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The 2006 edition of this series examines how two different forms of minority - political and cultural - are shaping Canadian foreign policy. The book begins with an examination of the ways in which the Harper government will combine its ideas and priorities with its minority status in Parliament to forge its own foreign and security policy profile. Contributors then analyse the role played by distinctive political and cultural minority groups in shaping Canada's foreign relations and show how these groups are shaped and influenced by Canadian policies at home and abroad.

"As the world changes, so sexual identities are changing. In a context of globalisation, mass communication and technological advances, individuals find themselves able to make lifestyle choices in new and different ways. In this increasingly confusing world, sociologists have argued that identities are in flux, and that traditional patterns of identity and intimacy are being disrupted and reshaped, with all the implications for sexual identities that this suggests. Changing Gay Male Identities draws on the powerful life stories of twenty-one gay men to explore how individuals construct and maintain their sense of self in contemporary society. The book draws upon theoretical debates on topics such as gender, performance, sex, class, camp, race and ethnicity, to explore four aspects of identity: the role of the body in who we are ; relationships and communities ; performing in everyday life ; reconciling different aspects of our selves (such as religion and sexuality). In Changing Gay Male Identities Andrew Cooper assesses the magnitude of these social and sexual changes. He argues that although there are many opportunities for new forms of identity in a changing world, the possibilities can be significantly constrained, and that this has major implications for the freedoms and choices of individuals in contemporary societies. This book will be of interest to students and scholars of sociology, sexuality studies, gender studies, and GLBTQ studies."--Publisher's website

One of the fundamental questions in post-Fregean philosophy is how to account for the normativity involved in assertoric claims once the traditional subject-object view of thinking is rejected. One of the more productive lines of inquiry in the contemporary literature attributes normativity to second nature, which is presented as a sui generis space of reason giving and receiving distinct from the space of nature studied by the natural sciences. In this paper I suggest an alternative account by drawing from Castoriadis's philosophical interpretation of autopoiesis. For Castoriadis, the idea of second nature protects the modern conception of nature from undergoing the radical critique it requires, for it restricts normativity to the anthropic sphere. In contrast, he proposes an autopoietic account of the subject that grounds the capacity to know that one knows in the activity of the living being. Castoriadis demonstrates that the normativity of assertoric claims is not a vertical break from nature but rather a horizontal transformation of the biological capacity for self-referentiality.

Heidegger's blatant anti-Semitism in the recently published volumes of the Black Notebooks has led several philosophers to question the future of Heidegger scholarship. In this article I suggest that the publication of the Notebooks indeed provides a deeper understanding of Heidegger's entanglement with National Socialism. Yet rather than viewing this entanglement as cause to reject his work, I examine how it might help us to define philosophy's role in the project of building a society in which Nazism is impossible. Through reference to Heidegger's public voice during the years covered by the first three volumes of the Black Notebooks I identify a paradox in his thought: Heidegger powerfully diagnoses modernity's penchant to encase the natural and social orders in a determinate ontology, and yet his diagnosis introduces a new kind of determination that actively sides with totalitarianism. By representing the political sphere as the site of ontological movement, Heidegger opens us to the fluidity of politics only to obfuscate the priority of action. Through attending to this paradox I argue that the way of thinking capable of responding to the problems of modern politics cannot be ontological but must be political – with others.

Andrew Cooper outlines a psychoanalytic approach to policymaking, one which 'insists on the thick textures of social and personal suffering, desire and aspiration as its point of departure for theory and action and speaks to the inherent value of participatory democracy'.

Documentation of contemporary Canadian diplomacy compares the respective impacts of foreign ministers Lloyd Axworthy & Lester Pearson. Differences in approaches to defense & security are noted, highlighting Axworthy's unprecedented inclusion of "civil society." An extensive review of modern Canadian interactions with Peru is provided. Axworthy's mission to Peru with the Organization of the American States (OAS) shows the diplomat's timely & effective utilization of vigor & enthusiasm. Ways in which Axworthy's style merged with Pearson's more traditional approach are shown. The author examines the extent to which the Peru mission affected political vs public relations. Also considered are the parameters of collective & interventionist actions, "the mantra of facilitation" in Peru's volatile political landscape, & the factors allowing Axworthy's relatively independent stride into Peruvian policy. Axworthy's performance is examined & related to the significance of this OAS project & recent perceptions of Canadian diplomacy. M. C. Leary