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Based on a broad definition of politics asthe art of designing and constructing socialactors, this paper examines the importanceof spaces for dialogue that enable confrontingand debating different perspectives andpositions about a specific situation. For thisreason, this paper is based on the premisethat humans are social beings and as suchthey are able to communicate. It also considersthat these distinct forms of (symbolic)language are present and active in thesocial interaction of different actors andaffect the different social actions as formsof communication, with the purpose ofreaching multilateral agreements. Finally,the paper argues that democracy is notpossible without dialogue and that politicsis the art of generating and maintainingspaces where issues of public interest canbe freely and openly debated, in order toachieve agreements, negotiations and consensus,without ignoring the difficulties ofrecognizing, respecting and understandingothers a valid interlocutors. ; Partiendo de una definición amplia de lapolítica como actividad mediante la cual sediseña y construye el sujeto social, este textorevisa la importancia del espacio dialógicodonde se confrontan argumentativamentediversas concepciones y posicionesfrente a una determinada situación. Porello, parte de la premisa de que el ser humano,en tanto es social, tiene la capacidadde comunicarse. Igualmente considera quelos diferentes tipos de lenguaje (simbólico)están presentes y activos en la interacciónsocial de los diversos actores y repercutenen distintas acciones sociales como formasde comunicación, con el objeto de construiracuerdos multilaterales. Finalmente,sostiene que no hay democracia sin diálogoy que la política es el arte de generar ymantener el espacio donde puedan ser discutidaslibre y abiertamente las cuestionesque afectan al interés público, con miras alograr acuerdos, negociaciones y consensos,sin dejar de lado la dificultad que implicareconocer, respetar y comprender alos demás como interlocutores válidos.

I intend to analyze two mutually related issues within Aristotle's political thought: δικαιοσύνη as reciprocity and ὁμόνοια in its relation to friendship as they are found in the Nichomachean Ethics and the Politics. According to the philosopher, friendship is the last and noblest end to which man's actions (specially the political ones) aim at. Friendship and justice as reciprocity seem to play a decisive role in private human relationships, and are fundamental to the political community, both two thousand years ago and to a healthy and altruistic political life today. Aristotelian political philosophy establishes with great clarity the foundations of the concept of social otherness. ; En esta ocasión me propongo tratar un par de temas conexos entre sí en la teoría de la ciencia política del Estagirita, tal como se nos presentan en el marco de la reflexión tanto de la Ética Nicomaquea como en el texto de la Política, a saber, acerca de la δικαιοσύνη como reciprocidad y ὁμόνοια, en estrecha relación con las ideas del filósofo respecto de la amistad. En la teoría aristotélica de la ciencia política, la felicidad está considerada como el último y más noble fin al que aspiran todas las acciones del hombre (y las políticas muy especialmente); sin embargo, la amistad y la justicia en tanto que reciprocidad parecen ocupar un papel decisivo en las relaciones humanas particulares, pero fundamentales para la comunidad política, no sólo la de hace más de dos mil años, sino también para el ejercicio de una política saludable y altruista como la que echamos de menos en nuestro mundo contemporáneo. En la filosofía política aristotélica quedan establecidos con toda claridad los fundamentos de la concepción acerca de la alteridad social.

By way of an introduction : the entangled legacies of a population exchange -- part I. Humanism and its discontents : biopolitics, politics of expertise, and the human family. Segregative biopolitics and the production of knowledge -- Liberal humanism, race, and the family of mankind -- part II. Of origins and "men" : family history, genealogy, and historicist humanism revisited. Heritage and family history -- Origins, biopolitics, and historicist humanism -- part III. Unity in diversity : culture, social cohesion, and liberal multiculturalism. Museumization of culture and alterity recognition -- Turkish-Islamic synthesis and coexistence after the 1980 military coup -- In lieu of a conclusion : cultural analysis in an age of securitarianism

This book demonstrates the close relationship between religion and democracy in India. Religious practice creates ties among citizens that can generate positive and democratic political outcomes. In pursuing this line of inquiry the book questions a dominant strand in some contemporary social sciences - that a religious denomination (Catholic, Hindu, Muslim, Sikh, and so on) is sufficient to explain the relationship between religion and politics or that religion and democracy are antithetical to each other. The book makes a strong case for studying religious practice and placing that practice in the panoply of other social practices and showing that religious practice is positively associated with democracy

This book takes a fresh look at direct democracy by exploring how political actors run direct-democratic campaigns. It is the first study of comparative direct-democratic campaigning and examines eight campaigns on four salient policy domains: immigration, health politics, welfare state issues, and economic liberalism centring on the world's champion par excellence of direct-democracy, Switzerland. Bernhard derives much of his analysis through interviews conducted with campaign managers providing first-hand accounts that offer unprecedented access into the organisation and strategy behind direct-democratic campaigns. Campaign Strategy in Direct Democracy is essential reading for students and scholars of political communication and political science.

Transforming the Reich: toward a new political history of modern Germany -- Prelude to modern Germany: "iurisdictio" and the German idea of sovereignty -- Toward a German nation: Friedrich Karl von Savigny and the growth of legal politics -- Images of the "Gemeinwesen": the Germanists and the growth of customary law constitutionalism -- Undermining absolutism: the path of legalism and constituting the nation 1846 - 1879 -- A century of promise: "Eheliches Güterrecht", women's wealth and independence in nineteenth-century Germany -- Last bastion: the "Bürgerliches Gesetzbuch" and the transformation of German society -- Discontent in the "Bürgerliche" society 1900 - 1933: exclusion and popular resentment -- Conclusion: the German idea of revolution: some final thoughts

"On March 28, 1979, the worst nuclear reactor accident in U.S. history occurred at the Three Mile Island power plant in Central Pennsylvania. Radiation Nation tells the story of what happened then and in the following months and years, as residents tried to make sense of the emergency. The near-meltdown occurred at a pivotal moment when the New Deal coalition was unraveling, trust in government was eroding, conservatives were consolidating their power, and the political left was becoming marginalized. Using the accident to explore this turning point, Natasha Zaretsky provides a fresh interpretation of the era by disclosing how atomic and ecological imaginaries shaped the conservative ascendancy. Drawing on the testimony of the men and women who lived in the shadow of the reactor, Radiation Nation shows that the region's citizens, especially its mothers, grew convinced that they had sustained radiological injuries that threatened their reproductive futures. Taking inspiration from the antiwar, environmental, and feminist movements, women at Three Mile Island crafted a homegrown ecological politics that wove together concerns over radiological threats to the body, the struggle over abortion and reproductive rights, and eroding trust in authority. This politics was shaped above all by what Zaretsky calls "biotic nationalism," a new body-centered nationalism that imagined the nation as a living, mortal being and portrayed sickened Americans as evidence of betrayal. The first cultural history of the accident, Radiation Nation reveals the surprising ecological dimensions of post-Vietnam conservatism while showing how growing anxieties surrounding bodily illness infused the political realignment of the 1970s in ways that blurred any easy distinction between left and right."--Provided by publisher

In the super-heated anticommunist politics of the early Cold War period, American liberals turned to the FBI. With the Communist party to the left of them and McCarthyism to the right, liberal leaders saw the Bureau as the only legitimate instrument to define and protect the internal security interests of the state. McCarthyism provided ample proof of the dangers of security by congressional investigation. In response, liberals delegated extensive powers to J. Edgar Hoover--creating a domestic intelligence capacity that circumvented constitutional and legal controls. This balanced account o

Geopolitics of the Persian Gulf -- The Persian Gulf from Cold War to the post-Cold War era -- Regional balance of power and the Persian Gulf -- Oil and the Persian Gulf economy -- Globalization of the Persian Gulf -- Asianization of the Persian Gulf -- Revolution and regime change in the Persian Gulf -- Political change in the Persian Gulf oil monarchies -- Between boundary and frontier: Islam and Persian Gulf politics -- Impact of inter-state conflict on Persian Gulf relations -- The role of external powers in Persian Gulf security relations -- Militarization and Persian Gulf security

The 2008 Beijing Olympics positioned China firmly on the world stage, as people around the world watched to see how China would perform. Now, in 2010, the Shanghai World Expo once again places China in the spotlight. But this time, the affair is not as one-sided, as the other 242 participating nations and organisations have a chance to have the opportunity to sell their message too. If nations are to sell their messages in an international forum, then the currency they use can only be the phenomenon that is called public diplomacy. Public diplomacy, as such, is an exceedingly popular yet under examined topic in the world international relations. This report investigates the use and effectiveness of public diplomacy at the 2010 Shanghai World Expo, by carefully analysing both the Australian and Chinese efforts to suggest new international images, or stereotypes, for themselves. Public diplomacy is a relatively new concept, by comparison to traditional diplomacy, from which it developed in the 1960s in response to the effects of globalisation. Public diplomacy, unlike traditional diplomacy, seeks to persuade and influence not only those in diplomatic postings, but also the citizens of a nation. With globalisation a new paradigm was created which called for a more inclusive approach to world politics, as the general public became more aware of what not only other nations were doing, but also the actions of their own governments. This new awareness, whilst benefitting the ordinary citizen in many ways also made him a target, as other nations sought to influence his perceptions of the world. As this report finds, the nature of public diplomacy - dealing with the thoughts and perceptions of the masses - makes it hard to evaluate the effectiveness of any public diplomacy measures. Yet, that is not to say that judgements as to the effectiveness of public diplomacy cannot or should not be attempted. This report assesses Australian and Chinese public diplomacy at Expo 2010 by three criteria, which have been drawn from the academic debate surrounding this topic. These criteria examine factors such as audience size, whether the message projected is appropriate in its reflection of reality and if the act of public diplomacy is part of a long term project consistent with the nation's foreign policy objectives. At Expo 20 I 0, all participants are given the opportunity to build a pavilion in which to showcase the best of their nation. Using various information sources, such as interviews, media reports, online blogs, the official websites of both the Australian and Chinese pavilions, Parliamentary Committee Reports as well as academic materials, this report outlines the budget, aims and content of the both the Australian and Chinese pavilions. This information allows for a thorough investigation of the above criteria, which leads to some interesting conclusions which demonstrate the two key difficulties associated with effectively practicing public diplomacy. For Australia, the largest concern is a lack of a coherent and consistent public diplomacy plan. China on the other hand, has a state controlled and unified message which is incorporated into a larger plan designed to help maintain peace in the world as China rises to occupy a more significant role in international affairs. Where China runs into difficulties is connected to the suppression of certain realities, such as riots in the Tibet, by painting an alternate image through its pavilion's content. The Shanghai World Expo offers a captive audience of approximately 70 million visitors over the duration of the Expo and millions more online, in front of which nations like Australia and China may use public diplomacy to create a favourable international image. It is important to note, that the 2010 Shanghai World Expo has yet another 21 days to run. Evidently, having written this report, I believe it is not too soon to start assessing the uses of public diplomacy in Expo 2010 . I concede that it is too early to give an accurate appraisal of the long term effectiveness of Australia and China's public diplomacy in the long term, however that is not the aim of this report. This report merely seeks to explain a little of the complex relationship that exists between the 2010 Shanghai World Expo and the effective use of public diplomacy.

This PhD is a qualitative case study investigating the development and implementation of a new 'English as an International Language' (EIL) course in a large university in Melbourne, Australia. Grounded in and informed by recent debates about the theory and pedagogy of EIL curricula (Alsagoff et al.,2012; Matsuda, 2012a; Wee, 2013), I explore (1) how EIL educators over a period of three years at a particular institution in Australia engaged their students in learning about and learning to appreciate the diverse forms, users, and cultures of English through their curricula; and (2) how students responded to the values, beliefs or perceptions advocated by these curricula. To explore the above, I examine and inquire into the curricula (syllabus materials and pedagogical practices) of an undergraduate EIL program at Urban University (pseudonym), and the experiences of three teachers and five students (three first year and two third year students, two of whom were born and raised in Australia; the others were born overseas). Data were collected through classroom observations, artefact analysis, and interviews. Since I also developed and taught the EIL program in question, my research design included ongoing critical reflections on my own experiences and practices, some of which I present in the form of reflexive narratives. Drawing on detailed accounts of lecturers and students who taught and learned in the program, the study investigates the ways in which the teaching of EIL in this setting was grounded in the diverse experiences, cultures and existing knowledge of the students. Since there were little commercially available materials to teach EIL, the lecturers in the EIL program at Urban University used a wide range of sources and resources to expose students to diverse forms, users, and cultures of English, to engage them in understanding the nature of language variation, and to engage them in learning to be metaculturally competent. I show how debates concerning the politics of difference were incorporated in the curricula at Urban University, and in that respect the study shows how the teaching of EIL at Urban University has a strong social justice agenda. The accounts of students learning in the EIL program reveal that students have been prompted to challenge (for some) their self-deprecating perceptions and (for others) their native-speakerist and/or ethnocentric perceptions. Additionally, they have been inspired to advocate for certain values and perspectives associated with the EIL paradigm outside classrooms, and to continue learning and updating their knowledge of the English language in all its diversity. To some extent, the study is describing and evaluating the new EIL curriculum and the worth of these particular approaches, and it finds them to be successful in many respects. However it also critiques areas of the curriculum that are still somewhat problematic. For instance, my study presents accounts of teachers and students grappling with some of the values or beliefs advocated by the EIL paradigm. Some students, regardless of their duration of engagement in the EIL curricula, sometimes express views that could be interpreted as native-speakerist, and/or they may be uncertain about taking the values or perspectives advocated by the EIL curriculum outside classrooms where diversity is not always understood or celebrated. By drawing attention to some of these problematic responses, the study does not suggest that the EIL curriculum is failing. Instead, I argue and propose that some of the value of an EIL curriculum is realised when those struggles, tensions, or uncertainties are conceptualised and approached differently. The study presents these kinds of tensions and struggles as a consequence of students (and their teachers) being invited into a 'discourse battle arena' in which they are cognitively debating with a range of conflicting discourses on the subject matter with which they are dialogically engaging. In light of this, this study revises and proposes an alternative framework or set of principles for teaching EIL which emphasises the importance of engaging students in learning about diverse forms, users, and cultures of English; recognising the influence of the 'the political evils and ideological temptations' (Canagarajah, 1999b) on the teaching and learning of EIL; providing a space for inquiring into the struggles and tensions prompted by those temptations; and envisaging versions of a more just world for the future.

Bezà Mahafaly has been the site of a partnership for conservation since 1975, long before the idea of community - based conservation became widely accepted in Madagascar or elsewhere in the world. Today, the Bezà Mahafaly Special Reserve protects 4,600 ha of riverine, transitional and spiny forest with a rich endemic fauna. This paper provides a summary of the thirty - seven year history of the initiative, focusing on three issues: our evolving interpretation of the term 'community', the integral role of politics and economics in developing the partnership, and the linkage between local, regional and national influences that were experienced in some contexts as constraints and in others as opportunities. We draw five conclusions that we hope will be of interest to those engaged in similar activities in Madagascar and elsewhere: (i) the importance of relationships and trust, and the length of time it takes to build both; (ii) the inherent fragility of community - based collaborations, which depend heavily on particular individuals and the pressures on people's lives; (iii) the importance of sustained financial inputs and challenge of diversifying these inputs; (iv) the need for mechanisms to distribute costs and benefits that are accepted as fair, and for methods to track that distribution; and (v) the central roles of improvisation and opportunism in the face of high levels of uncertainty, and the unanticipated key role played by a village-based environmental monitoring team. Résumé Bezà Mahafaly a été le site sur lequel un partenariat pour la conservation de la nature a œuvré depuis 1975, à savoir bien avant que n'émerge l'idée de la conservation basée sur la participation de la communauté locale qui est maintenant acceptée à Madagascar et ailleurs dans le monde. Aujourd'hui, la Réserve Spéciale de Bezà Mahafaly protège 4600 ha de forêts galeries, de forêts de transition et de forêts épineuses qui abritent une faune endémique d'une grande richesse. Le partenariat engage la Commune d'Ankazombalala, l'Université d'Antananarivo et ses collaborateurs internationaux, et Madagascar National Parks. Dans cet article, nous présentons un aperçu sur l'historique de cette initiative, après lequel nous considérons trois questions. La première question porte sur l'évolution de notre interprétation du terme 'communauté'. Pendant les premières décennies, nous englobions surtout sous ce terme les autorités locales, les chefs traditionnels ou les chefs des associations villageoises. Notre compréhension est plus globale aujourd'hui, mais nous pouvons admettre que nous aussi, les universitaires et les agents de Madagascar National Parks, représentons une 'confusion communautaire' aux yeux des gens de la Commune. La seconde question aborde le rôle intégral de la politique locale et de l'économie dans le développement du partenariat. Le récit historique comprend quatre phases qui correspondent largement aux changements d'approches caractérisant l'initiative depuis son début: conclure un marché, chercher la réciprocité, forger la collaboration et lancer un vrai partenariat équilibré pour la conservation de la nature. L'engagement politique au niveau local était fondamental pour nos efforts à partir de 1975 et rendait des services économiques qui ne portaient pas directement sur la conservation de la nature. Loin de représenter une défaite, ces activités étaient essentielles pour former le partenariat. Enfin, la troisième question concerne les relations entre les influences locales, régionales et nationales, que nous avons parfois ressenties comme des contraintes, mais également comme des opportunités à saisir. En 1975, une grande tension existait entre les buts poursuivis par le partenariat et le contexte législatif national car ce dernier imposait des aires protégées vues 'd'en haut'. L'isolement de Bezà Mahafaly et l'intervention des universités ont pu atténuer en partie le poids de cette hiérarchie. La politique nationale de décentralisation des années 1990, par contre, a renforcé les activités sur le terrain. Pour conclure, nous détaillons cinq considérations qui pourraient servir à de futurs efforts: (i) l'importance de la confiance mutuelle qui dépend des relations humaines et se met en place avec le temps; (ii) la fragilité des collaborations communautaires qui dépendent de certaines personnes bien particulières et des contraintes de la vie quotidienne de la population ; (iii) l'importance des appuis financiers à long terme ainsi que l'obligation inhérente de les diversifier; (iv) la nécessité de mettre en place des mécanismes pour partager les avantages ainsi que les coûts des efforts qui soient acceptables aux yeux de la communauté; (v) l'importance capitale de l'improvisation et de l'adaptation face aux incertitudes, et le rôle clé mais inattendu dans la formation du partenariat à Bezà Mahafaly qui a été joué par une équipe villageoise dans le suivi de l'environnement.

In assessing the influence of class on politics in the post-WWII period, empirical data are presented on voting patterns across 20 Western democratic industrialized countries, 1945-1990. Both the traditional manual/nonmanual class scheme & a more detailed, 7-category measure -- the EGP class scheme -- are employed in the analysis, as well as measures of both absolute & relative class voting. Results indicate substantial between-country differences in overall levels of relative class voting & significant within-country declines in class voting levels across this period. Directions for future research on political explanations for these findings are outlined. 3 Tables, 40 References. K. Hyatt Stewart

From 1919 to 1929, the great Hungarian Marxist philosopher Georg Lukacs was one of the leaders of the Hungarian Communist Party, immersed not simply in theorising but also in significant practical-political work. Along with labour leader Jeno Landler, he led a faction opposing an ultra-left sectarian orientation represented by Bela Kun (at that time also associated with Comintern chairman Zinoviev, later aligning himself with Stalin). If seen in connection with this factional struggle, key works of Lukacs in this period - History and Class Consciousness (1923), Lenin: A Study in the Unity of His Thought (1924), Tailism and the Dialectic (1926) and 'The Blum Theses' (1929) - can be seen as forming a consistent, coherent, sophisticated variant of Leninism. Influential readings of these works interpret them as being ultra-leftist or proto-Stalinist (or, in the case of 'The Blum Theses', an anticipation of the Popular Front perspectives adopted by the Communist International in 1935). Such readings distort the reality. Lukacs's orientation and outlook of 1923-9 are, rather, more consistent with the orientation advanced by Lenin and Trotsky in the Third and Fourth Congresses of the Communist International. After his decisive political defeat, Lukacs concluded that it was necessary to renounce his distinctive political orientation, and completely abandon the terrain of practical revolutionary politics, if he hoped to remain inside the Communist movement. This he did, adapting to Stalinism and shifting his efforts to literary criticism and philosophy. But the theorisations connected to his revolutionary politics of the 1920s continue to have relevance for revolutionary activists of the twenty-first century. Adapted from the source document.