Suchergebnisse

THE INTELLECTUAL PRODUCTION OF UTOPIAS CAN BE A SEDUCTIVE ENTERPRISE FOR ACCOMMODATING CRITICAL MINDS: PEOPLE DEMONSTRATE RADICALISM BUT ARE NOT CHALLENGED TO TRANSLATE IT INTO EMPIRICAL ACTIONS WITH REAL PEOPLE AS REAL ACTORS. THE PROJECT OF "TRANSNATIONAL DEMOCRACY" IS NOT IMMUNE TO THIS SYNDROME OF ACADEMIC RADICALISM: IT OFFERS US THE VISION OF A "BRAVE NEW WORLD" ON SUCH A HIGH LEVEL OF ABSTRACTION THAT IT COULD LOSE THE GROUND IT'S STANDING ON. IN CONTRAST. ONE SHOULD CONSIDER A MORE LIMITED PERSPECTIVE THAT GETS MORE SPECIFIC ABOUT THE AGENTS OR "ACTORS" IT ADDRESSES. ONE CAN CALL IT THE PERSPECTIVE URBAN COMMUNE AND ITS REPUBLICAN SELF-GOVERNMENT TRADITION, MAY BE VIEWED AS THE BASIC UNIT OF ACTION AND POLITICAL IDENTITY, AND AS THE AGENT OF AN INTERNATIONALISM AND INTERNATIONAL ORDER THAT DIFFERS FROM THE BUREAUCRATIC ECONOMIC AND TECHNICAL INTEGRATION CURRENTLY UNDER WAY. A EUROPE OF THE COMMUNES COULD BECOME A REALISTIC POLITICAL PROJECT. IT COULD UNITE CONCERNED POLITICAL SCIENTISTS WITH POLITICAL ACTORS, AND PROMOTE MORE EFFECTIVE POLITICAL PARTICIPATION FOR CONCERNED CITIZENS THAN DO LARGER UNITS.

Examines way in which political, economic, and cultural identity has been taken from the American Indian, and possibilities for peace within and among the tribes; US.

The essential aspect of democracy's ability to incorporate group identities & aspirations is placed in the context of emerging world democracies & postmodern thought. The concept of obligatory constraint is established as an inherent factor in any legitimate democracy; citizens of a democratic state are free to despise the elected government, but not its right to be the government. Democracy is described as a subordinate, conditioning good. The example of South Africa's 1990-1994 transition toward democracy illustrates the significant role of group identities, ethnically & politically based, in attaining national freedom. The more intricate problems of Palestinian aspirations in Israel exemplify group identities functioning in a dominated minority's quest for democratic participation. Elucidation of these examples segues into postmodernist theories maintaining that politicized identities evolve with time & circumstance. D. Bajo