War and Succession

2018 ◽  
pp. 235-259 ◽  
Author(s):  
William R. Pinch
Keyword(s):  
Political Theory ◽  
Truth Telling ◽  
Historical Fact

William Pinch explores Padmakar Bhatt’s Himmatbahādurvirudāvalī, an account of the ascetic warlord Anupgir Gosain’s victory over the Bundelkhandi prince Arjun Singh Parmar in 1792. Acknowledging that Padmakar occasionally subordinates historical fact to considerations of genre and politics, he asks whether realism is necessarily the best mode to represent the enormity that such a battle represents, its polysemous and elusive ‘truth.’ As Pinch posits, truth-telling is more than mere attention to factual detail. He explains how political theory and sociological transformation are implicit in Padmakar complex political and moral yet ever literary manoeuvres

scholarly journals Vindicae contra tyrannos: Apology of the state as a medium of social integration

Napredak ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 1 (3) ◽  
pp. 35-56
Author(s):  
Milan Brdar
Keyword(s):  
Political Theory ◽  
Common Good ◽  
Negative Attitude ◽  
The State ◽  
Negative Attitudes ◽  
Transitional Societies ◽  
Political Role ◽  
Historical Fact ◽  
The One

In this article author presents an apology of the state in relation to modern political theory and humanity scholars and persistent criticism of such an important institution. The first section of the article provides a reconstruction of the origins of the negative attitude toward the state in liberalism, Marxism and conservativism, which have resulted in ridiculous predictions regarding the disappearance of the nation state in the context of globalization. In the second part the author asserts that the state is the unavoidable medium of modern social synthesis and deals with the problem of the one-sidedness modern ideologies and their programs of social synthesis. The principles necessary to perform this task are divided amongst ideologies (freedom - liberalism, equality - Marxism, community - conservativism), and due to this historical fact, we have conflict between them instead of complementarity. This leads to the conclusion that we ought to get rid of devotion to one ideology in favor of reform of our way of thinking. The final section of the article provides a description of the phenomena present transitional societies and the leading political role of intellectuals. In the author's view this unhappy occurrence is due to inadequate education in the area of modern political theory, which due to its negative attitude toward the state reduces our political skill. The first step to avoiding this requires the abandonment of negative attitudes toward the state and the fostering of respect of the state as the protector of the "common good" and the guarantor of liberty, necessary for the improvement of people's lives, in keeping with Aristotle's statement.

scholarly journals The Politics of Makarrata: Understanding Indigenous–Settler Relations in Australia

2019 ◽  
Vol 48 (1) ◽  
pp. 30-56 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adrian Little
Keyword(s):  
Political Theory ◽  
Indigenous People ◽  
Indigenous Peoples ◽  
Torres Strait Islander ◽  
Truth Telling ◽  
Comparative Political Theory ◽  
Torres Strait ◽  
Significant Point

In May 2017, the Uluru Statement from the Heart was released, providing an Indigenous response to debates on recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in the Australian constitution. The document advocated for a “Makarrata Commission,” which would oversee truth telling and agreement making. This essay analyzes the concept of Makarrata as it has emerged in the context of Indigenous–settler relations in Australia and argues for a deeper engagement of non-Indigenous people with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander concepts and practices. By extending some of the methods of comparative political theory to incorporate endogenous as well as exogenous comparisons, the article demonstrates the ways in which Makarrata is likely to contribute to continuing contestation and disagreement between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples. While the Uluru Statement marked a significant point in the Australian recognition debate because it reflected a relatively consensual Indigenous message articulated on its own terms, the article suggests that “Makarrata” must not be appropriated into a benign settler discourse of reconciliation, if the concept’s potential to inform substantive change in Indigenous–settler relations is to be realized.

Political Theory and Miscellaneous

1949 ◽  
Vol 43 (02) ◽  
pp. 399-402
Author(s):  
Harold F. Gosnell
Keyword(s):  
Political Theory

Using African Truth and Reconciliation Commission documentation for truth telling and reconciliation

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-5
Author(s):  
Proscovia Svärd
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Truth And Reconciliation Commission ◽  
International Humanitarian Law ◽  
Humanitarian Law ◽  
Truth Telling ◽  
Reconciliation Commission ◽  
Truth And Reconciliation ◽  
Post Conflict ◽  
Truth And Reconciliation Commissions ◽  
Reconciliation Process

Truth and Reconciliation Commissions (TRCs) are established to document violations of human rights and international humanitarian law in post-conflict societies. The intent is to excavate the truth to avoid political speculations and create an understanding of the nature of the conflict. The documentation hence results in a common narrative which aims to facilitate reconciliation to avoid regression to conflict. TRCs therefore do a tremendous job and create compound documentation that includes written statements, interviews, live public testimonies of witnesses and they also publish final reports based on the accumulated materials. At the end of their mission, TRCs recommend the optimal use of their documentation since it is of paramount importance to the reconciliation process. Despite this ambition, the TRCs’ documentation is often politicized and out of reach for the victims and the post-conflict societies at large. The TRCs’ documentation is instead poorly diffused into the post conflict societies and their findings are not effectively disseminated and used.

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.

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