Introduction. This article discusses some anthropological and sociological slight reflections about the uses and the abuses of the political exceptionality in the Covid-19 pandemic. The relevance is connected with questions about the "New Norm", permeated with the daily destructiveness of antisocial metabolic practices of an even more predatory capitalism, whose social control cannot regulate violent neoliberal extraction in a mode of accumulation. Aim and tasks. The purpose of the article is to study the gradual resumption of interrupted social activities as a policy measure to combat the New Coronavirus Pandemic is placed from the perspective of its economic and ecologic rationalities as well as from the perspective of the new moral, emotional, cognitive, and behavioral demands directed to the common social actor and agent of big and small cities. Results. The article substantiates the context of the so-called "new norm", permeated by the daily destructiveness of antisocial metabolic practices of even more predatory capitalism in a violent neoliberal form. Therefore, due to this discrepancy between legality and legitimacy, the level of authoritarianism and further growth of inequality and indifference among people increases. In the context of the Covid-19 pandemic, there is a mismatch between legality and legitimacy, as well as the legitimization of the interests of individual actors in the market as opposed to the adoption of legislation and for pro-capital interests. The principles of legitimacy were limited by bureaucratic rationality and the genocidal legalism of neoliberal politics. Conclusions. The pandemic has disrupted economies, has mainly punished the poorest and most underserved and has destabilized governments of various ideological nuances. Participants at all levels of the economy will suffer the most severe and immediate consequences of all losses. This is the controversial logic of capital and one of its main contradictions is revealed. ; Вступ. У статті розглядаються деякі антропологічні та соціологічні невеликі роздуми про використання та зловживання політичною винятковістю в умовах пандемії Covid-19. Актуальність пов'язана з питаннями про "нову норму", пронизану щоденною деструктивністю асоціальних метаболічних практик ще більш хижацького капіталізму, соціальний контроль якого не може регулювати насильницьку неоліберальну екстракцію в режимі накопичення. Мета і завдання. Метою статті є вивчення поступового відновлення перерваної соціальної діяльності, як політичний захід боротьби з пандемією нового коронавірусу ставиться з точки зору її економічної та екологічної раціональності, а також з точки зору нової моральної, емоційної, пізнавальної та поведінкові вимоги, спрямовані на спільного соціального суб'єкта та агента великих та малих міст. Результати. В статті обґрунтовано контекст так званої "нової норми", пронизаної повсякденною деструктивністю асоціальних метаболічних практик ще більш хижацького капіталізму в насильницькій неоліберальній формі. Тому, зважаючи на цю невідповідність законності та легітимності, підвищується рівень авторитаризму та подальшого зростання нерівності та байдужості серед людей. В умовах пандемії Covid-19 виникає невідповідність законності та легітимності, а також легітимізацією інтересів окремих суб'єктів на ринку в противагу прийняттям законодавчим нормам та заради прокапітальних інтересів. Засади легітимності були обмежені бюрократичною раціональністю та геноцидним легалізмом неоліберальної політики. Висновки. Пандемія підірвала економіку, в основному покарала найбідніших і найменш забезпечених, а також дестабілізувала уряду через різні ідеологічні погляди та позиції. Учасники на всіх рівнях економіки понесуть найважчі і негайні наслідки цих втрат. Це суперечлива логіка капіталу, і виявляється одне з її головних протиріч.
There is a firestorm of political and cultural conflict around environmental issues, including, but running well beyond, climate change. Legal scholarship is in a bad position to make sense of this conflict because the field has concentrated on making sound policy recommendations to an idealized lawmaker, neglecting the deeply held and sharply clashing values that drive, or block, environmental lawmaking. This Article sets out a framework for understanding and engaging the clash of values in environmental law and, by extension, approaching the field more generally. Americans have held, and legislated based upon, four distinct ideas about why the natural world matters and how we should govern it. Each of these conceptions persists in a body of environmental law, a network of interest and advocacy groups, the attitudes and even identities of ordinary citizens, and even the American landscape. The first, providential republicanism, treats nature as intended for productive human use and gives high status to its users: this idea justified the European claim to North America, defined public debates about nature in the early republic, and persists in important aspects of private and public land-use law. The second conception, progressive management, arose in the later nineteenth century as part of a broader legal reform movement and gave its shape to much of federal lands policy, notably creation of the national forests and national parks. In this idea, nature's productive use requires extensive management by public-spirited experts, whom reformers imagined as steering the environmental policy of the administrative state. The third conception, romantic epiphany, concentrates on the aesthetic and spiritual value of nature and has defined national parks policy, spurred creation of the national wilderness system, and lent essential support to the Endangered Species Act. This idea entered environmental politics at the turn of the last century, with the efforts of the Sierra Club and other innovators. The most recent conception of nature, ecological interdependence, arose in the middle of the twentieth century and shaped much of the environmental law of the 1970s and thereafter. This conception treats nature as an intensely inter-permeable web, of which humans are unavoidably a part, to our benefit and hazard. All of these ideas persist in today's environmental law and politics and provide a map of our existing statutes and doctrines, the conflicts around those laws, and emerging issues such as climate change.
"Positioning of an advertising and television designer. Unleashed by ecological and social destruction, a vague sense of shame is spreading amongst the players of business life. This shame can become a performance driver for a new rationality of responsibility – for intervention in our overheated system. Goverments' discourse becomes the ideal business relationship amongst all economic subjects." (author's abstract)
In the course of the 1990s, the ideas and practices of environmentalism tended to lose whatever politically mobilizing force they might earlier have had, and largely came to resemble what Herbert Marcuse, in his classic text of the 1960s, termed the pure stuff of administration. The redefinition of environmental politics as an ambiguous quest for sustainable development can be seen as a form of reification, bringing environmental politics under the control of the established order and its administrative apparatus and making environmental problems amenable to the objective and instrumental procedures of technological rationality. What had seemed for many of us in the late 1970s to be a broad, social movement out to save the planet from further environmental destruction and ecological deterioration has given way to a much more amorphous, and socially acceptable political agenda and range of practical activity. The "environmental movement" has been effectively stripped of its underlying human meanings and motivations and instead transformed into institutions and professions; and the ideas of political ecology and the practices of appropriate technology have become a fragmented array of institutional, intellectual and practical activity, what I have termed the "making of green knowledge" (Jamison 2001). This paper is an attempt to explore some of the cultural dynamics of these transformation processes in terms of the human agency that have been involved in this multifarious shift in political agenda and practical focus.
A review essay on books by: Andrew McLaughlin, Regarding Nature: Industrialism and Deep Ecology (Albany, NY: State U New York, 1993); Al Gore, Earth in the Balance: Ecology and the Human Spirit (Boston: Houghton-Mifflin, 1992); & David Oates, Ecological Belief in an Age of Science (Corvallis, OR: Oregon State U Press, 1989 [see listings in IRPS No. 76]). McLaughlin's book offers an ecological critique that blames personal insecurity & consumerism for environmental ills. Drawing on deep ecology, the book provides an analysis of ecological ethics & advocates a stronger role for the state in the creation of deep ecological policies. Gore's book argues that the task of restoring the natural balance of the earth's ecological system could reaffirm the US's longstanding interest in social justice, democratic government, & free market economics. Oates's book develops an ecological ethics that rests on the notion that the human & the natural coincide, & advocates the "environmentalizing" of rationality. All three books are assailed as superficial, arguing that they reflect new class empowerment & communal disempowerment. W. Howard
Los aportes de Franz Hinkelammert, tanto en el campo de la Filosofía Política como en el de la Economía, sirven de inspiración y fundamento ético, teórico y metodológico a buena parte de las corrientes críticas de la economía hegemónica. Sus últimas producciones, elaboradas junto a Henry Mora, desarrollan la idea de "una economía orientada hacia la vida". Este trabajo intenta dar repaso a algunos de sus conceptos fundamentales, sobre los cuales se pueden encontrar interesantes vínculos con la Economía Ecológica,así como también algunos contrapuntos a través de los cuales, en lugar de distanciarse, colaboran enriqueciendo los principios de esta corriente. ; The contributions of Franz Hinkelammert, both in the field of Political Philosophy and in that of Economics, serveas inspiration and give ethical, theoretical and methodological basis for many schools of thought critical of the hegemonic Economy. His latest productions, written with Henry Mora, develop the idea of "an economy oriented towards life". This paper attempts to review some of its fundamental concepts, on which interesting links can be found with the Ecological Economics as well as some discrepancies through which, instead of distancing themselves, they collaborate enriching the principles of this current.
This article discusses different interpretations of sustainable development in education and if different interpretations of the concept are implemented in Curriculum, with the Swedish Curriculum of Upper Secondary School as an example. According to Agenda 21 sustainable development should be implemented in a multidimensional way. In 2011, a new school reform of upper secondary school was implemented in Sweden which further strengthened the position of sustainable development in school by inserting the term into more syllabuses. However, the multiple instances of the concept do not necessarily mean that a multidimensional interpretation of the concept is implemented in accordance with the objectives of Agenda 21. By using Laclau and Mouffe's (2008) idea of discursive struggle as a theoretical framework it is possible to discern how descriptions of sustainable development essentially give rise to one discursive formation in the curriculum. The articulations of sustainable development in the curriculum rests on an idea of the ecosystem that seem to enforce the natural scientific rationality instead of letting different rationalities contribute to the meaning. The descriptions of sustainable development in the curriculum can be interpreted as a hegemonic expropriation of elements of other discourses, such as the social and economic, into the environmental (ecological) dimension. These results are consistent with other international studies, and emphasises the importance of taking a critical stance to the writings of Curriculum when putting them into practice. ; Preconditions of environmental moral learning within education for sustainable development: A multidisciplinary study of young Swedes' attitudes, commitments and actions
THIS ARTICLE IS BASED ON THE PREMISE THAT ANY NEW POLITICAL ECONOMY WORTH ITS NAME NEEDS TO ACHIEVE AN EFFECTIVE INTEGRATION OF EMPIRICAL, NORMATIVE AND CRITICAL ASPECTS. IN THESE TERMS, ENVIRONMENTAL POLITICAL ECONOMY CURRENTLY APPEARS IN POOR SHAPE. IT OFFERS A MORE CONSTRUCTIVE SIDE OF AN EMERGING ENVIRONMENTAL POLITICAL ECONOMY WHICH IS GROUNDED IN A MODEL OF HUMAN INTERSUBJECTIVITY AND COMMUNICATION, RATHER THAN IN ANY MODEL OF AN ALTERNATIVE ECOLOGICAL SUBJECT TO COUNTERBALANCE THE INSTRUMENTAL RATIONALITY OF ECONOMIC MAN.
AbstractThis article addresses the question as to why, in contrast to national governments, city administrations engage so enthusiastically with urban environmental problems. It argues that the politics of urban environmentalism need to be examined not from the point of view of ecological rationality and alternative politics, but as an integral part of spatial transformation and social regulation under neoliberal urbanization. Recent contributions to theoretical debate on this issue are examined, with especial attention paid to the themes of governance, citizenship, subjectivity and 'regulation of the self', and their relevance to the understanding of contemporary urban environmental policy and management practices. The article explores the way in which urban environmental management can be understood as contributing to the constitution of the self‐governing citizen in the individualized urban milieu of contemporary cities, a process in which the progressive and libertarian aspirations of much early environmental thought have been subtly converted into a new form of subjection to the strategic requirements and political conveniences of neoliberal city administrations.RésuméQuelles sont les raisons pour lesquelles, contrairement aux gouvernements nationaux, les autorités administratives des villes se lancent avec autant d'enthousiasme dans les questions d'environnement urbain ? Il faut examiner la politique d'environnementalisme urbain, non pas en termes de rationalitéécologique ou de politique alternative, mais comme une partie intégrante de la transformation spatiale et de la régulation sociale découlant d'une urbanisation néolibérale. En étudiant de récentes contributions au débat théorique à cet égard, l'article s'attache aux thèmes de gouvernance, citoyenneté, subjectivité et 'régulation de soi', ainsi qu'à leur pertinence aux fins de mieux comprendre la politique publique contemporaine en environnement urbain et ses pratiques de gestion. Ainsi, la gestion environnementale urbaine peut‐elle être envisagée comme un apport permettant la constitution du citoyen autonome dans le milieu urbain individualisé que sont les grandes villes contemporaines, un processus dans lequel les aspirations progressistes et libertaires d'une réflexion environnementale déjà ancienne ont été converties subtilement en une nouvelle forme de soumission aux besoins stratégiques et convenances politiques propres aux administrations municipales néolibérales.
Intro -- Series Editors' Introduction -- Acknowledgements -- Contents -- Contributors -- Chapter 1: Introduction: A Sociological and Philosophical Approach to Education -- Educational Aims -- Moral Education -- Educational Policy -- East-West Dichotomy -- References -- Chapter 2: Fostering Rationality in Asian Education -- Introduction -- Rationality as a Tripartite Concept -- Arguments for Teaching Children to Be Rational -- A Pragmatic Answer to the Question "Why Be Rational?" -- Rationality as an Integral Part of Humanity -- Dependence of Morality on Rationality -- Fostering Rationality Through Philosophical Inquiry -- Conclusion -- References -- Chapter 3: Redeeming Philosophy Through the Issue-Inquiry Approach: A Case in Hong Kong -- Introduction -- Background and the Problem -- Practice on Policy-Institutional Level -- Practice on Classroom-Instructional Level -- Practice on Student-Explorational Level -- An Interim Conclusion -- The "Baby" of Philosophy: Issue-Inquiry -- The Issue-Inquiry Approach -- Phronesis (Practical Knowledge) -- Issue-Inquiry Approach in the Light of Phronesis -- Conclusion -- References -- Chapter 4: Sustainable Development as a World-view: Implications for Education -- Introduction -- Sustainable Development: Development and Environment -- Development and Environment: How to Resolve Tensions -- Technical Fix -- Value Change -- Establishing Norms: Education for Sustainable Development -- Education for Sustainable Development in Russia -- Noösphere as a World-view -- Norms -- Current Developments -- Ecological Education -- Conclusion -- References -- Chapter 5: The Water Margin, Moral Degradation, and the Virtue of Zhixing -- Liu: The Doors to Hell -- Cultural Confrontation, Moral Degradation, and Literary Criticism -- The Nature of Zhixing -- Wu Song's Virtue -- The Paradox of Moral Education -- References.
In: Tromp , G H M 2001 , ' Politiek door de staten : doel- of waarderationeel handelen in het besloten overleg over de Wadden en het openbaar beraad over de ecologische hoofdstructuur ' , Doctor of Philosophy .
POLITICS BY PROVINCE: Goal-oriented rational action or value-oriented rational action in closed debate on the Wadden region and public consultation on the ecological infrastructure General This thesis is a study of political conduct, and of provincial politics in particular. It is based on three research projects. The first two research projects are empirical studies that examine, respectively, the functioning of the discussion platform for government bodies relating to the Wadden Islands area and the relationship between the regional press and provincial political organs. Each of these two projects is based on a defined problem, a theoretical framework, methodology and conclusions. Although both case studies deal with provincial politics, they are completely separate from each other. The third case study is theoretical. It seeks to clarify the rationalization theories of Max Weber and Karl Mannheim, and place the concepts of goaloriented rational action and value-oriented rational action in their theoretical context. This theoretical chapter produces a number of research questions that can be used as a 'rationality grid' to be applied to the two empirical case studies in order to determine what form of action, goal-rational or value-rational, characterizes provincial politics. Chapter One describes the background to the studies and gives a short introduction to the research themes. This chapter also presents a view of contemporary provincial politics and discusses the scientific position from which this thesis has been written, emphasizing the unique role of the sociological vision. How does the government manage the Wadden Sea? The first section examines the way in which the government manages the Wadden Sea. The study is based on an evaluation study of the functioning of the Coördinatiecollege Waddengebied (CCW) in the period 1987 to 1994. The CCW (a platform for administrative consultation between the government, the Wadden provinces and the Wadden municipalities) was set up in 1980 for the purpose of "ensuring coherent administration and an coordinated policy by the government, provinces and municipalities with regard to the Wadden region." The study is based on a bottleneck analysis; in other words, by identifying problems, concrete solutions can be proposed. The evaluation study employed a combination of two popular lines of research in organizational sociology literature – the 'whole-system approach' and the 'parties approach'. In the whole-system approach, shared values or a feeling of solidarity are what unites the organization. In the parties approach, the organization is seen as a coalition of parties with different interests and aims. The parties work together for their own benefit, or because negative sanctions force them to do so. Both approaches are integrated in the 'parties-withina-system' perspective, which focuses on the relationships between the parties and the organization as a whole. This integral approach was used to evaluate the functioning of the CCW because the CCW places great emphasis on shared values and responsibilities, which are the core elements of the whole-system approach. At the same time, however, the CCW is composed of different parties which all have their own tasks, powers and interests – the core elements of the parties approach. This perspective has been tailored to the evaluation of the CCW using the following criteria: shared values, support base, differing interests, power structure, sense of purpose, and success/failure factors. The study is based on qualitative interviews with participants in the CCW platforms, telephone interviews with councillors and members of the States General, dossier analyses and reconstructions from minutes from the CCW consultations on the following cases: enlarging the scope of the Nature Conservation Act; delegation of powers with regard to inspection and control; co-ordination of international activities, problems relating to 'traditional brown shipping'; the review of the Waddenzee II Key Planning Decision, and gas extraction in the Wadden Sea. This treatment of the original research report emphasizes a systematic description of conduct within the context of the administrative co-ordination of the Wadden region, which is usually of a closed nature. The main problem areas are the following: a lack of shared values due to the fact that the purpose of the Wadden consultation platform is given a different interpretation depending on the interests in question; by way of preparation for the Wadden consultations, a process of harmonization takes place within the various authorities, thereby creating an administrative support base. However, this process of preliminary consultation and feedback reveals the other side of the bureaucratic coin – this circuit is, administratively and politically speaking, strongly inward-looking; there are no substantial conflicts of interest between the layers of government. However, mutual suspicion exists with regard to the extent to which other parties are committed to the Wadden policy. Each party suspects that the other parties will ultimately allow economic interests to prevail; with regard to the delegation of authority, the balance of power between the government and the provinces is seen as unacceptable. The continuous lack of consensus, whether manifest or otherwise, is a barrier to discussion on a equal footing; there are various problems relating to the sense of purpose, including the role of the Chairman and the lack of a clear definition/delegation of tasks. This analysis shows that the problems are not related to the structure of the Wadden consultative platform but rather to its culture, and more specifically to the participants' perceptions of the role and responsibilities of the platform. In addition, there appears to be a distinct lack of leadership. The main conclusions are as follows: harmonization within the various Wadden authorities (government, provinces and municipalities) hampers harmonization between the Wadden authorities; the representatives from the three layers of government do not present the role and purpose of the consultative platform in a consistent and uniform way; the CCW is hampered in its work by an ongoing debate about how powers are delegated between the layers of government. Because the analysis of success and failure factors revealed that clearly defined relationships between the government authorities are essential for successful consultation, possible solutions aim to create that clarity. Recommendations have been laid down, for example, relating to the role of the Chairman, drawing up the agenda, and clearly defining the tasks of the various bodies. Although, as far back as 1995, the CCW largely acknowledged the problem areas and supported the proposals for improvement, none of the recommendations will actually be implemented before 2001. Politics and the press on the ecological infrastructure in Friesland and Drenthe Section 2 describes a study of the relationship between the regional press and northern provincial politics. The basis for the study is the political decision-making regarding the establishment of the ecological infrastructure in the provinces of Friesland and Drenthe in the period 1989 to 1996. The conclusion of a survey of the relationship between the printed press and parliamentary democracy is that the main function of the press is to provide information, criticism and comment. The role of information-provider is examined on the basis of the following: actual report of a meeting of the Provincial Councils; a news report giving information about matters relating to the ecological infrastructure in both provinces; a background article describing the context, history and/or different interpretations of matters relating to the ecological infrastructure. The role of critic is examined on the basis of the following: editorial comment; a column in which one of the editors gives his opinion under his own name; opinions of third parties, in which a third party, who is not an editor, is given the opportunity to express an opinion. Using four recent examples, it is then argued that the central question relating to the relationship between politics and the press is one of management – who controls political communication or, put another way, is the relationship determined by 'party logic' or by 'media logic'? The study will compare decision-making on the ecological infrastructure (as this was perceived in decision-making meetings of the provincial councils) with reporting by the regional press in both provinces. The decision-making process of the provincial councils was reconstructed for this purpose. The result is not only an analytical reconstruction of the decision-making surrounding the ecological infrastructure in Friesland and Drenthe, but also a chronicle of provincial political customs and morals. A quantitative and qualitative analysis subsequently shows how the regional press fulfils its role as information provider and critic. The quantitative analysis addresses the question of how often the press fulfils its role as information provider and critic with regard to decision-making on the ecological infrastructure. The qualitative analysis addresses the question of how the press fulfils those roles. It is argued that the quality of the information provided is determined by the degree of objectivity, but that the best measure of quality is a clear standpoint. These conclusions were used to formulate an 'ideal' against which the quality of informative and critical articles can be measured. A factual report is as objective as possible when: it deals not only with the decision itself, but also with the opinion-forming process; it gives the opinion not only of the representatives of official bodies, but also of opponents or those outside such bodies; the reporter does not give his own opinion. A news report or background article is as objective as possible when: it presents more than one perspective and/or quotes more than one authority on the subject. An editorial or column makes a constructive critical contribution when: the author adopts a clear standpoint; the context (history, background or current event) of that standpoint is given; the author describes how the standpoint was reached, and on which information or authorities it is based. Conclusions about the information function: in almost half of the cases, the regional newspapers do not report on provincial council meetings relating to the ecological infrastructure. The people who live in the province, but fall outside a given environmental or agricultural target group, will not become informed about the ecological infrastructure by reading their local newspaper. Neither will they become informed about the role of the provincial government in this; in the reports which do deal with meetings of the provincial councils, there is a lack of balance. Generally speaking, no effort is made in such reports to show the full palette of political colours represented in the provincial council; there is only relatively wide newspaper coverage on occasions when political emotions are running high. Examples are: Friesland in 1993, when an agreement was reached with the agricultural sector, and Drenthe in 1993, when an amended programme of intent for the soil-protection areas was introduced (the agricultural lobby also played an important role in this). This attention from the press can be explained by incident politics. Political groups hold widely different opinions; they make no effort to hide their differences and journalists are keen to pick up on this. Another possible explanation is that, in these cases, ecological policy is heavily influenced by the farming lobby, which itself is strongly supported by influential political groups; the news reports are usually brief and present an event from only one perspective, without a journalistic contribution from the author. This leads to the inevitable conclusion that press releases sent to the newspapers have been published without any further interpretation; the most common simple perspective is that which opposes the ecological infrastructure; there are very few background articles. Background articles that clarify the situation, and outline the problems confronting provincial politicians, are indispensable with regard to a far-reaching and complex plan such as the development of the ecological infrastructure of the two provinces; it is notable that most of the background articles are only written from one perspective, with very little informative context. On the basis of these findings, it appears that the way in which the regional press fulfils its role as information provider leaves room for improvement. Scant attention is paid to council decision-making and the quality of reporting also leaves something to be desired. Little can be said about how the press fulfils the role as critic because so few articles appear in this context. The question Who controls political communication? cannot therefore be answered because the press pays too little attention to provincial politics. Goal-oriented or value-oriented rationality: which form of rationality determines political action? Section 3 examines which form of rationality (i.e. goal-oriented or value-oriented rationality) occurs most in the closed discussions between government bodies in the Wadden study, or in public discussions on the ecological infrastructure from the study of the relationship between politics and the press. For this purpose the rationalization theories from the work of Weber and Mannheim were used. Both Weber and Mannheim recognise increasing instrumental and formal rationality (Weber) and functional rationality (Mannheim) in all areas of life, and a decrease in material rationality (Weber) and substantial rationality (Mannheim). Weber and Mannheim identify the rise and influence of a specific form of instrumental rationality, particularly within economic, legal and bureaucratic institutions. Within such institutions, actions are characterized by goal-oriented rationality. This means that the prevalent institutional pattern of norms and values that more or less prescribes how people should act within the institutions (role-related behaviour) places great emphasis on goal-rational behaviour. In order to establish whether this also applies in provincial politics and administration, a study was made of the conception of rationality in the work of Weber and Mannheim. The question of whether goal-oriented or value-oriented rationality is dominant is addressed by a secondary analysis of the material. The secondary analysis takes the form of a 'rationality grid' that is applied to the material from the two empirical studies. The grid has a coarsely meshed structure that can separate out goal-oriented and value-oriented rationality. Following the study of Weber and Mannheim's concepts of rationality, goal-oriemted rational action is defined in this study as action that is geared towards finding the most appropriate means to achieve a goal that is considered as given. When action is successful in terms of the defined goal, we speak of goal-oriented rational action and formal rationality. Success or effectiveness is therefore the measure for goal-rational behaviour. The essence of this concept is expressed in the following questions: is conduct geared towards resources and procedures within the given of administrative co-ordination or within the structured political (provincial) discussions? are the goals open to discussion? If action is a logical extension of or derives from a higher value or ideal, we speak of 'valueoriented rational action' and 'material rationality'. The extent to which an action is valueoriented is therefore the measure for value-rationality. In this study, value-oriented rational action is defined as action that is based on the assessment of the desirability of a given goal by means of a party-political value system. The essence of the concept, as used in the present context, is expressed in the following question: is the action geared towards assessing the desirability of a particular goal, based on a political value system? Conclusions: 1. With regard to discussion between government bodies on the subject of the Wadden region, the hypothesis was that, within the sphere of formalised and regulated administrative co-ordination in the Wadden region, actions are largely determined by goal-oriented rationality. The purpose of the discussion platform is, after all, to co-ordinate and realise goals defined elsewhere. The hypothesis is confirmed – the Wadden discussion platform is characterized by goal-oriented rational action. But this type of action is not related to the ultimate goal of the discussion platform but rather to another goal: the increasing of the influence and governance of the government layer in question. 2. With regard to the decision-making on the ecological infrastructure in Friesland and Drenthe, the hypothesis was that political decision-making debates are characterized by the discussion of values to be lived up to and aims to be realised. It is therefore to be expected that such debates are mainly characterized by value-oriented rationality. However, the findings do not confirm this hypothesis. The discussions of the provincial councils of Drenthe and Friesland are certainly not goal-rational in nature, yet neither can they be described as valuerational. Actions are indeed geared towards assessing the desirability of a particular goal, but that assessment is not based on a political value system. It is not party-political principles that determine political conduct; it would be more true to say that conduct is based on notions of consistency in terms of policy and support.
This paper aims at explaining the importance of the democracy stance as compared to the efficiency stance in order to deal with complexity in biodiversity conservation. While the efficiency stance refers to the realm of relatively simple systems, individual rationality, and instrumental values, the complexity stance transcends these boundaries into the realm of complex systems, social rationality and intrinsic values. We argue that the task of biodiversity conservation is impossible to achieve in economically efficient ways, because (a) it is impossible to come to a (fully informed) complete account of all values, not only because it is costly but also because (b) moral values are involved which (by their nature) exclude themselves from being accounted for, and (c) biodiversity conservation can be regarded as an end in itself instead of only a means towards an end. The point we raise is, that in order to cope with biodiversity conservation we need to apply valuation methods which are from the complexity stance, take better account of intrinsic values and feelings, as well as consider social rationality. Economic valuation methods are themselves 'value articulating institutions' and as biodiversity conservation confronts us with the complexity of social-ecological systems, the choice of the 'value articulating institutions' needs to consider their ability to capture instrumental and intrinsic values of biodiversity. We demonstrate a method, based on cybernetics, which is able to take into account the issues raised.
This chapter introduces the main tenets of postgrowth economics and the degrowth movement, in order to familiarize the reader with these notions. The first part of the chapter provides an overview of the cultural and ecological situation in Spain in the twenty-first century, focusing on cultural scholars' responses to the Spanish neoliberal crisis and showing how such critical interventions might be significantly enriched by paying attention to the ongoing ecocritical transnational debate. The next section studies a number of recent Iberian socioecological essays that have adopted a cross-disciplinary perspective to critique the unsustainable social and environmental degradation caused by global capitalism and its addiction to growth. The last part of the chapter makes the case for the value of advancing a degrowth-inspired ecocriticism within a Euro-Mediterranean context. Degrowth provides an alternative to mainstream Euro-American reform environmentalism. The latter is infused with a neoliberal rhetoric, rationality, and sensibility that promotes technical fixes to avoid engagement in the social and political changes needed to avert ecological collapse. While degrowthers advocate radical cultural change to achieve environmental justice, reform environmentalism only supports minor modifications to the existing order, such as sustainable development, green growth, and ecological modernization.
A falta de consenso sobre uma definição de poder e sobre como lidar com a incerteza nas Relações Internacionais são problemas antigos nessa disciplina. Este artigo apresenta algumas contribuições da psicologia cognitiva relacionadas ao uso de heurísticas decisórias para as discussões acerca do conceito de poder e relacionadas à incerteza no campo das Relações Internacionais. Para tanto, realiza-se uma revisão das visões divergentes acerca do conceito do poder e da incerteza entre os três paradigmas mais influentes nas Relações Internacionais, apresentando como cada um deles define esses dois conceitos e quais as implicações teóricas dessas visões. Apesar de várias definições operacionais, é possível que o conceito formal de poder apresentado por Dahl (1957) seja utilizado como referência para as quatro faces do poder apresentadas. No entanto, essa definição implica necessariamente algum grau de incerteza nas relações de poder, relacionadas à informação, seja pela sua disponibilidade, pela sua confiabilidade, pela ambiguidade ou pela sua subjetividade. Sendo assim, apresenta-se as heurísticas decisórias como forma de lidar com a tomada de decisão em situações de incerteza envolvendo relações de poder, a partir de uma racionalidade circunscrita e ecológica. Essa abordagem é uma, dentre várias possíveis, e não busca impor termos absolutos para a discussão, nem negar as várias contribuições teóricas feitas pelas demais abordagens discutidas, mas sim destacar alguns pontos negligenciados e apresentar novas possibilidades de análise no campo das Relações Internacionais.
Abstract: The lack of agreement about a definition of power and how to deal with uncertainty in the International Relations are long known problems of the discipline. This article presents some contributions from cognitive psychology related to the use of decision heuristics to the discussions about the concept of power and related to uncertainty in the field of International Relations. For this, it revises the different visions about the concept of power and uncertainty among the three most influential paradigms in International Relations, presenting how each one of them defines these two concepts and what are the theoretical implications for these visions. Despite the many operational definitions, it is possible that the formal concept provided by Dahl (1957) be taken as a reference for the four faces of power presented here. Nonetheless, this definition necessarily embeds some degree of uncertainty in power relations as a matter of information, be it because of its availability, its reliability, its ambiguity or its subjectivity. In this sense, decision heuristics are presented as a way to deal with decision-making under uncertainty related to power relationships, from a bounded and ecological rationality perspective. This approach is just one, among many, and does not seek to impose absolute terms to the discussion, nor denies the many theoretical contributions made by the other approaches discussed here, but points out new possibilities for analysis and shed light to neglected terms for debate in the field of International Relations.
Keywords: Power; Uncertainty; Decision-Making; Bounded Rationality; International Relations Theories.