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Reflections are offered on cultural difference & political representation in contemporary liberal democracies. Recent theoretical work on cultural difference & social movements, including William Connolly's Identity/Difference: Democratic Negotiations of Political Paradox (1991), is discussed, which presents an interpretation of democratic politics that neither evades nor confirms cultural difference. Also treated is democracy inside social movements, focusing on the essentialist account of social movements & on strategies for developing a politics of difference that rely on institutional mechanisms to redress problems of group exclusion. W. Howard

According to recent studies, young people are interested in politics in a broad sense but are disengaged with electoral politics. The falling turn-outs in European Parliament elections, especially among young people, are creating problems with the legitimacy of our political governance system. The authors suggest six pragmatic measures to address the disengagement of young people from electoral politics. The measures presented are designed to support a bottom-up approach towards building lasting interest in electoral politics among young people, while keeping in mind the changes in youth values and possible ways to participate in politics.

The politicization of ontology -- Foundational violence -- Dangerous animals -- The politics of gendered violence -- Political life -- The management of state violence -- The political ontology of neoliberalism -- Violence and neoliberal governmentality -- Terror and political spirituality.

The broader intellectual & political contexts of anthropology are traced from its early strong relation to biological evolutionism to the functionalist paradigm promulgated by Bronislaw Malinowski. It is argued that the latter is a product of the division between bourgeois cosmopolitan liberalism & nationalism of ethnic groups, two currents in the Hapsburg Empire, that also shaped the thought of Ludwig Wittgenstein & Karl Popper. Definitive "centers of gravity" for anthropology have shifted from primitive cultures, to field methods, to the current notions of culture & meaning. Hermeneutics in the US is likened to an epidemic of intoxication; formation of a Hermeneutics Anonymous is endorsed to control its use. Clifford Geertz's critique of Edward Evans-Pritchard as a conceptual imperialist is cited as a example of this style of hermeneutics. A. Waters

In recent decades, Islamist political movements in many Arab countries have strategically invested in a political process that was stacked heavily against them. And, to the surprise of many, they have actually succeeded by gaining more seats in parliaments and demonstrating their position as the only opposition movements with a popular base. Between Religion and Politics is a broad, cross-national study of Islamist parties in Arab parliamentary elections. The book focuses on those movements that have cast themselves, at least in part, as electorally oriented political parties. It pro

Identitätspolitik wird heute in der politischen Öffentlichkeit und der politischen Theorie auf ähnliche Weise kritisiert. Ein zentraler Topos dieser Kritik ist, dass Identitätspolitik essentialisierend sei: Sie schreibe Subjekte auf deren soziale Position fest und ergehe sich in einer Politik der Partikularität, die zu Spaltungen der nationalen Bürgerschaft und des demokratischen Diskurses kommunitaristische und liberale Position) und zu Spaltungen innerhalb gesellschaftskritischer Bewegungen führe (kritische Position). Entgegen dieser einseitigen Kritik schlagen wir mit dem Konzept der "konstruktivistischen Identitätspolitik" eine andere Deutung vor: Wir zeigen, dass politische Identitäten nicht essentialistisch gegeben sind, sondern aus sozialen und politischen Konstruktionsprozessen hervorgehen; dass sie aktiv durch politische (Sub-)Kulturen und Bewegungen hergestellt, erlernt und praktiziert werden. In diesen Konstruktionsprozessen wird politische Artikulations- und Handlungsfähigkeit hergestellt, die Subjekte befähigt, Herrschafts- und Diskriminierungsverhältnisse zu kritisieren. Im Anschluss an die radikale Demokratietheorie
argumentieren wir, dass die so ermöglichten partikularen politischen Perspektiven der Identitätspolitik weder die Demokratie noch die Solidarität in gesellschaftskritischen Bewegungen gefährden, sondern zu deren weiterer Demokratisierung beitragen, indem sie die universell gedachten Prinzipien der Demokratie in partikularen Auseinandersetzungen aktualisieren. Während identitätspolitische Konstruktionsprozesse zwar immer wieder zu Essentialisierungen tendieren und Ausschlüsse produzieren, ist deren kritische Reflexion der Identitätspolitik inhärent. Dieses Verständnis ermöglicht auch eine Kritik solcher Identitätspolitiken, die sich nicht an den demokratischen Werten der Gleichheit und Freiheit orientieren und kritische Selbstreflexion blockieren. Nach einem Überblick der gegenwärtigen Identitätspolitik-Kritik erarbeiten wir dieses konstruktivistische Verständnis im Anschluss an die seit den 1980er Jahren geführten Debatten der feministischen und postkolonialen Theorie. Darauf aufbauend entwickeln wir den Begriff der konstruktivistischen Identitätspolitik systematisch, indem wir drei Aspekte differenzieren: Subjektivierung, Artikulation und Repräsentation. Wir beziehen uns hierzu auf Ansätze von Foucault, Rancière, Laclau/Mouffe und Hall und illustrieren die jeweiligen Aspekte anhand migrantischer Selbstorganisierungen sowie schwuler Kultur und queerer Kritik.

Attributes the intractability of the abortion debate to the issue's exploitation by the two major political parties in the US. The polarizing politics has done a disservice to women, making abortions inaccessible & sidelining feminist goals. Mainstream feminist organizations have sustained themselves by equating any kind of democratic compromise over abortion with utter defeat, thus frightening women & securing membership. The Democratic Party has also adopted an all-or-nothing approach to abortion as a way to ally itself to powerful feminist groups. In addition, the mainstream media are seen as complicit in polarizing views on abortion. The inability for either side to compromise on the issue is noted along with the difficulty progressives would have challenging feminist organization's strategies & stances. In this light & in recognizing that Roe v. Wade has not provided closure to the abortion debate, some alternative strategies are suggested. It is argued that positive political change on the abortion issue might come from progressive Democratic candidates & international (rather than US) feminist groups. Jennifer K. Brown contends that Schrage's argument does not withstand scrutiny because the right for a pregnant woman to decide for herself to continue her pregnancy has already been deeply compromised. Schrage offers no principled basis for achieving a debate-ending "just right" balance between abortion availability & restrictions. In addition, her claim that Democrats & Republicans resist compromise is considered wrong. Her claim that mainstream feminist organizations are not looking out for the rights of poor women is challenged, & her discussion of the congressional debate over dilation & extraction abortion is seen to obfuscate the issues. Roe v. Wade is defended, & Schrage is criticized for treating the Supreme Court like another legislature. Rosalind P. Petchesky argues that Shrage mistakes symptoms for causes & leaves the hardest problems unaddressed by resorting to party politics & opinion polls. It is maintained that the abortion debate is centered on deeply held sexual & gender anxieties rather than an actual concern for the fetus; thus any moderate abortion policy would not address the sexual politics of abortion in the US. For abortion to fade as a hot political issue, radical political change that addresses broader issues must occur. Shrage counters the criticisms of both commentators, concluding that her main difference is that she does not think that people who oppose second-trimester nontherapeutic abortions are extremists, so she favors democratic dialogue & compromise on the abortion question. J. Zendejas