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Based on conversations with and publications of Samir Amin, the article explores connections between his ideas on global political strategy and sexual self-determination. One of the questions is about struggles related to homosexuality in Africa. To what extent did he believe that some of the demands for sexual self-determination, including certain forms of feminism and LGBT rights, were so overly embedded in Eurocentrism that they were not fully suitable for popular struggles in many parts of the Global South? The question is framed in the context of state-centric conceptions of the political. Even if some of the analysis includes a critical tone toward his strategical options, it also highlights the continuing importance of Samir Amin as a point of reference for future struggles to create transnational and global instruments for democratic transformations. ; Peer reviewed

This paper seeks an articulation between Marxist and anarchist approaches to representation in social movements. A generalised dismissal of representational politics leaves power with too many places to hide and sets unnecessary limits to political imagination. Prefigurative politics should not exclude political representation, as the exclusion can imply a class bias. The paper explores two different paths beyond strict assumptions of horizontality. Using mostly Latin American examples, a distinction is made between more classical state-centric paths and less theorised alternatives of non-state representation. Finally, the article approaches global democratisation from a non-state-centric perspective, tentatively called transnational libertarian socialism.

In August 2012, pro-Kremlin media in Russia reported widely about an alleged attempt to replay the Pussy Riot stunt at an Orthodox cathedral in Finland. According to the reports, also reproduced by the Russian Foreign Ministry, a Finnish professor was facing several years' prison sentence in Finnish courts for having attacked the cathedral, carried urine containers, spread homosexual propaganda and committed various acts of blasphemy. Even if the Finnish media, eyewitnesses and state authorities repeatedly denied the claims, the story became a useful way for pro-Kremlin forces to normalise the Pussy Riot trial in Russia. The episode was an example of the recent politicisation of religion, gender and sexuality in the Russian public sphere. ; Peer reviewed

In August 2012, pro-Kremlin media in Russia reported widely about an alleged attempt to replay the Pussy Riot stunt at an Orthodox cathedral in Finland. According to the reports, also reproduced by the Russian Foreign Ministry, a Finnish professor was facing several years' prison sentence in Finnish courts for having attacked the cathedral, carried urine containers, spread homosexual propaganda and committed various acts of blasphemy. Even if the Finnish media, eyewitnesses and state authorities repeatedly denied the claims, the story became a useful way for pro-Kremlin forces to normalise the Pussy Riot trial in Russia. The episode was an example of the recent politicisation of religion, gender and sexuality in the Russian public sphere.

An examination of manifestations of the political in the actions & articulations of globalization protest movements focuses on the discourse common to the World Social Forum (WSF) which claims to provide a "balance" to the World Economic Forum. The WSF, which has become an important arena for social movements seeking to democratically transform the capitalist world-system, provides an opportunity to explore the current possibilities of global democratization. The organization & actions of the WSF are described to argue that its many geographical, sectorial, ideological, & civilizational limitations make it not as open to all organizations as it claims to be. Difficulties encountered in attempts to move from politicizing protests to transformative politics are pointed out, along with forms of the political that are apparent in articulations between social movements; & politicization as a critical aspect of democratic struggles. Emphasis is placed on the need for the WSF to accompany its goal of building a more democratic world with paying more attention to constructing democratic social relations within its own organization. References. J. Lindroth

A concern for the possible futures of the modern world-system has been a recurrent theme of world-systems analysis. There has, however, been relatively little effort to think about these futures in terms of democratic theory. In this article, I will explore some of the issues that need to be tackled to take radical and cosmopolitan questions of democracy better into account in world-systems analysis. In particular, I will point out some problems that need to be confronted in the collective process of locating and making visible the politics of "nonpolitical" spaces, such as the ones constituted by transnational business communities and their corporate bureaucracies.

A traves de un analisis de la transicion chilena, el articulo se enfoca en un intento de clarificar la verdad de una situacion cuyas posibilidades para enjuiciar a los violadores de derechos humanos han sido restringidas. La Comision Nacional de Verdad y Reconciliacion de Chile ha sido usada como modelo parcial para algunos procesos de democratizacion posteriores tanto en America Latina como en otras partes del mundo. Sin embargo, los esfuerzos de los gobiernos chilenos de revisar el pasado durante los 90s fueron limitados. El articulo tambien analiza los cambios que la detencion en Londres de Augusto Pinochet y su regreso a Chile han implicado. (Iberoamericana/DÜI)