Suchergebnisse

Begins with some observations on the impact of globalization & its capacity to spread the notion of human rights on the ideal of an organic community, which is seen to have, per Weber, an elective affinity with religious orthodoxy. How religious fundamentalism clashes with Enlightenment thought & modernity is described, asserting that rights discourse challenges fundamentalism. It is argued that human rights loses its radical quality in the absence of a cosmopolitan sensibility & commitment to social justice & international institutions. A cosmopolitan sensibility is seen to center on a learning process, & as such provides a pedagogic impetus to the internationalist enterprise & an emotional substance to liberal notions of human rights. Objective conditions are seen to be in place for this new pedagogy. It is contended that globalization, as it dismantles established traditions & provincialism, is the necessary condition for bolstering the cosmopolitan sensibility, which must possess a commitment to economic justice & liberal institutions, in a time when the particular, culturally authentic, the local, & the ethnic have reached limits. J. Zendejas

Nach Friedrich Schiller ist die Weltgeschichte das Gericht, vor dem die Welt über sich urteilt. Das Urteil über die Russische Revolution ist ernüchternd ausgefallen. Der Verfasser setzt sich mit der Frage auseinander, wie und warum Lenins in "Was tun?" formulierte Organisationstheorie die Entwicklung des Sozialismus prägte, nicht nur in der UdSSR, sondern überall auf der Welt, wo Avantgarde-Parteien die Macht ergriffen. Das leninistische Konzept der "Partei neuen Typs" entstand als taktische Antwort auf die Erfordernisse revolutionären Handelns im Russischen Reich, letztendlich ebnete es jedoch den Weg für eine autokratische Diktatur, die sich historisch zum Totalitarismus des Stalinismus entwickelte. Die Geschichte, so wird gesagt, gibt jeder Bewegung nur eine Chance zum Erfolg: die Kommunisten hatten ihre Chance. Der Leninismus ist verbraucht. Seine Helden wurden von Aktivisten mit demokratischer und humanitärer Gesinnung ausgestochen, von Ghandi, King, Mandela und Havel. (ICEÜbers)

As part of a debate on Bronner's "Notes on the Legacy of Rosa Luxemburg," the author responds to criticisms by David Camfield & Alan Johnson (all, 2002). He accuses Camfield of completely ignoring the ideological assumptions generated by the context in which Luxemburg wrote, ie, the mushrooming of socialist parties & the numbers of industrial proletariats throughout Europe. Luxemburg's critique of revisionism is reviewed, along with her ideas on the abolition of capitalism & realization of socialism. Camfield's critique of liberal democracy is deemed "deeply flawed." In response to Johnson, the claim that Bronner has "ransacked" Luxemburg's legacy is refuted, & some mistaken assumptions about Bronner's politics & values are clarified. The points about Marxism, socialism, & internationalism raised in Bronner's original article are reiterated. K. Hyatt Stewart

A response to Paul Le Blanc's, Michael J. Thompson's, & Barry Finger's (all, 2002) commentaries on the author's (2001) analysis of the legacy of Rosa Luxemburg & the possibility of realizing a socialist transformation of the capitalist state. It is contended that Thompson misunderstood the author's separation of politics from economics; however, Thompson's call for radical socialism to demonstrate a greater interest in political economics is supported. Le Blanc's claim to support an authentic Leninist position is challenged, since the previous applications of ahistorical Leninist perspectives have always produced authoritarian results. A rationale that explicates why revolution can no longer serve as the ultimate goal for worker movements is provided; in addition, it is noted that Lenin himself acknowledged that separate revolutionary & reform movements are needed. Several problems with Finger's analysis of the author's treatment of Luxemburg & the socialist movement are then identified. Specifically, Finger's charge that the author failed to realize the connection between capitalism & the liberal state is strongly repudiated. The need to develop a novel, feasible approach to accomplishing socialist objectives that responds to real-world dilemmas is stressed. J. W. Parker

The writings of Rosa Luxemburg, an intellectual & social activist, who struggled as a woman & a Jew in the socialist labor movement & died as a martyr in the Spartacus revolt of 1919, are studied. The author employs her own example of scrutinizing Marxist beliefs, to apply her philosophy for the conditions of her time to a present-day political context. Luxemburg was a Marxist with a romantic vision of revolution, & she was the most important representative of the libertarian socialist tradition formulated in the context of internationalism, economic justice, & a radical belief in democracy. She parted from Marxist beliefs by criticizing the use of strategy motivated only by economic reform & in the need for authoritarianism to achieve it. She firmly believed in the eventual downfall of capitalism, but she saw national self-determination as a breach of proletarian principle. She believed that only a republic could give civil liberties to all, including minorities. Her concern for the freedom of the working people made her a rebel in the labor movement, but her ideas are relevant today. Luxemburg's work promoted an international spirit, which recognized the obligations of states to the world community, & would not accept the current leftist emphasis on the ethnic aspirations of national sovereignty. L. A. Hoffman

This essay is an inquiry into the epistemology of the holocaust. It contests organic explanations of the event in favour of an interpretative pluralism. Different questions are seen as demanding different forms of inquiry: what made the holocaust possible requires a political analysis, the issue of its uniqueness calls for a sociological perspective, while an anthropological approach is necessary in order to illuminate its enduring symbolic significance. The essay will deal with these matters in an innovative manner. Thus, in concert with one another these three meditations will provide a new constellation for viewing the holocaust even as they confront certain prevailing prejudices and assumptions.