Suchergebnisse

The political challenges & implications of the emergence of international terrorism are considered. Differences between 20th century terrorist activities & those represented by the September 11, 2001, attacks are highlighted to demonstrate the more severe problems posed by new terrorism, eg, the difficulty of comprehending the motives of terrorists who do not announce demands or objectives; moreover, it is stressed that 21st century terrorism is particularly dangerous since it combines religious & political perspectives, thereby reifying fallacious West/East & good/evil dualisms on the international level. Although liberalism provides a strategy for addressing security concerns & encouraging pluralism, it is stressed that liberalism must establish proper limits on pluralism & tolerance. Regardless of the ideological approach adopted toward new terrorism, two courses of action are recommended: the separation of politics & religion & Western nations' re-engagement in negotiations with the Middle East & other countries with large Islamic populations. J. W. Parker

Michel Foucault often spoke of the political in reference to his concept of governmentality, but he also sometimes employed the term in a strongly antigovernmental sense, which betrays a certain utopianism in his theory. While his notion of governmentality is counterposed to Enlightenment understandings of the liberated self, Foucault also offers the prospect of liberation, from domination imposed both by ourselves & by others. It is suggested that Foucault's occasional embrace of this rhetoric of liberation implies that political discourse has something of a mimetic character. Thus, political thinkers would be wise not to follow Foucault in pretending that utopianism can be avoided in political discourse. Rather, they ought to acknowledge, as Foucault appears to do at times, that political critique depends on a utopian impulse. D. Ryfe

Discusses the present & potential dangers of democratic politics governed by technocracy: "the illegitimate extension of scientific ways of thinking to questions that do not admit of scientific answers, & the elevation of scientists & technicians to a position of responsibility for which their knowledge & skills alone do not qualify them." Although science & technology constitute an increasingly large portion of political & social life, their applications in the political & social realms have not achieved the utopian goals of justice & dissolution of bureaucracy. Despite the technocratic assertion that politics can be separated from ideology, it is suggested that politics requires ideology, & technocracy itself is a form of ideology. Understood as a medium for the socialized expression of conflicting beliefs, politics is thus both formed by & dependent on ideology. Further, it is argued that attempts to eliminate ideology from politics place technocratic rulers in a position of unearned & potentially dangerous authority. It is concluded that ideological disagreement & dissent are fundamental components of democracy, & cannot be eliminated through scientific analysis & methodology. T. Sevier

Argues that there is an alliance between modern knowledge & the politics of security of the national state. In this alliance, both philosophy & politics are dedicated to the stabilization of security in the face of an actually existing environment of contingency, flux, & more generalized insecurity. This long-standing alliance has taken on varying forms. In Plato & early Christianity, a supersensible universe controlled the insecurity of Heraclitean flux, first by the idea & then institutionally, through the Church as the condition of human salvation. In early modernity, secular delegitimation of the Church led to a new locus of control. Later, in philosophy, the ideas of rationalism & empiricism helped control epistemological insecurity. In politics, for its part, chaos is exogenized by the institution of the Machiavellian & Hobbesian nation-state. Possible contemporary alliances are considered in the context of late-modern assumptions, in which nature becomes no longer a world of entities available to beings for transformation in respect to its finalities, but instead, a stock of raw material for our own ends. 72 References. V. Rios

Reflects on the nature of the political & its relation to democratic identities. Politics is defined as an encounter between struggles for emancipation & efforts to establish order through policy making. It is suggested that current debates over the political have been stymied by the identification of politics with the self of a community. Politics is understood as inherently anarchic, & thus lacking a particular central subjectivity or identity. The only universal value acknowledged is equality, but this value is understood less as pregiven than as enacted in the process of political struggles. In the act of struggling, individuals are subjectivized to the extent that they claim & demonstrate one identity while refusing others. It is concluded that current debates over the relation between universality & identity are misguided & should be replaced by discussions of the relation between the tribal & the idiomatic. It is in this conceptual universe & understanding of politics that issues such as ethnic nationalism, which now press on the world, might be most profitably addressed. D. M. Smith

Building on Thomas S. Kuhn's (1970) ideas on paradigms, the class paradigm or perspective is outlined & argued to be of diminishing importance in post-WWII advanced industrial societies. Criticisms of class-based interpretations of politics are reviewed in terms of five major issues, centered on party-class dealignment: (1) class voting & class-based political allegiances; (2) the weakening of class organizations; (3) class consciousness, action, & identification; (4) the rise of new politics; & (5) postideological values. It is argued that anomalies in each of these areas mandate a reconsideration of class-based political analyses; a paradigmatic shift to a more Weberian-based approach is suggested. 2 Tables, 105 References. K. Hyatt Stewart

Building on Thomas S. Kuhn's (1970) ideas on paradigms, the class paradigm or perspective is outlined & argued to be of diminishing importance in post-WWII advanced industrial societies. Criticisms of class-based interpretations of politics are reviewed in terms of five major issues, centered on party-class dealignment: (1) class voting & class-based political allegiances; (2) the weakening of class organizations; (3) class consciousness, action, & identification; (4) the rise of new politics; & (5) postideological values. It is argued that anomalies in each of these areas mandate a reconsideration of class-based political analyses; a paradigmatic shift to a more Weberian-based approach is suggested. 2 Tables, 105 References. K. Hyatt Stewart

In an effort to overcome the US Senate's continued resistance to ratification of the 1979 UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, Representative Lynn Woolsey & a group of other women brought a copy of a supportive letter signed by 100+ representatives to the offices of Senator Jesse Helms. Helm's refusal to meet with the women legislators & admonition to them to "act like ladies" as they were thrown from his office is viewed here as yet another example of "miscommunication" between men & women; examples of other instances of gendered miscommunication in US history are reviewed. This episode also demonstrates the perpetuation of a prejudicial distinction between the public & the private spheres in terms of what men & women are allowed to discuss & in what settings. The gendered nature of the public-private distinction made in several leading international human rights documents is elucidated, & a similar dichotomization between the public/male & private/female is identified in the literary form of the 18th-century epistolary novel. The designation of letter writing as an "appropriate" female activity, so long as such private missives were never made public, is described, & the disturbances to the social order thought to result from violations of this code are revealed in epistolary fiction by more modern women writers, including Helena Araujo, Tsitsi Dangarembga, & Janette Turner Hospital. 12 References. K. Hyatt Stewart

Suggests that social movements play a large, often determining, role in the periodic electoral de- & realignments of political history, drawing on brief reviews of realignments in the 1930s & the 1960s. The conventional literature suggests that periodic electoral shifts signal volatile changes in the economy or social life. However, it is suggested that, because minority parties always hold at least some institutional power in a two-party system, they are ill-equipped to channel the discontent produced by social & political changes. Instead, social movements do what party leaders & contenders for office in a two-party system will not: raise deeply divisive issues. By mobilizing constituencies around divisive issues, social movements pressure politicians to make changes they otherwise would not. The dissensual politics provoked by the interaction of movements & coalition builders of the two-party system is demonstrated in brief dicussions of the emergence of the New Deal alignment in 1932, the conservative realignment of 1980, & the potential for a new realignment in the 1990s. D. M. Smith

The gender stereotypes produced in Russian children's literature are examined in a review of 300+ preschool stories including Russian folktales, foreign traditional folktales, modern books by Soviet & post-Soviet authors, & modern books by foreign authors. Based on the assumption that gender identification is established in the early years of childhood, it is argued that preschool literature may strongly affect the gender identities & stereotypes of future adults. Traditional folktales by foreign authors are characterized by a clear separation between strong, dominating men & passive, dependent women, while Russian folktales often present a matriarchal stereotype marked by emotionally & materially independent female characters & weak men. In the modern stories, gender stereotypes are played out through interactions between children & parents. The Soviet literature portrays a traditional division of male & female family roles combined with a quasi-egalitarian role division in the sphere of work. Modern egalitarian literature evidences a more flexible division of family & work responsibilities, thereby promoting visions of a gender-free society. 44 References. T. Sevier

Reviews the literature on gender & development, highlighting differences between feminist scholarship & that employing a world-systems perspective, & calling for greater collaboration between the two, though not at the expense of their unique outlooks. Traditional, feminist, & general theories of development in sociology are compared, showing how feminist-oriented research offers an alternative perspective on the functioning of the world economy & women's place within it. The micro-macro debate between feminist & world-systems scholars (respectively) in such research is also examined. 1 Table, 102 References. K. Hyatt Stewart

Argues that Soka Gakkai's political involvement stems from Tsunesaburo Makiguchi's pre-WWII call for political leaders to base their actions on a correct understanding of Buddhism. An examination of factors that contributed to the movement's rapid growth emphasizes activities aimed at achieving kosen-rufu, a humanistic Buddhist society & lasting peace. The Soka Gakkai entered local assembly politics in the mid-1950s & formed the Komeito Party in 1967 in order to separate the religious from the political body. Komeito became the third largest political party nationwide by 1969 but later lost considerable strength. The rationale behind the Soka Gakkai's decision to take part in politics is examined, along with the intricacies involved in the formation/development of the Komeito Party, & its efforts to avoid a narrow religious identity by appealing to a broader popular base. Obstacles within contemporary Japanese politics, the Soka Gakkai movement, & the Komeito are identified, & the future prospects of both the Soka Gakkai & the Komeito Party are evaluated. J. Lindroth