Defenseless in the Face of the Status Quo: Psychology Without a Critical Humanities

2011 ◽  
Author(s):  
Philip Cushman
Keyword(s):  
Status Quo ◽  
The Status ◽  
The Face

How Predatory Informal Rules Outlast State Reform: Evidence from Postauthoritarian Guatemala

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-24
Author(s):  
Rachel A. Schwartz
Keyword(s):  
Armed Conflict ◽  
Status Quo ◽  
Process Tracing ◽  
Military Rule ◽  
State Reform ◽  
Political Landscape ◽  
The Status ◽  
The Face ◽  
Informal Rules ◽  
Customs Administration

ABSTRACT The coexistence of predatory informal rules alongside formal democratic institutions is a defining, if pernicious, feature of Latin America’s political landscape. How do such rules remain so resilient in the face of bureaucratic reforms? This article explicates the mechanisms underlying the persistence of such rules and challenges conventional explanations through process-tracing analysis in one arena: Guatemala’s customs administration. During Guatemala’s period of armed conflict and military rule, military intelligence officers introduced a powerful customs fraud scheme that endured for more than 20 years, despite state reforms. Its survival is best attributed to the ability of the distributional coalition underwriting the predatory rules to capture new political and economic spaces facilitated by political party and market reforms. This illustrates that distributional approaches to institutional change must attend to how those with a stake in the status quo may continue to uphold perverse institutional arrangements on the margins of state power.

Moral Seriousness

Philosophy ◽  
1970 ◽  
Vol 45 (172) ◽  
pp. 114-127 ◽  
Author(s):  
Keith Ward
Keyword(s):  
Status Quo ◽  
Moral Principles ◽  
The Status ◽  
The Face ◽  
The Cost ◽  
Rule Out

What is it to be ‘morally serious’? In one sense, it is quite obvious that a man who stands by his moral principles with difficulty and in face of many obstacles, even to the extent of giving his life rather than denying these principles, is a morally serious person. He might be contrasted with a man who gives up or modifies his moral principles whenever their implementation becomes difficult, or threatens to harm his interests; and this person might be called morally frivolous. That is what moral seriousness is; but still, one might ask, what is it to be a morally serious man? What does it involve to be such a man? Is it just a sort of pathological obstinacy; even, perhaps, a misplaced conservatism in face of the facts, which clings to the principles it knows, whatever the cost? One cannot rule out such a possibility. But the martyr and the hero do not consider themselves to be merely obstinate. In the face of risk and even certain suffering, they typically regard it as of supreme importance to be obstinate in sustaining their principles. Something more is felt to be at stake than mere defence of the status quo.

Palestinian leadership may be more radical post-Abbas

2015 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Critical Period ◽  
Domestic Politics ◽  
Status Quo ◽  
Equal Rights ◽  
Palestinian Authority ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Succession Plan ◽  
New Strategy ◽  
The Status ◽  
The Face

Significance By doing so, Abbas indirectly underlined his failure to change the status quo through negotiations. The speech comes during a critical period in domestic politics when Abbas is trying to ensure control of Palestinian institutions for his allies in the face of growing popular discontent with the ongoing occupation and his leadership. Impacts The PNC meeting could be a catalyst for a new strategy in response to the failure of Oslo. Alternative non-violent strategies include campaigning for boycotts of Israel and equal rights in a 'one state solution'. More Palestinians could turn to extremist jihadi groups if the leadership is not revitalised. The risk of a new intifada or dissolution of the Palestinian Authority will increase the longer the stalemate continues. A succession plan would prevent a power vacuum if Abbas were to die or be incapacitated suddenly.

scholarly journals Usos estratégicos de las negociaciones comerciales internacionales en un orden de hegemonías en disputa

2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 692-717 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julieta Zelicovich
Keyword(s):  
International Trade ◽  
Status Quo ◽  
International Negotiation ◽  
Trade Negotiations ◽  
Negotiation Strategies ◽  
Documentary Analysis ◽  
Strategic Value ◽  
The Status ◽  
The Face ◽  
Multiple Case

En el contexto de la disputa por la hegemonía, en este trabajo se analiza cómo ha impactado la transformación de la política comercial externa norteamericana a partir de la asunción de la administración Trump en los escenarios de las negociaciones comerciales internacionales. Se argumenta que las negociaciones comerciales internacionales tienen un valor estratégico como instrumento de política internacional frente al  cambio en el escenario global. Se identifican cuatro tendencias para las negociaciones comerciales internacionales y se propone una tipología para las mismas, en función de los ejes cooperación-confrontación y cambio de reglas de juego – preservación del status quo. Se trata de un estudio de casos múltiples, aunque no comparado, de base cualitativa, con énfasis en el análisis documental.       Abstract: In the context of the hegemonic dispute, this paper analyzes how the transformation of the American foreign trade policy since the assumption of Trump’s administration have impacted in the scenarios of international trade negotiations. It is argued that international trade negotiations have a strategic value as an instrument of international policy in the face of the change of the global scenario. Four trends for international trade negotiations are identified and a typology, based on the axes of cooperation-confrontation and change of rules of the game- preservation of the status quo, is proposed. It is a multiple case study, although not compared, with a qualitative basis, and with emphasis on documentary analysis. Keywords: international trade negotiations; international negotiation strategies; globalization crisis; Trump.     Recebido em: Agosto/2018. Aprovado em: Outubro/2018.

scholarly journals Radical women in social work: A historical prespective from North America

2018 ◽  
Vol 30 (3) ◽  
pp. 45-56
Author(s):  
Therese Jennissen ◽  
Colleen Lundy
Keyword(s):  
Social Justice ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Armed Conflict ◽  
Status Quo ◽  
Past Century ◽  
The Past ◽  
The Status ◽  
The Face ◽  
Politically Active ◽  
Very High

INTRODUCTION: Many challenges that confront social workers today are similar to problems they have faced over the past century – inequality, poverty, unemployment, militarisation and armed conflict, and the challenges of refugee resettlement, to name a few. It is instructive for contemporary social workers to revisit this history and to determine if there are lessons to inform our current struggles.METHOD: This paper explores the issues faced and strategies employed by radical, politically active social workers, most of them women. These social workers had visions of social justice and were not afraid to challenge the status quo, often at very high personal costs. The radical social workers were expressly interested in social change that centred on social justice, women’s rights, anti-racism, international peace, and they worked in close alliance and solidarity with other progressive groups.CONCLUSIONS: This article highlights the work of five radical female social workers. Radical social workers were in the minority but they were extraordinarily active and made important contributions in the face of formidable challenges.

The Russian Siloviki & Political Change

Daedalus ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 146 (2) ◽  
pp. 53-63 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brian D. Taylor
Keyword(s):  
Political Change ◽  
Status Quo ◽  
Revolutionary Change ◽  
Security Forces ◽  
The World ◽  
The Status ◽  
The Face ◽  
The Will ◽  
Russian Military ◽  
The Stability

The siloviki – Russian security and military personnel – are a key part of Team Putin. They are not, however, a coherent group, and there are important organizational and factional cleavages among the siloviki. Compared with some security and military forces around the world, Russian military and security forces generally lack the attributes that would make them a proactive and cohesive actor in bringing about fundamental political change in Russia. In the face of potential revolutionary change, most Russian military and security bodies do not have the cohesion or the will to defend the regime with significant violence. Russian siloviki are a conservativeforce supportive of the status quo. Future efforts by the siloviki to maintain the stability of the existing political order are most likely to be reactive, divided, and behind the scenes.

scholarly journals Introduction—The Evolution of Deterrence Strategy and Research

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-10
Author(s):  
Lawrence Freedman
Keyword(s):  
Status Quo ◽  
Cyber Attacks ◽  
Security Threat ◽  
The Status ◽  
The Face ◽  
Deliberate Strategy ◽  
Strategic Thought

AbstractThe concept of deterrence has dominated Western strategic thought for some seven decades. It shows no signs of easing its grip. In the face of any new security threat, such as terrorism or cyber-attacks, one of the first questions to be asked is ‘can this be deterred?’ Even when the answer is not very encouraging the inclination is to persevere until some way is found at least to reduce if not remove the threat through some form of deterrence. This may have less to do with deterrence’s reliability or effectiveness as a strategy and more because of its inherent normative appeal. When a state adopts a deterrence strategy it signals that it does not seek a fight but still considers some interests to be so vital that they are worth fighting for. It implies a defensive intent without weakness. It seeks to prevent aggression while being non-aggressive. It sustains rather than disrupts the status quo. For these reasons, it has positive associations that other potential strategies lack. Appeasement as a deliberate strategy has been discredited since the 1930s; conquering other states is now seen to be as demanding as it is illegal. There is no dishonour in deterrence.

scholarly journals “SEMIOTICS OF DISTINCTION”: THE ANALYSIS OF FASHION DISCOURSE IN THE “KOMMERSANT” NEWSPAPER (CASE STUDY, TEXTS PUBLISHED IN 2009)

Articult ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 80-92
Author(s):  
Ksenia K. Eltsova ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Financial Crisis ◽  
Group Identification ◽  
Status Quo ◽  
Cultural Elite ◽  
The World ◽  
The Status ◽  
The Face ◽  
The Moment ◽  
Threat Situation

The article analyzes the reviews of female and male fashion collections published in the “Style” supplement of the “Kommersant” newspaper during the year 2009. The “Kommersant”, the leading quality publication in Russia in the 2000s, positioned itself as a media for the financial, political and cultural elite of the country, and thus presented a case extremely interesting for discourse analysis. Namely, the world financial crisis of 2008 turned out to be a threat situation to the status quo of the elites of the moment. The situation required articulation of the belonging to the group (elite), more intense than before the crisis. I examined how the system of status markers – the discursive “semiotics of distinction” proposed to the target audience as a strategy for group identification – was constructed in the “Kommersant. Style”: the “consumption of restraint” as a metaphor for “resilience” in the face of the crisis becomes the leading recommendation of the discourse. Putting the results into the context of the 2010s, it can be realized that the idea of “restraint” in consumer behavior transcends the elitist discourse and is popularized in the field of mainstream publications.

scholarly journals Academic, Activist, or Advocate? Angry, Entangled, and Emerging: A Critical Reflection on Autism Knowledge Production

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Monique Botha
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Values ◽  
Knowledge Production ◽  
Knowledge Creation ◽  
Critical Reflection ◽  
Status Quo ◽  
Call To Action ◽  
Autism Research ◽  
Autistic People ◽  
The Status ◽  
The Face

There has been a focus on autistic-led and participatory research in autism research, but minimal discussion about whether the field is hospitable to autistic involvement. While the focus on participatory and/or autistic-led research is abundantly welcome, a wider conversation should also happen about how autistic people are treated in the process of knowledge creation. As such, I present a critical reflection on my experiences of academia as an autistic autism researcher. I open by questioning whether I am an academic, an activist, or an advocate before discussing my journey through academia, and my exposure to dehumanizing, objectifying, and violent accounts of autism. I highlight how the construction of objectivity has resulted in a failure to question the validity of these dehumanizing accounts of autism, which are regarded as “scientifically-sound” by virtue of their perceived “objectivity.” Furthermore, I discuss how the idea of objectivity is used to side-line autistic expertise in disingenuous ways, especially when this knowledge challenges the status-quo. Despite claiming to be value-free, these dehumanizing accounts of autism embody social and cultural values, with a complete lack of transparency or acknowledgment. I then discuss how these dehumanizing accounts and theories—entangled in values—reverberate into autistic people's lives and come to be ways of constituting us. Following this, I discuss the rationality of the anger autistic people feel when encountering these accounts, and instead of urging people to distance themselves from these emotions, I discuss the value of “leaning-in” as a radical act of dissent in the face of research-based violence. I then make a call to action urging all those who write or speak about autism to engage reflexively with how their values shape their understanding and construction of autistic people. Lastly, I conclude by answering my opening question: I have emerged as an advocate, activist, and academic. For me, belonging to the autistic community, acknowledging our marginalization, and recognizing our suffering within society means that hope for a better and just future has always, and will always underpin my work.

scholarly journals Spain's Second Digital Dividend and the Paradox of Broadcasters

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
LAURA CABALLERO TRENADO
Keyword(s):  
Status Quo ◽  
The Status ◽  
The Face ◽  
Digital Dividend

This doctrinal article analyzes the status quo of traditional broadcasters in the face of the second digital dividend in Spain.

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