
subject: Legislation
  topic: keywords
subject: Reversal
  topic: keywords
subject: Repeal
  topic: keywords
subject: Humanities
  topic: subjects
subject: Social Sciences
  topic: subjects
subject: Classics
  topic: disciplines
subject: Roman History
  topic: disciplines
subject: Legal History
  topic: disciplines
subject: Roman Politics
  topic: disciplines
creator: Ruth MacDonald
rights: Copyright (c) 2010 Ruth MacDonald https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
date: 2010-04-01
publication date: 2010-04-01
starting page: 137
ending page: 153
doi: 10.36399/GroundingsUG.3.262

‘The blissful change’
type: item
description: This article traces the manifold satirical and poetic manifestations of James B.V. Thomson’s questioning and sceptical attitude towards the progressivist agenda of the Victorian Britain. It presents both Thomson’s proudly blazoned ‘healthy scepticism’ from his biting satirical works, and the dark, contradictory spirit of Thomson’s most accomplished poetical work, The City of Dreadful Night , as two faces of the same moral attitude.
subject: Vol. III Articles
  topic: section
subject: James B.V. Thomson
  topic: keywords
subject: The City of Dreadful Night
  topic: keywords
subject: Poetry
  topic: keywords
subject: Moral
  topic: keywords
subject: Moral Attidudes
  topic: keywords
subject: Victorian Britain
  topic: keywords
subject: Satire
  topic: keywords
subject: Calvinism
  topic: keywords
subject: Humanities
  topic: subjects
subject: Social Sciences
  topic: subjects
subject: Literature
  topic: disciplines
subject: English Literature
  topic: disciplines
creator: Joanna Małecka
rights: Copyright (c) 2010 Joanna Małecka https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
date: 2010-04-01
publication date: 2010-04-01
starting page: 117
ending page: 136
doi: 10.36399/GroundingsUG.3.261

The evolution burial practice among the Ertebølle
type: item
description: Archaeology has traditionally failed to identify the ability of individuals in the past to make conscious decisions and act creatively. Individuals with the power to act are referred to as agents, with the ability and creativity to make decisions and act independently. They are however constantly influenced by structural norms: deeply ingrained ideas about how to live their lives properly. This tension can be observed archaeologically in the cemeteries of the Ertebølle of Denmark. While there are clear norms in the burial practice, such as the style of inhumation and the type of grave goods, there are also variations. One grave has the body of a young woman and a baby boy, the child laid on the wing of a swan; another burial has full male grave goods, but the body of a dog. It is suggested here that these variations are evidence of individuals reacting to unusual situations and personalities. When people act in ways which do not fit into the usual structure there is the potential for both the structure and, as a result society, to change.
subject: Vol. III Articles
  topic: section
subject: Ertebølle
  topic: keywords
subject: Denmark
  topic: keywords
subject: Archaeology
  topic: keywords
subject: Anthropology
  topic: keywords
subject: Agency
  topic: keywords
subject: Norms
  topic: keywords
subject: Variations
  topic: keywords
subject: Burial Practices
  topic: keywords
subject: Individualism
  topic: keywords
subject: Humanities
  topic: subjects
subject: Social Sciences
  topic: subjects
subject: Archaeology
  topic: disciplines
subject: Anthropology
  topic: disciplines
subject: History
  topic: disciplines
creator: Coralie Acheson
rights: Copyright (c) 2010 Coralie Acheson https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
date: 2010-04-01
publication date: 2010-04-01
starting page: 101
ending page: 116
doi: 10.36399/GroundingsUG.3.260

Transitions in the Avant-garde
type: item
description: Written on the cusp between two movements, El Incongruente by Ramon Gómez de la Serna eloquently illustrates the transition between Dada and Surrealism. Utilising key Dadaist principles – such as the renunciation of logic, chance combinations of chapters and the juxtaposition of contradictory imagery – combined with Surrealist elements such as a focus on dreams and the passing of time, Gómez de la Serna constructs the puzzling world in which Gustavo lives. El Incongruente breaks with literary tradition eulogizing Dadaist elements whilst still representing the harbinger of Surrealism.
subject: Vol. III Articles
  topic: section
subject: El Incongruente
  topic: keywords
subject: Ramon Gómez de la Serna
  topic: keywords
subject: Dada
  topic: keywords
subject: Surrealism
  topic: keywords
subject: Dadaism
  topic: keywords
subject: Transition
  topic: keywords
subject: Tradition
  topic: keywords
subject: Arts
  topic: subjects
subject: Humanities
  topic: subjects
subject: Literature
  topic: disciplines
subject: Spanish Literature
  topic: disciplines
creator: Emma Wadsworth-Jones
rights: Copyright (c) 2010 Emma Wadsworth-Jones https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
date: 2010-04-01
publication date: 2010-04-01
starting page: 85
ending page: 100
doi: 10.36399/GroundingsUG.3.259

‘The age of chivalry is gone.’
type: item
description: During the latter half of the eighteenth century Britain was in her ‘Golden Age’ of empire. From the defeat of the French in the Seven Years War (1756-1763) until the British loss of the Revolutionary War (1775-1783), she claimed herself as the ‘premiere’ kingdom of the world. But during this period, a growing unease prevailed amongst her people. This was social, with an increasing middle-class born of capitalism, economic through her trade and dominance of the seas, and political through the rise of anti-imperialism against the prevailing absolutist monarchy. In this essay I wish to examine how the sense of crisis in the aristocracy manifested itself in public depictions, namely the military portraits of Sir Joshua Reynolds, and to analyse through the social history of art the pictorial rhetoric that the artist employed for these paintings. I hope to be able to show that the determinations of these aristocratic patrons in asserting ‘heroism’ and ‘civic virtue’ through their portrayals unconsciously exposed their self-conscious condition. Their endeavours in creating a modern, patrician appeal reflected the fractured social and political circumstances of the period into which they desperately attempted to adjust, and maintain power.
subject: Vol. III Articles
  topic: section
subject: Sir Joshua Reynolds
  topic: keywords
subject: Eighteenth Century
  topic: keywords
subject: Anti-imperialism
  topic: keywords
subject: Class
  topic: keywords
subject: Aristocracy
  topic: keywords
subject: Pictorial Rhetoric
  topic: keywords
subject: Heroism
  topic: keywords
subject: Virtue
  topic: keywords
subject: Arts
  topic: subjects
subject: Art
  topic: disciplines
subject: Fine Art
  topic: disciplines
subject: History of Art
  topic: disciplines
creator: M. J. von Ferscht-Fountain
rights: Copyright (c) 2010 M. J. von Ferscht-Fountain https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
date: 2010-04-01
publication date: 2010-04-01
starting page: 71
ending page: 84
doi: 10.36399/GroundingsUG.3.258

Scotland is Fucked
type: item
description: Welsh and Drennan’s work demonstrates significant changes in the literary depiction of the Scottish nation. Moving away from traditional counter-colonial and separatist rhetoric, they direct attention to the problem of consumerism as a new colonising power. Their discourse is permeated by violence, which is also made manifest on a thematic level. Drennan’s novel inverts the implications of the treatment of violence by suggesting that it can be both self-inflicted and self-indulgent.
subject: Vol. III Articles
  topic: section
subject: Scotland
  topic: keywords
subject: Nationalism
  topic: keywords
subject: Irvine Welsh
  topic: keywords
subject: Andrew Drennan
  topic: keywords
subject: Trainspotting
  topic: keywords
subject: Cancer Party
  topic: keywords
subject: Deconstruction
  topic: keywords
subject: Narratives
  topic: keywords
subject: Humanities
  topic: subjects
subject: Social Sciences
  topic: subjects
subject: Literature
  topic: disciplines
subject: Scottish Literature
  topic: disciplines
creator: Anikó Szilágyi
rights: Copyright (c) 2010 Anikó Szilágyi https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
date: 2010-04-01
publication date: 2010-04-01
starting page: 55
ending page: 70
doi: 10.36399/GroundingsUG.3.257

How has NATO enlargement impacted on NATO-Russia relations?
type: item
description: Relations between NATO and the Russian Federation have been turbulent, particularly since the end of the Cold War and the ‘second wave’ of NATO expansion. Despite some initial evidence of cooperation between the two, this has not been present in the majority of cases, and Russian concerns have often been sidelined. Vital in understanding this relationship is the attitudes of both to the Baltic States, and the strain that their status brought to early Russo-NATO engagement. Indeed, perhaps the greatest tension has been caused by NATO expansion into those states, illustrating a central concern in contemporary international society.
subject: Vol. III Articles
  topic: section
subject: NATO
  topic: keywords
subject: Expansionism
  topic: keywords
subject: Expansion
  topic: keywords
subject: Russia
  topic: keywords
subject: Baltic States
  topic: keywords
subject: Enlargement
  topic: keywords
subject: Social Sciences
  topic: subjects
subject: International Relations
  topic: disciplines
subject: Security Studies
  topic: disciplines
creator: Tom Disney
rights: Copyright (c) 2010 Tom Disney https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
date: 2010-04-01
publication date: 2010-04-01
starting page: 35
ending page: 54
doi: 10.36399/GroundingsUG.3.256

The Evolution of the Jihad Doctrine
type: item
description: The proponents of modern Islamic fundamentalism draw on elements of the Islamic religion as a justification for terrorist acts. An examination of the sources of Islamic law – the Qur’an, the Sunnah and the principal Islamic schools of thought – questions the similarities between modern terrorism and the classical jihad doctrine. A distinction is drawn between the offensive and defensive theories of jihad and these are then applied to the modern context in which Islamic terrorism is perpetrated.
subject: Vol. III Articles
  topic: section
subject: Jihad
  topic: keywords
subject: Islam
  topic: keywords
subject: Terrorism
  topic: keywords
subject: Fundamentalism
  topic: keywords
subject: Justification
  topic: keywords
subject: Jihad Doctrine
  topic: keywords
subject: Classical Islam
  topic: keywords
subject: Humanities
  topic: subjects
subject: Social Sciences
  topic: subjects
subject: Religious Studies
  topic: disciplines
subject: Theology
  topic: disciplines
subject: Islamic Studies
  topic: disciplines
subject: Security Studies
  topic: disciplines
creator: Fraser D. Galloway
rights: Copyright (c) 2010 Fraser D. Galloway https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
date: 2010-04-01
publication date: 2010-04-01
starting page: 7
ending page: 34
doi: 10.36399/GroundingsUG.3.255

Did Communist rule in the German Democratic Republic live up to its rhetoric regarding women’s emancipation?
type: item
description: Communism in the German Democratic Republic offers an interesting assessment of the reality/perception paradigm. Despite attempts to convey ideas of absolute equality between the sexes, as perceived by the legal and theoretical frameworks created by the state, the GDR remained unable to overcome realities of economics, the ‘double burden’ and entrenched gender roles within East German society to achieve their aims. By examining each of these aspects in turn, this article will illustrate that whilst some improvements regarding female emancipation were made in the public sphere, little progress was made within the private, and as such the reality remained at odds with the idealised perception of communist equality.
subject: Vol. IV Articles
  topic: section
subject: German Democratic Republic
  topic: keywords
subject: GDR
  topic: keywords
subject: Communism
  topic: keywords
subject: Equality
  topic: keywords
subject: Women's Equality
  topic: keywords
subject: Gender Roles
  topic: keywords
subject: Female Emancipation
  topic: keywords
subject: Public Sphere
  topic: keywords
subject: Private Sphere
  topic: keywords
subject: Social Sciences
  topic: subjects
subject: Humanities
  topic: subjects
subject: German History
  topic: disciplines
subject: Women's Studies
  topic: disciplines
subject: History
  topic: disciplines
subject: Gender Studies
  topic: disciplines
creator: Felicity Cooke
rights: Copyright (c) 2011 Felicity Cooke https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
date: 2011-04-01
publication date: 2011-04-01
starting page: 129
ending page: 135
doi: 10.36399/GroundingsUG.4.254

A Transtheoretical Understanding of the Emotions
type: item
description: Individual theories of the emotions tend to isolate themselves from others and in doing so they necessarily lack the strengths of the other theories. The dogmatic spat between cognitive and non-cognitive theories of the emotions, which I explore here, is symptomatic of this insularity. To have a satisfying understanding of the emotions we must acknowledge the strengths and discard the weaknesses of each theory. As such, I argue that it is only through dialogue between theories that we can achieve a strong conceptualisation of the emotions.
subject: Vol. IV Articles
  topic: section
subject: Emotions
  topic: keywords
subject: Theory of Emotion
  topic: keywords
subject: Cognitive
  topic: keywords
subject: Non-cognitive
  topic: keywords
subject: Insularity
  topic: keywords
subject: Dialectics
  topic: keywords
subject: Dialogue
  topic: keywords
subject: Solomon
  topic: keywords
subject: James
  topic: keywords
subject: Social Sciences
  topic: subjects
subject: Humanities
  topic: subjects
subject: Philosophy
  topic: disciplines
subject: Psychology
  topic: disciplines
creator: Rory E. Fairweather
rights: Copyright (c) 2011 Rory E. Fairweather https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
date: 2011-04-01
publication date: 2011-04-01
starting page: 113
ending page: 128
doi: 10.36399/GroundingsUG.4.253

Stories Which Transfix Society
type: item
description: For the sociologist there is rarely any fixed ‘reality’ which can be uncovered. All theoretical or methodological attempts to understand the social world are recognised as just one of many possible interpretations. However a sociological reading of Remembrance Sunday does have the capacity to highlight the misleading features of the common cultural perception of the practice. Offering in contrast, not necessarily a ‘reality’ to replace these views, but simply an alternative and critical perception.
subject: Vol. IV Articles
  topic: section
subject: Remembrance Sunday
  topic: keywords
subject: Britain
  topic: keywords
subject: Cultural Practice
  topic: keywords
subject: Analysis
  topic: keywords
subject: Morals
  topic: keywords
subject: Moral Ambiguities
  topic: keywords
subject: Continuity
  topic: keywords
subject: Tom Irwin
  topic: keywords
subject: Social Sciences
  topic: subjects
subject: Sociology
  topic: disciplines
creator: Hannah Mackenzie
rights: Copyright (c) 2011 Hannah Mackenzie https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
date: 2011-04-01
publication date: 2011-04-01
starting page: 99
ending page: 112
doi: 10.36399/GroundingsUG.4.252

‘The price we had to pay’
type: item
description: Memory is never a static snapshot of a past reality, but an organic process of recall; as much contingent on the demands of the present as the prism of each narrator’s perception of the past. A veteran’s perception of the Malayan Emergency sees acceptance of British involvement in Malaysia’s affairs as ‘what we had to do to give them freedom, otherwise they’d be wearing jackboots now’. The testimony a narrator produces is a window into their process of recall; what is remembered, what is forgotten and what is left unsaid: ‘People, whether young or old, remember what is important to them’. Ultimately, memory is a fallible tool subject to mutations over time; the weight of collective and cultural memories limit individual recollection. Personal narrative is a product of subjectivity.
subject: Vol. IV Articles
  topic: section
subject: Memory
  topic: keywords
subject: Malayan Emergency
  topic: keywords
subject: Perception
  topic: keywords
subject: Reality
  topic: keywords
subject: British
  topic: keywords
subject: Military
  topic: keywords
subject: Veteran
  topic: keywords
subject: Personal Narrative
  topic: keywords
subject: Subjectivity
  topic: keywords
subject: Social Sciences
  topic: subjects
subject: Humanities
  topic: subjects
subject: History
  topic: disciplines
subject: Malaysian History
  topic: disciplines
subject: Colonial Studies
  topic: disciplines
creator: Dan Murtagh
rights: Copyright (c) 2011 Dan Murtagh https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
date: 2011-04-01
publication date: 2011-04-01
starting page: 85
ending page: 98
doi: 10.36399/GroundingsUG.4.251

Perceptions of an Icon
type: item
description: Death of a Virgin is arguably Caravaggio’s most renowned work, and is one of the most celebrated and recognisable paintings in the world, being one of the main attractions at the Louvre in Paris. The painting was also welcomed by contemporary artists who thought it radical in its naturalism. The painting was rejected, however, by the Carmelites that commissioned it. Catholic perceptions of the Virgin were of monumental perfectionism, an image that was not produced by Caravaggio in his pursuit of a realistic depiction of the holy scene.
subject: Vol. IV Articles
  topic: section
subject: Theology
  topic: keywords
subject: Religious Art
  topic: keywords
subject: Caravaggio
  topic: keywords
subject: Death of a Virgin
  topic: keywords
subject: Carmelites
  topic: keywords
subject: Catholicism
  topic: keywords
subject: Realism
  topic: keywords
subject: Arts
  topic: subjects
subject: Fine Art
  topic: disciplines
subject: Art History
  topic: disciplines
creator: Ksenija Pegaseva
rights: Copyright (c) 2011 Ksenija Pegaseva https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
date: 2011-04-01
publication date: 2011-04-01
starting page: 75
ending page: 84
doi: 10.36399/GroundingsUG.4.250