Suchergebnisse

This article focuses on the Swedish literary canon debate preceding the Swedish government elections in September 2006. The debate was instigated by an article written by liberal politician Cecilia Wikstrom, in which she suggested reinstating an official Swedish literary canon. Wikstrom's article sparked an inflamed debate that took place in all major Swedish newspapers, stretching over a period of more than two months in the summer of 2006. Due to the article and the debate that followed, questions concerning culture and cultural politics were more prominently featured in the 2006 election campaign than in previous campaigns. In addition to analysing the different positions of the debate, this article also suggests that Wikstroms's article is an expression of an ongoing process in Swedish politics towards a more openly instrumental view on (national) culture and cultural expressions. Adapted from the source document.

The goal of this article is to examine what role literature played for Nicolae Ceausescu, Romania's political leader between 1965 and 1989. I focus on the period between 1968 and 1974, when the basis was laid for a cultural policy which was to be applied until the end of Ceausescu's reign in 1989. Such studies are easier to conduct today, when the archives of the Romanian Communist Party have been opened, and the protocols of Ceausescu's meetings with Romanian writers after his so called "Little Cultural Revolution" in 1971 have been published. What is especially salient is that Ceausescu saw literature, especially formalistically experimental literature, as a potential danger for his project of ideological repression of Romanian citizens. He also used literature and art in general in his struggle for independence from the Soviet Union and emancipation of Romanian identity. The results of Ceausescu's ideological turn in cultural policy were not at all positive for Romanian literature. Adapted from the source document.

Theoretically, gender research deals with two discourses, sameness/difference and power. I argue against male critics who flatly deny that there can be a power relation between the sexes or critizise it as a holistic concept without much connection with reality. Within gender research, I criticize the postmodernistist thought that all apparent realities are social constructs. In queer theory the identities of individuals as men and women are purely social constructs to be dissolved. In that way one can avoid the power question altogether: no political groups exist, only individuals. A political theory dealing with the relationship between the sexes has yet to be developed. Formal equality is a first step, the difficult question is how to deal with power, the preferential interpretation of the dominant group of what is important and valuable in society. The division in a public and a private sphere is inadequately dealing with family as an institution. Are women in countries where the state is minimal, where they marry very young and have thirteen children, "free"? Adapted from the source document.

This article identifies four main problems with existing research on symbolic politics. Symbolic politics is poorly defined, resulting in theoretical vagueness. Typologies of different kinds of symbolism are lacking. The connection between symbolic politics & mainstream political science is unelaborated. Finally, there are methodological problems establishing symbolic aspects of politics. Possible solutions to the four problems are suggested. Symbolic politics can be given a negative definition -- as noninstrumental motives behind a political decision. Four different kinds of symbolic politics are identified: classifications, principles, examples, & expressions. Using these four concepts, it is demonstrated how symbolic variables can enhance theories on public policymaking, exemplified by Baumgartner & Jones' punctuated equilibrium theory. The problem of establishing symbolic politics cannot be solved conclusively, but some provisional methods are suggested. 1 Figure, 81 References. Adapted from the source document.

Considers the possibility of using the Internet as an arena for political deliberation. The Internet provides user anonymity, a feature that can be used & refined to force the participants in a discussion to focus on content & ideas rather than the sender. The systematic use of democratic avatars -- a user-identity that protects the physical identity of the sender but at the same time reveals all messages that the user has sent -- would purify the deliberation & allow dissentient opinions to be expressed without fear, while at the same time forcing the participants to be open & consistent in their argumentation. Adapted from the source document.

First, the state of Swedish Political Sciences is commented, after a recent evaluation of the Office of Higher Education. Recommendations included deeper research activity together with more effective teaching. Difficulty of how to handle an increased student mass with decreased resources for research & education is discussed. Solutions could include online courses & conferences, increased collaboration & identity between institutions, & increased role for the Federation of Political Science & its publication. An increased quality of the work of graduate students is also important. References. Adapted from the source document.

The aim is to offer an overview in queer theory designed for political scientists. First of all queer theory is placed in a context of feminist studies, gay and lesbian studies, the discursive turn in social science, postmodern approaches to identity, postcolonial theory and Foucault's ideas of power. Then I highlight the political theorist Shane Phelan and her considerations in citizenship. Taking a critical stance against the Modern use of binaries, Phelan argues that acknowledgement of strangeness/strangers should be given priority in ethical aspects of citizenship. In the third section I refer to Butler's theories about gender performativity and the heterosexual matrix, Sedgwick's approach to the concept of homosexuality as well as Rubin's theory about sexual hierarchies. Finally queer theory is neither antifeminist nor profeminist. Yet this theory may support feminist goals. Adapted from the source document.