Measure for Measure is one of Shakespeare’s problem plays, in that it superficially resembles the romantic comedy whose form it takes but which subverts the genre so thoroughly it must really be considered something else. It was written in or around 1603-4 and this was the time when England and Wales lost the long reigning Queen Elizabeth I (r. 1558-1603) and became united with Scotland by virtue of being ruled by King James I (VI of Scotland) (r. 1603-25).
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Deconstructionism is a philosophical method most closely associated with the French philosopher Jacques Derrida. The basic principles are outlined in his book On Grammatology, which was published in 1967, at a time of great intellectual ferment in Western Europe and, indeed, most of the rest of the world.
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The term ‘neoliberalism’ is used to describe a set of policies and ideological positions that have been extremely influential in shaping the global political economy since the late 1970s.
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Neo-Confucianism is a revival of Confucianist thought recast for a contemporary society. It has been seen on more than one occasion in nearly all those states which have been influenced by Chinese philosophy and culture. Although there are examples of Neo-Confucianism over many centuries, perhaps the most important manifestation has been in the so-called ‘Tiger’ economies of East Asia in the years since World War II.
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Logical positivism is a paradigm of thinking that states that only data (or knowledge) derived from scientifically-valid and objectively-observable methods are considered valid. Any other method of deriving or accepting data is invalid, according to this method of thinking. Hence, all forms of metaphysical or religious ‘knowledge’ based on faith or belief or some other non-measurable means are not accepted by logical positivists.
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Although perhaps little known outside the country, the Japanese Communist Part (JCP) is one of the largest and most influential Communist Parties active in the twenty-first century. It claims to have around 400,000 members in 24,000 branches across Japan and its newspaper, Akahata (Red Flag), was launched in 1928 and has a combined readership (daily and weekly versions) of some 1.6 million people.
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