Suchergebnisse

This essay aims to explore the limits & possibilities of the contract in tile era of globalization. The old metaphor of the social contract was gain back for the contemporary political philosophy by Jonh Rawl's book A Theory of Justice (1971). In the last few years philosophers & political theorist such as Thomas Pogge, Charles Beitz, Richard Falk, Mary Kaldor & David Held have used this metaphor to face the challenges of globalization. However, Rawls refuses to transfer his principles of justice to the international arena. Rawls argues in his book The Law of Peoples (1999) that this movement would have unintended political consequences. This essay proposes a distinction between the narrative of social contract as a mechanism for the rational choice & the contract itself as a mechanism for the creation of a political meaning. The purpose of this distinction is to keep alive the use of the metaphor of the social contract in the global realm. Adapted from the source document.

Part of a review symposium on a book by Francisco Colom, Razones de identitad. Pluralismo cultural e integracion politica ([Rights of Identity. Cultural Pluralism and Political Integration] Barcelona: Anthropos, 1999). Colom's rhetorical approach to multiculturalism & his failure to sociopolitically contextualize identity & the rights associated with it are critiqued. Colom's claim that multiculturalism is a purely political concept that only undermines the liberal endeavor by serving as a rhetorical catchall for the complexities of cultural diversity is criticized for falling into a linguistic paradox: ie, he ends up using language, in this case five types of modern political language (liberalism, conservatism, republicanism, the language of production, & the language of identity), to resist any further linguistic development. It is also contended that Colom does not address the solitude & isolation inherent in identity, particularly in regard to sociopolitical consensus, in his explanation of the rights of identity associated with feminism, indigenous movements, & nationalism in Spain & Canada. D. Bajo