Political change in Europe: the role of political entrepreneurs

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-15
Author(s):  
Catherine De Vries
Keyword(s):  
Political Change ◽  
Political Entrepreneurs

Kropotkin

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ruth Kinna
Keyword(s):  
Political Theory ◽  
Human Nature ◽  
Political Change ◽  
Direct Action ◽  
The State ◽  
Social Analysis ◽  
Mutual Aid ◽  
Special Character ◽  
Revolutionary Politics

This book is designed to remove Peter Kropotkin from the framework of classical anarchism. By focusing attention on his theory of mutual aid, it argues that the classical framing distorts Kropotkin's political theory by associating it with a narrowly positivistic conception of science, a naively optimistic idea of human nature and a millenarian idea of revolution. Kropotkin's abiding concern with Russian revolutionary politics is the lens for this analysis. The argument is that his engagement with nihilism shaped his conception of science and that his expeditions in Siberia underpinned an approach to social analysis that was rooted in geography. Looking at Kropotkin's relationship with Elisée Reclus and Erico Malatesta and examining his critical appreciation of P-J. Proudhon, Michael Bakunin and Max Stirner, the study shows how he understood anarchist traditions and reveals the special character of his anarchist communism. His idea of the state as a colonising process and his contention that exploitation and oppression operate in global contexts is a key feature of this. Kropotkin's views about the role of theory in revolutionary practice show how he developed this critique of the state and capitalism to advance an idea of political change that combined the building of non-state alternatives through direct action and wilful disobedience. Against critics who argue that Kropotkin betrayed these principles in 1914, the book suggests that this controversial decision was consistent with his anarchism and that it reflected his judgment about the prospects of anarchistic revolution in Russia.

The (Mixed) Times of Revolution

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jaime Rodríguez Matos
Keyword(s):  
Political Change ◽  
The State ◽  
The Political ◽  
Jose Lezama Lima ◽  
Difficult Question ◽  
Revolutionary Politics ◽  
Political Foundations ◽  
The One ◽  
The Way

This chapter examines the role of Christianity in the work of José Lezama Lima as it relates to his engagement with Revolutionary politics. The chapter shows the multiple temporalities that the State wields, and contrasts this thinking on temporality with the Christian apocalyptic vision held by Lezama. The chapter is concerned with highlighting the manner in which Lezama unworks Christianity from within. Yet its aim is not to prove yet again that there is a Christian matrix at the heart of modern revolutionary politics. Rather, it shows the way in which the mixed temporalities of the Revolution, already a deconstruction of the idea of the One, still poses a challenge for contemporary radical thought: how to think through the idea that political change is possible precisely because no politics is absolutely grounded. That Lezama illuminates the difficult question of the lack of political foundations from within the Christian matrix indicates that the problem at hand cannot be reduced to an ever more elusive and radical purge of the theological from the political.

Antiestablishment Rhetoric

2020 ◽  
pp. 141-178
Author(s):  
Catherine E. De Vries ◽  
Sara B. Hobolt
Keyword(s):  
Political Parties ◽  
Political Change ◽  
The Political ◽  
General Argument ◽  
Party Strategy ◽  
Core Feature ◽  
Political Entrepreneurs

This chapter studies antiestablishment rhetoric. Antiestablishment rhetoric is not only used by many political entrepreneurs to paint themselves as outsiders, but is also a core feature of populism. Populist parties aim to distinguish themselves from the political mainstream not only by advocating anti-immigration or anti-EU stances, but also by attacking the mainstream political parties. Yet the chapter shows that antiestablishment rhetoric is a strategy used not only by populist parties, but by other political parties as well. It then situates the use of antiestablishment rhetoric in the book's more general argument about party strategy and its theory of political change. Antiestablishment rhetoric by political parties is predominantly aimed at attacking the competence of competitors, and is especially used by challenger parties.

11. Social Capital and Civil Society

2009 ◽  
Author(s):  
Natalia Letki
Keyword(s):  
Social Capital ◽  
Civil Society ◽  
Political Change ◽  
New Democracies ◽  
Modern Democracy ◽  
Civic Activism ◽  
Trust And Reciprocity ◽  
Context Specific ◽  
The Relationship

This chapter examines the role of civil society and social capital in democratization processes. It begins by reconstructing the definitions of civil society and social capital in the context of political change, followed by an analysis of the ways in which civil society and social capital are functional for the initiation and consolidation of democracies. It then considers the relationship between civil society and attitudes of trust and reciprocity, the function of networks and associations in democratization, paradoxes of civil society and social capital in new democracies, and main arguments cast against the idea that civic activism and attitudes are a necessary precondition for a modern democracy. The chapter argues that civil society and social capital and their relation to political and economic institutions are context specific.

Ethnicity, Ideology and Geopolitics in Crimea

1997 ◽  
Vol 30 (4) ◽  
pp. 427-444 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jane I. Dawson
Keyword(s):  
Violent Conflict ◽  
Crimean Peninsula ◽  
Political Entrepreneurs ◽  
The Crimean Peninsula

This paper considers the ethnic, ideological, and geopolitical crises that have engulfed the Crimean peninsula since 1991 and provides a preliminary explanation for the region's success in averting violent conflict to date. Focusing on the role of political entrepreneurs in mobilizing key social constituencies, it argues that the failure of competing elites to correctly identify and skillfully manipulate existing ethnic, ideological, and geopolitical cleavages in society significantly limited the effectiveness of their mobilizational appeals. The existence of cross-cutting cleavages and the failure of political entrepreneurs to bring these cleavages into alignment have played a central role in deterring violent conflict in the region.

scholarly journals Networks of Foundations as Norm Entrepreneurs: Between Politics and Policies in EU Decision-making

2009 ◽  
Vol 29 (2) ◽  
pp. 201-221 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dorota Dakowska
Keyword(s):  
Political Parties ◽  
Communication Policy ◽  
European Institutions ◽  
Network Building ◽  
Development Policies ◽  
European Development ◽  
Potential Impact ◽  
Political Foundations ◽  
Political Entrepreneurs

AbstractThe European Commission has taken significant steps towards the recognition of political party foundations at EU level. Firstly, it has agreed to recognize them as actors of European development policies. Secondly, it has proposed the creation of political foundations at EU level, linked to the European political parties. This article analyses the reasons, modalities and potential impact of this process, which signifies a breakthrough in comparison with the Commission's previous attitude towards party affiliated organisations. For the foundations, network-building turns out to have been a crucial means to attain legitimacy and access to the European institutions: firstly, through the mobilisation of political entrepreneurs in the European Parliament lobbying the Commission and Council representatives; and secondly, by linking the future role of non-state actors such as political foundations to the reconsideration of the EU's communication policy.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document