Holmberg, an anarchist & syndicalist, has indicated his beliefs in his writings. He has clearly come under the influence of Duhring, whose mark appears in many of his works. Like Duhring, he places a positive philosophy of the world at the base of his system, & is therefore opposed to econ socialism. His anarchistic position is also derived from the Swedish theoretician, Quiding, for whom the history of society is characterized by a fight for right. Finally, the last elements of Holmberg's beliefs is borrowed from the French syndicalists who, at first glance, seem to stress action, while Holmberg's socialism is pure theory. Toward the end of his life, the Swedish anarchist characterized his views by labeling himself a humanist & defining precisely the meaning of this designation. While Holmberg has not had an extensive influence, he occupies a unique position in the history of Swedish pol'al thought. Tr by J. A. Broussard from IPSA.
The aim of this thesis paper is to integrate three important thematic aspects i.e., improve qualities in the urban ecological situation, provide ideas for handling stormwater flooding and ideas to improve socio-economic aspects for inhabitants. The integration of ideas is illustrated in a masterplan program-sketch in three phases. Dhaka is the capital of Bangladesh. Dhaka is a densely populated fast developing city. The chronological changes of the natural setting due to rapid growth of urbanization in Dhaka city creates an imbalance with nature and disrupts urban ecology. The green and blue structures are replaced with built areas and hard surfaces. The situation for urban ecology in the city of Dhaka affects storm water flooding and social wellbeing. The methods used for background knowledge to this proposal are literature reviews, document searches, interviews, GIS analysis and a study of role models from different countries and contexts where a variety of solutions, proposals and functions inspired me in my own sketching. The methods and the background for this thesis were used to formulate guidelines to support the overall program-sketch for the three phases in a masterplan. The first phase program-sketch includes redesigning the informal settlements in Karail into better living conditions for the dwellers according to Patrick Geddes theories by keeping the overall road- and block structure and provide new shelter, job opportunities and adding recreational values to the area. The second phase concentrated on re-establishing of water streams in a green park according to the philosophy of Fredrick Law Olmsted, and in the third phase the former airport Tejgaon to become a large green area for social meetings, recreation activities for the Dhaka city inhabitants and provide job opportunities for the informal dwellers. The discussion on strengths, limitations, challenges, and further development ends with a conclusion that it is of great importance to work integrated with the three thematic aspects urban ecology, storm water flooding and social wellbeing on an overall level and with understanding of the issues among both specialists, politicians, and inhabitants to be able to implement necessary change towards sustainability.
A reading of David Hume with the intent to highlight components of a reformistic approach to social change. The well-known formulation about "reason as the slave of passions" poses the first problem. In spite of this, it is maintained that reason plays a decisive role in Hume's theory of knowledge as in his practice as a political philosopher. Connected with this problem is Hume's skepticism, which is based on the discovery of the logical impossibility of inductive inference. However, this theoretical skepticism does not lead to defeatism regarding the possibility of improving knowledge & society; it just leads to modesty &, paradoxically, to an even more important role for reason. A parallel to Hume's criticism of induction is his demonstration of the impossibility of deducing values from facts. Again, it is necessary to notice the difference between his theoretical position & his recommendations for politics. The task of the historian is to give a causal explanation of social institutions &, on the basis of this, point out values inherent in the institutions. This gives the instrument for a rational discussion of maintaining or reforming the institutions. Obviously, Hume is a relativist, but not in the usual & careless meaning of individual or collective subjectivism. Values are produced by men in a historical process, but as they stand before the historian & the politician, they are as objective as facts. Finally, it is worth mentioning that Hume with his view of the importance of an informed & critical discussion of social problems comes close to critical-rationalism. 28 References. Adapted from the source document.
In Karl Popper's famous book, The Open Society and Its Enemies, appears the formulation social engineering. That is an unfortunate wording. There is nothing mechanical in Popper's political strategy. The keywords are rather piece-meal & trial & error. It is even possible to characterize Popper as -- up to a point -- anti-rationalistic. His warning that we should not think too much of our knowledge of the functioning of the social world & of our ability to make forecasts, reminds one of what a critic of the French Revolution like Edmund Burke had to say. We should start with the delivered institutions, diagnose what is working badly &, aware of possible error, try to improve it. That said, one is not surprised of meeting a strain of antipolitics in Popper's philosophy. Although Popper welcomes measures to clear away suffering & distress, it is uncertain how he would balance his negative utilitarianism against individual freedom. He is distrustful of political power. The idea that democracy gives the people the instrument of governing is an illusion. Democracy's point is to make it possible to dismiss a government (notice the parallel with his methodology, a government is a kind of hypothesis, the election an opportunity for falsification.) However, it is not Popper's political philosophy in a substantial meaning that makes him worth studying, but his theory of the critical discourse, a theory that is very relevant for a reformistic political strategy. The idea of the Popperian discourse is not to get the parties closer emotionally, not to reach a compromise, not even to convince, but for me to listen to & learn from the criticism of my hypotheses. People with divergent standpoints should not be kept out of the discourse, they should be welcomed. Popper admires Greek culture up to Socrates & he emphasizes its openness to influences from other cultures along the shores of the Mediterranean. That is in keeping with Popper's antinationalism. Nationalism fattens stupidity & is often the cause of devastating violence. In his later works Popper regularly uses an evolutionary model & his theory of language is no exception. He sets forth how the development of describing, language's third function besides expressing & warning, created the possibility of storytelling. Now, stories can be true & false, & that makes language's fourth function necessary, the function of argumentation, of proving or disproving of what has been said. Lying, however, is a wonderful invention. To lie, to say what is not, but could be true, is a nursery for fantasy & creativeness. 33 References. Adapted from the source document.
Today's mathematics education has an impact even outside the confines of the classroom, not least through the relevance of mathematics in culture, economics, politics and in relation to power. Sociopolitical perspectives in mathematics didactic research provide insights into how education in mathematics is social and political. Research based on these perspectives suggests both critical questioning and not-yet-imagined possibilities for content, teaching, policy and further research. This book introduces, for a larger Swedish audience, the research orientations and strategies that sociopolitical perspectives have to offer. In the book, this is illustrated in several ways. The chapters describe current research on the socio-political challenges of mathematics education in several different contexts, e.g. classrooms, after-school programs, curricula, mathematics teacher education and even mathematics education research. In this way, perspectives are broadened to groups of people, institutions and forces, which constitute a network of mathematics education practice. The chapters present different philosophical and empirical studies, based on theoretical tools from philosophy, social science and cultural studies, critical studies of education and socio-cultural-political studies of mathematics education. Methodological and analytical strategies such as text and discourse analysis and case studies of practice are used. In this way, opportunities to research mathematics education based on socio-political perspectives are illustrated. The chapters use various writing styles which invite the reader into the world of research. Thus, the reader will encounter different ways of thinking about the role of mathematics education in the creation of modern Swedish society.
There is a strong narrative on how the humanities were marginalized in postwar Sweden: in the land of engineers, technocrats and social scientists, there was no room for erudition, philosophy and history. This book challenges such a notion and shows how clearly the humanities were present in the public sphere of the time. By applying perspectives from the history of knowledge, the authors illustrate how humanists were key figures in the welfare society's culture and politics, media and book market, education and intellectual debate. At the heart of the book is the public sphere of the 1960s and 1970s. In a first part, the authors highlight how humanists played a decisive role in the young television's educational program as well as in the popular science paperback publishing of the time and on the essay pages in the newspapers. In a second part, attention is drawn to the humanities' place in the Christian cultural sphere, the labour movement's education work and the New Left's book cafés. We meet people like Per I. Gedin, Gunnel Vallquist and Jan-Öjvind Swahn, but also TV producers, study circle organizers, translators of radical non-fiction and many others. They all helped to set humanistic knowledge in motion during the postwar decades. Against an international background, the image of a humanistic knowledge system with deep roots and wide connections in Swedish society emerges. It is about these actors and arenas of knowledge that this book is about.
