Suchergebnisse

POST-SOVIET REFORM IN RUSSIA HAS BEEN INSPIRED LESS BY PRACTICAL CONSIDERATIONS THAN BY IDEOLOGY. MOTIVATED BY A DESIRE TO REPUDIATE ALL THAT THE SOVIET UNION STOOD FOR AND BY A SIMPLISTIC FAITH IN FREE MARKET CAPITALISM, RUSSIA'S WOULD-BE REFORMERS ARE IGNORING VALUABLE LESSONS BOTH FROM THE SOVIET PAST (SUCH AS SOVIET SUCCESSES IN MODERNIZATION, EDUCATION, AND TECHNOLOGY) AND FROM THE COMPLEX SYSTEM KNOWN AS "THE WEST." AS SUCH, THEY HAVE PLUNGED INTO DISRUPTIVE REARRANGEMENTS WITHOUT ADDRESSING MORE FUNDAMENTAL PROBLEMS AND ISSUES. THE RESULT IS CRIME, CORRUPTION, MASS IMPOVERISHMENT, AND A BLEAK FUTURE.

Analyzes the ambivalent role of rights in feminist discourse. While some feminists object to the distrusting, competitive absolutism by which the liberal/libertarian state establishes the rights of the legitimated self & society, they overlook the complex meanings conveyed by the concept, including liberties, immunities, claims, & powers. Although feminists assert that the legalist & rationalist role of rights in political/moral reasoning overshadows more important issues directly relevant to women, eg, the ethics of care, the discussion of rights should not be abandoned. It is also argued that because they are superficially attractive, but ultimately deceptive & disempowering, rights approaches are inadequate for achieving gender justice at a practical level. But while such an argument, in which women are abandoned to their rights, raises definitional, strategic, & substantive issues, it does not discredit rights discourse. J. Sadler

Explores the history of resistance to white supremacy in the southern US & South Africa, focusing on the similarities & differences of the two civil rights movements. It is noted that there is little evidence that the two nonviolent movements influenced each other in a signficant way; however, both were inspired by Mahatma Gandhi's use of militant nonviolence. It is shown that, in addition to such similarities as ideology & ethos, the leadership of the two movements came from a similarly situated social group -- the educated elite of a subordinate color caste. Also discussed is the media's treatment of the two movements, Martin Luther King, Jr.'s interest in South African racial politics, & the problem of black-on-black violence in both countries. W. Howard

THIS ARTICLE ARGUES THAT THE TORY PARTY IN ENGLAND HAS BECOME A VICTIM OF ITS OWN SUCCESS. THE THATCHER-LED DISMANTLING OF THE POSTWAR SETTLEMENT LED TO A PROCESS OF PERMANENT INSTITUTIONAL REVOLUTION WHICH GRADUALLY ERODED THE VERY MECHANISMS OF TORY SUPPORT INCLUDING BOTH NATIONAL INSTITUTIONS SUCH AS THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND AND THE MONARCHY AND LOCAL PARTY ORGANIZATIONS. AS FOR TORY ENGLAND--THAT RICH NETWORK OF INTERLOCKING INTERESTS, SOCIAL DEFERENCES, AND INHERITED INSTITUTIONS THAT TORY STATECRAFT HAS SUCCESSFULLY PROTECTED FOR OVER A CENTURY AND A HALF BY ITS SKILLFUL ADAPTATION TO DEMOCRATIC INSTITUTIONS IN BRITAIN--IT IS NOW AS GOOD AS DEAD.

THE AMERICAN LEFT HAS NO MEANINGFUL VOICE OR POWER IN NATIONAL POLITICS. THE NEAR-TERM PROSPECTS OF THE AMERICAN LEFT CONTINUE TO BE POOR BECAUSE IT HAS NO CREDIBLE PROGRAM FOR DELIVERING WHAT THE BROAD PUBLIC MOST WANTS FROM ITS GOVERNMENT--A RISING STANDARD OF LIVING. THIS ARTICLE PROPOSES A POTENTIAL SOLUTION TO THE CURRENT BLEAK OUTLOOK OF THE PROGRESSIVE LEFT. FIRST, THE PROGRESSIVE LEFT SHOULD SUGGEST GUARANTEED INCOME PROPOSALS. SECOND, THEY SHOULD STRIVE TO CONSTRUCT BETTER SOLUTIONS TO THE PROBLEM OF UNEMPLOYMENT. THIRD, THEY MUST PROPOSE NEW TOOLS TO MANAGE THE ECONOMY.

THIS ARTICLE CONSIDERS THE MULTICULTURALIST AND CULTURAL PLURALIST ATTAKCS ON THE CONCEPT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA AS A SINGLE NATION. IT NOTES THAT THE MULTICULTURALISTS IN THEIR CHARACTERIZATION OF "MAINSTREAM AMERICAN CULTURE" AS "WHITE" OFTEN IGNORE THE BLACK, AND LATIN AMERICAN ELEMENTS OF THIS CULTURE. MOREOVER, THEIR EMPHASIS ON RACE AND CULTURE IGNORES THE MORE INSIDIOUS THREAT OF CLASS SEPARATION. THE AUTHOR SEES A POTENTIAL FUTURE IN WHICH THE UNITED STATES IS DIVIDED NOT ALONG RACIAL OR ETHNIC LINES BUT ALONG CLASS LINES. THE ONLY WAY TO AVOID THIS POTENTIAL "BRAZILIANIZATION OF AMERICA" IS A LIBERAL NATIONALIST "REVOLUTION" DESIGNED TO FOSTER ECONOMIC AS WELL AS RACIAL AND GENDER EQUALITY.

THERE IS STILL NO OPENING IN SIGHT FOR BRIDGING THE THIRTY-SIX-YEAR-OLD RIFT BETWEEN CUBA AND WASHINGTON. THE U.S. IS IN THE MIDST OF AN ERA THAT FEATURES PROPOSITION 187 AND A U.S. COMMITMENT TO LEGAL IMMIGRATION FROM CUBA. IT IS THEREFORE ESSENTIAL THAT BOTH THE U.S. AND CUBA SEEK TO IMMEDIATELY ADDRESS A CUBAN AGENDA: THE 30,000 CUBANS MUST BE RELEASED FROM GUANTANAMO AND PANAMA, LEGAL MECHANISMS FOR EMIGRATION FROM CUBA MUST BE PROMOTED, AND CUBAN FAMILIES MUST BE ALLOWED TO SEE AND HELP EACH OTHER WITHOUT LIMITATIONS. ONLY BY ADDRESSING THESE ISSUES CAN THE RIFT BETWEEN THE U.S. AND CUBA BEGIN TO BE BRIDGED.

MEXICO'S 1994 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION ALLOWED MEXICO TO ESCAPE THE WORLDWIDE WAVE OF DEMOCRATIZATION ONE MORE TIME. IT IS NOT SURPRISING THAT MEXICO'S RULING PARTY WON THE 1994 ELECTIONS. ITS ADVANTAGES OF MONEY, MEDIA, AND COERCION WERE OVERWHELMING. HOWEVER, SEVERAL LESSONS CAN BE LEARNED FROM THE RECENT ELECTION THAT WILL ASSIST FUTURE MOVEMENTS FOR ELECTORAL DEMOCRACY IN MEXICO. FIRST, IT IS ESSENTIAL THAT A BROAD MULTIPARTY COALITION IS BUILT BEHIND THE MOST CREDIBLE CANDIDATE POSSIBLE. SECOND, THE OPPOSITION PARTY NEEDS TO OFFSET THE RULING PARTY'S MEDIA DOMINATION AND EXTENSIVE NETWORK OF CLIENTELIST CONTROLS. THIRD, THE OPPOSITION PARTY NEEDS TO CONVINCE THE ELECTORATE THAT IT IS CAPABLE OF GOVERNING EFFECTIVELY. FINALLY, THE OPPOSITION PARTY MUST CONCENTRATE ON GRASSROOTS EFFORTS THAT WILL TRULY INFORM THE PEOPLE.