Word: ism
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...fortresses or marketplaces, Rouse points out, and nowadays he recovers the original impetus of modern cities by creating a marketplace-festival as the dynamo of downtown. He invokes a phrase he has made familiar among urbanologists: "Profit is the thing that hauls dreams into focus." Another familiar Rouse-ism: "It's not how many people live in a city. It's how many people...
What makes The Methuselah Factor refreshing is that Georgakas has merged those two trends of the 1970's, concern for the future of humankind and aggressive me-ism, the Ishmael and Queequeg of this whale of a book. At times the book reeks of excess attention to individual concerns. Many of Georgakas' 'prolongevous' lessons would require people to pay such attention to lengthening their own lives that they could have little time or energy for passionate activism. He also largely dispels notions of national or racial bases for longevity, convincingly arguing that long-living communities can boast of unusual proportions...
...that occasionally seem dictated rather than inevitable. But such lapses are more than offset by the novel's page-turning verve and intelligence. Alther knows that no theory or ideology can account for the cussed complexities of daily life. As Emily, Raymond and the rest stumble from one ism to another, their author both mocks their blindness and applauds their determination to keep searching. She gives generously, both to her readers and to the children of her imagination...
...live in the western mountains, have at times dreamed of an independent Kurdistan, and today have set up what amounts to an autonomous region. The Baluchis, a nomadic tribe of Sunni Muslims, boycotted the referendum on the Iranian constitution, which they viewed as an attempt to impose Shi'ism on them. The 13 million Azerbaijanis, a Turkic people, also boycotted the constitutional referendum and in recent weeks have come close to an open revolt that could tear Iran apart...
...most powerful influence that cemented Khomeini's hold on his country is the spirit of Shi'ism?the branch of Islam to which 93% of Iran's 35.2 million people belong. In contrast to the dominant Sunni wing of Islam, Shi'ism emphasizes martyrdom; thus many Iranians are receptive to Khomeini's speeches about what a "joy" and "honor" it would be to die in a war with the U.S. Beyond that, Shi'ism allows for the presence of an intermediary between God and man. Originally, the mediators were twelve imams, who Shi'ites believe were the rightful successors...