Suchergebnisse

The 'crisis' approach in a variety of manifestations has been represented as the acme of political development theorizing. In assessing the criterion which makes one conceptual model superior to another the 'crisis' theory is critically appraised. An exploration into the philosophy of social science expresses that the choice of a framework be underpinned by an awareness of its uses in the realms of political analysis & political action. Applying this mode of evaluation to 2 main variants of crisis models--one by G. Almond, S. Flanagan, & R. Mundt, Ed's, (CRISIS, CHOICE, AND CHANGE: HISTORICAL STUDIES OF POLITICAL DEVELOPMENT, Boston, Mass: Little Brown, 1973) & the other by L. Binder, J. Coleman, J. LaPalombara, L. Pye, S. Verba & M. Weiner (CRISIS AND SEQUENCES IN POLITICAL DEVELOPMENT, Princeton, NJ: Princeton U Press, 1971)--neither is found to possess sufficient explanatory power based on a necessary provision of "law-like" generalizations about political development. The expectation is for these inadequate models to shift from explanation to prescription of political action. Modified HA.

Technical approaches to institutional reform and development following liberal-democratic and market economy blueprints have generally had disappointing outcomes. Recent years have seen a growing acknowledgement among development actors of the need for a much better understanding of how power, structure and agency combine to shape, constrain and compromise the workings of (formal and informal) institutions, with a view to facilitating more successful development outcomes in recipient countries. The new catch-cry of "thinking and working politically" has been accompanied by growing investment in political economy analyses and other analytical tools. As a concept, "political settlements" provides a potentially valuable instrument for enhancing understanding of the organisation and exercise of power in particular local contexts and for enabling the crafting of more appropriate and effective development interventions. In this session, we will examine the concept in the specific contexts of Timor-Leste and Solomon Islands with a view to considering its broader value to development theory and practice.

Significant differences exist between the Islamic revivalist movements looking to cultural and spiritual renewal that have swept Southeast Asia in recent years and transnational terrorist networks. Straddling these two extremes are political parties and groups seeking greater autonomy or secession of predominantly Islamic regions.

Examines the second wave of feminist thought & gay liberation through a discussion of the changing scholarly understandings of gender & sexuality since the 1960s in the US political-economic context. The second wave of feminism has been dominated by the analytic focus on expanding the notion of women's labor, including the work of reproduction. The devolution of US radical feminism into contemporary cultural feminism is criticized for fusing the construction of women's difference to a morality play that fails to challenge the gender-functionist theme found in Western political thought. The divide between antipornography feminists such as Susan Brownmiller, Catherine MacKinnon, & Andrea Dworkin & the majority of feminist & gay scholars of sexuality & reproduction, as well as free speech advocates, is discussed. Similar to early second-wave feminism, early versions of gay theory tended toward expansive universalism & open generalization. M. Greenberg

This interpretative commentary recovers the largely overlooked significance of a work that illuminates, by portraying in a subtle comic drama, the new perspective on existence, the new way of life, that Socrates introduced in and through his founding of political philosophy. The famous 'problem of Socrates' as a turning point of world history (Nietzsche) remains a cynosure of controversy and puzzlement. How did Socrates understand the character of, and the relation between, civic virtue and his own philosophic virtue? What is the meaning of Socratic 'eros'? What kind of educative influence did Socrates intend to have, on and through his varied followers and associates? And what diverse effects did he actually have? Xenophon's Symposium, viewed in the context of his other writings, affords a playful, but thereby deeply revealing, perspective-from the viewpoint of a slightly skeptical intimate. Adapted from the source document.

Scholarly findings suggest that immigrants in Western countries, in general, participate less in politics and show lower levels of political efficacy than native-born citizens. Research is scarce, however, when it comes to immigrants' knowledge about politics and public affairs in their new home country, and what happens with this knowledge over the years. This article focuses on immigrants in Sweden, a country known for ambitious multicultural policies, but where immigrants also face disadvantages in areas such as labor and housing markets. Utilizing particularly suitable survey data we find that immigrants, in general, know less about Swedish politics than natives, but also that this difference disappears with time. Exploring the influence of time of residence on political knowledge, the article shows that the positive effect of time in Sweden among immigrants remains after controlling for an extensive set of background factors. Moreover, the article examines this political learning effect through the lens of an Ability-Motivation-Opportunity (AMO) model. The findings suggest that the development of an actual ability to learn about Swedish politics - via education in Sweden, and by improved Swedish language skills - is an especially important explanation for the increase in political knowledge.

International Studies is a multidisciplinary field, which includes a long and rich tradition of studying both the political economy conditions of war, peace and security, and the impact of security concerns and war on economic developments. While the fragmentation of International Studies has tended to make the essentially interwoven nature of many processes invisible, over time, a number of important claims and hypotheses have been subjected to various empirical tests, especially during the last few decades. In this chapter, I am asking: what is it that we have learnt on the political economy conditions of war and peace, and of security more generally? What about the impact of security and war on the economy? To what extent has our learning about the political economy of security been cumulative? What should we make of the fact that major disagreements persist? Going through the basic arguments of liberal, nationalist, Marxian, underconsumptionist, Keynesian and Neorealist theories and various recent political economy of security studies, I conclude by arguing that capitalist market economy is not inherently peaceful, but involves mechanisms and processes that can give rise to processes of securitization and enemy-construction. While empirical studies have rendered no unequivocal support for any of the political economy utopias of harmony (liberal, Keynesian, Marxian, or Neorealist), they have stressed the importance of the possibility of resolving conflicts by means of peaceful changes. ; Peer reviewed

This chapter elaborates upon political geographies of globalization. By this we refer to the different political discourses and related imaginaries, policy practices and regimes of governance through which globalization can be understood as being constantly produced in and through political geographical formations. We comprehend globalization both as an actually existing process which links places – cities, regions, etc., institutions (especially the state) and people (notably workers) – and creates interdependencies between them, and as a politically loaded rhetorical device used to rationalize and legitimate political decisions and policy practices. We single out three interlinked and partly overlapping issues through which the political geographies of globalization can be mapped out: the spatial formations of globalization and the state, the "globalizing" role and "globalized" nature of public policy, and the globalizing regimes and policies of labor. ; This chapter elaborates upon political geographies of globalization. By this we refer to the different political discourses and related imaginaries, policy practices and regimes of governance through which globalization can be understood as being constantly produced in and through political geographical formations. We comprehend globalization both as an actually existing process which links places – cities, regions, etc., institutions (especially the state) and people (notably workers) – and creates interdependencies between them, and as a politically loaded rhetorical device used to rationalize and legitimate political decisions and policy practices. We single out three interlinked and partly overlapping issues through which the political geographies of globalization can be mapped out: the spatial formations of globalization and the state, the "globalizing" role and "globalized" nature of public policy, and the globalizing regimes and policies of labor. ; Peer reviewed

Teaching is political. Paul Thomas, Professor of Education, Furman University wrote on his blog (15 February 2017), "Everything involving humans is necessarily political, even and especially teaching and learning." Thomas goes on, "Therefore, no teacher at any level can truly be apolitical, objective. Taking a neutral or objective pose is a political choice, and an endorsement of the status quo." Here Thomas is echoing Paulo Freire's well-known proposition, "Washing one's hands of the conflict between the powerful and the powerless means to side with the powerful, not to be neutral" (1984, p. 524). In this New Zealand election year (2017), we invited John O'Neill, Martin Thrupp and Liz Gordon to speak to teachers and school leaders about their particular current educational concerns. It was the intention to provide food for thought for teachers/school leaders and to encourage dialogue around the dinner party table, BBQ or other social gathering where the election might be discussed.