Suchergebnisse

Wetenschappelijk onderzoek kent geen slotakkoord of apotheose. Het zet zich voortdurend door. Op elk moment treden nieuwe academici in het spoor van hun leermeesters, maakt men gebruik van nieuwe methoden en ontwikkelt men nieuwe interesses. Niet alleen de aard van de navorsers en van hun methoden evolueren, ook hun onderzoeksobject verandert. Zeker in het veld van de politiek en de wereldeconomie maken we revolutionaire tijden door. De geopolitiek van de VS en Europa ten opzichte van groeilanden zoals China, India en Brazilië wijzigt drastisch en in de Arabische landen groeit het verlangen naar echte democratie. Intussen neemt de druk op de draagkracht van onze blauwe planeet verder toe. In 2050 zijn we wellicht met 9 miljard mensen. Zal er voldoende voedsel zijn? Welke energie zal aan onze toekomstige behoeften op een duurzame manier kunnen voldoen? In welk soort voertuigen zullen we ons verplaatsen?

A GRADUAL ADAPTATION OF MILITARY SOCIOLOGY & MILITARY POLITICAL SCIENCE TO THE SHIFTING ROLE OF THE MILITARY IN THIRD WORLD POLITICS IS SUGGESTED. 5 PHASES ARE TRACED: (1) THE BELIEF IN THE 'WESTERN' ROLE OF THE MILITARY IN THE THIRD WORLD, (2) THE SURPRISE OF MILITARY INTERVENTIONS IN AFRICAN POLITICAL SYSTEMS, (3) THE ACCEPTANCE OF MILITARY INTERVENTIONS AS A 'NORMAL' & 'INSTITUTIONALIZED' PHENOMENON, (4) THE ACCEPTANCE OF MILITARY REGIME AS A 'NORMAL' POLITICAL CONSTELLATION, & (5) THE COOL ANALYSIS OF THE POLICY OUTCOMES OF MILITARY REGIMES. 8 BOOKS ARE DISCUSSED ON THE BASIS OF 6 THEMES DOMINATING MILITARY SOCIOLOGY & MILITARY POLITICAL SCIENCE: (A) THE COMPARATIVE STUDY OF THE MILITARY IN POLITICS IS SERIOUSLY HAMPERED BY WEAK CONCEPT FORMATION & CLASSIFICATORY SCHEMES, (B) VARIOUS TYPES & DEGREES OF COOPERATION OF THE MILITARY AUTHORITIES FOR THE GATHERING OF INFORMATION ON THEIR ORGANIZATION ARE NOTICED; THE AWARENESS OF ENCAPSULATION & MUTILATION OF EVIDENCE IS INSUFFICIENTLY PRESENT, (C) THE COMPLEX RELATIONS BETWEEN THE SOCIAL ORIGIN OF THE OFFICE CORPS, THEIR ATTITUDES, & THEIR BEHAVIORAL ACTS ARE NOT TREATED IN A SOPHISTICATED MANNER, (D) THE 'EXPLANATION' OF MILITARY INTERVENTION IN POLITICS IS FREQUENTLY PUT IN INACCURATE TERMS, (E) THE LEGITIMACY PROBLEMS OF MILITARY REGIMES ARE ANALYZED UNSYSTEMATICALLY, & (F) THE INTERNATIONAL FACTOR SHOULD BE INTRODUCED AS A POSSIBLE STIMULUS & IMPEDIMENT TO MILITARY INTERVENTION & MILITARY RULE IN POLITICS. 2 TABLES. MODIFIED HA.

This article urges the necessity to reflect upon architecture - as a professional field as well as in its meaning of 'the built environment' - from a perspective outside this professional and academic field. It also argues why the writings of philosopher Hannah Arendt, even though she did not examine architecture per se, offer a fruitful starting point for such an endeavour. ; ISSN:0169-6238

A CRITICAL REEXAMINATION OF PREVALENT ASSUMPTIONS IN INTERNATIONAL LITERATURE IS PRESENTED. THE TRADITIONAL MODEL OF THE INTERSTATE SYSTEM, WHICH GIVES THE NATIONSTATE A PROMINENT PLACE AS ACTOR & UNIT OF ANALYSIS & CONCEIVES OF THE INTERNATIONAL SYSTEM AS A COLLECTIVITY OF STATES AIMING AT EQUILIBRIUM, HAS BEEN GENERALLY ACCEPTED BY SCHOLARS (IE BALANCE OF POWER THEORY). DEVELOPMENTS IN INTERNATIONAL REALITY SEEM TO CONTRADICT THESE ASSUMPTIONS. THEY ARE SUMMARIZED IN THE CONCEPTS OF THE 'NUCLEAR AGE' & THE 'TRANSNATIONAL SYSTEM' & COMBINED IN THE NOTION OF INTERDEPENDENCE CHARACTERIZING THE PRESENT INTERNATIONAL SYSTEM. THESE DEVELOPMENTS POINT TO THE INCREASING CONVERGENCE OF RATIONAL & INTERNATIONAL POLITICS. IN RECENT INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS LITERATURE, THE TRADITIONAL HORIZONTAL, TERRITORIALLY-BASED ORGANIZATION OF THE POLITICAL PROCESS IS CONTRASTED WITH ITS INCREASINGLY VERTICAL, TRANSNATIONAL CHARACTER, WHILE AT THE SAME TIME THE EQUILIBRIUM MODEL OF INTERNATIONAL POLITICS IS SUPERSEDED BY A VIEW OF THE INTERNATIONAL SYSTEM BASED ON RELATIONS OF DOMINANCE & SUPREMACY. THESE NEW INSIGHTS ARE COMBINED IN A MODEL OF A WORLD POLITICAL SYSTEM THAT IS GLOBAL IN ITS GEOGRAPHICAL DIMENSION. HA.

The approaches of Jurgen Habermas & Jean-Francois Lyotard are compared with respect to issues in ethics & the philosophy of law. Though both consider language to be both the pivot of & the means to sociopolitical action & events, they differ in their diagnoses about the pathology of politics & society. Their opinions about language, law, morality, & the role of philosophy, politics, & science are compared, & sketched against the background of their general philosophy. While Habermas is a strong defender of the Enlightenment project & maintains that it is possible to apply philosophical ideas in the interest of democratization & the nonviolent settlement of conflicts, Lyotard's postmodern philosophy is more skeptical, asserting that no metadiscourse can exist in the social world that would allow real mediation & conflict settlement. The paradoxes in Lyotard's "language-ontology" philosophy, of which he is well aware, are explored. 6 References. Modified HA

Deliberative democrats claim that political deliberation among citizens increases the legitimacy of and support for democratic decision-making. The question is, however, whether deliberative democracy can realize its added value in the real world of politics where political discussion is characterized by persisting inequalities. This paper tries to contextualize the gender gap in political talk by taking into account the social (i.e., discussion networks) and political context (i.e., campaign effects) in which political debate takes place. Based on previous research we argue that women prefer to discuss politics in relatively like-minded, cohesive networks, while men prefer more confrontational networks. Moreover, we expect the gender gap to depend on the electoral context, in that the gender gap disappears in later campaign phases. These two arguments were tested and confirmed using data gathered in the Partirep Regional Election Survey in 2009. Adapted from the source document.