Suchergebnisse

Reflects generally on the approach to modernity of Spanish philosopher Miguel de Unamuno & Mexican writer Octavio Paz, placing their similar visions & styles outside, but influential of, typical reason-based approaches of Western thought. Unamuno & Paz are stylistically & methodologically positioned in the meditative tradition, where sentiment & metaphysics take precedent over the search for autonomous reason. The two are linked thematically in their beliefs on modernity, perceiving it as a permanent rupture between the world & itself. Unamuno's passionate sensibility is contrasted to Paz's more measured approach, but both see the value & refuge evident in cultural traditions. Unamuno's dark reflections on modern & postmodern European society are compared & contrasted to Paz's similar but more nationally aimed sentiments on Mexican civilization. 7 References. D. Bajo

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En México, las elecciones experimentan cambios cada vez menos lentos: de ser un medió de legitimación de un Estado corporativo, son cada vez más un medio de confrontación civilizada entre las fuerzas sociales y políticas. Sin embargo, este patrón democrático aún no logra perfilarse, pues las inercias de un régimen autoritario y un sistema político desfasado de las necesidades sociales y de los nuevas identidades de la sociedad han creado un estado de guerra en el que la vía electoral parece desdibujarse como una opción de reconciliación nacional y de refundación de un nuevo orden social y político. Reorganizar las reglas para la búsqueda de un nuevo consenso y una nueva legitimidad es la apuesta de los nuevos actores sociales en el presente.

In Mexico, the electoral process is simply no longer capable of modifying the politics of government. Even though the electoral system is democratic in concept, it is not working because it does not satisfy new social needs & social identities, & is still burdened by the inertia of an authoritarian regime. As a result, the process is experiencing rapid change; it is moving from being a means of legitimizing the corporative state to one of civilized confrontation between social & political forces. It has reached the point of such degradation that mechanisms of representation cannot reproduce consensus & legitimacy, as evidenced by recent election results. To position themselves as a choice in national reconciliation & in the foundation of a new social & political order, new social actors in the electoral system need to reorganize the rules in the search for a new consensus & new legitimacy. In the meantime, the electoral crisis has opened informal channels of political participation, at the margins of the more traditional operation, & a considerable sector of civil society is active in these informal channels. M. Pflum

In this world -- radically different from ten years ago -- university curricula should reflect the dimensions of change in science, critical throught, & applied coursework. In the case of political science, politics is no longer only located in the state sphere, but society itself is politicized. This has redimensionalized & complicated the political scientist's area of study. Suggestions for changes in the teaching of political science at the U Nacional Autonoma de Mexico are discussed, especially the search for an equilibrium between macro- & microdimensions of the theoretical & practical components of the field. M. Pflum