Michel Houellebecq’s Comparative Political Science of Religion

2021 ◽  
pp. 123-140
Author(s):  
Anna М. Solarz

The 2015 immigration crisis revealed the weak cultural condition Europe finds itself in, given the adoption by a majority of states of a model for development that deliberately severs ties with common civilisational roots. However, while Poles do not really nurture prejudices against either Islam or immigrants, a decided majority of them voiced their unwillingness to accept new (mainly Muslim) arrivals, in the context of a solution to the above crisis the EU was intending to impose. A change of policy was thus forced upon the Union by Poland and other CEECs, given the latter’s strong guiding conviction that pursuit of a multicultural ideology leads to a weakening – rather than any improvement – in the condition of culture in Europe, and hence to a sapping of the continent’s power in the international relations sphere. As the crisis has made clear, the EU will probably have to start taking more account of preferences in this part of Europe. This means opportunities for the political science of religion to research the likelihood of a return to the Christian component of European identity, as well as the role this might play in improving the cultural condition of this part of the world.


Author(s):  
Xiangmin Wang

AbstractThe emergence in recent years of a large number of institutional concepts in the world of Chinese political science indicates that Chinese political science is experiencing an "internal shift" that is different from the complete Westernization of the past. Chinese political scientists are seeking theoretical explanations for China's political development based on China's internal context and are looking to provide intellectual arguments for China's modern state building. In this paper, it is proposed that the core of this internal shift of Chinese political science is the consciousness of "China" as an analytical concept, and that China is not only an object of description, but also an analytical perspective for explaining "what is China". Such a view is different from that held by the European and American left and pure traditional researchers or reactionists. On the one hand, this paradigm provides more universal political knowledge in the sense of comparative political science; on the other hand, it can advance Chinese political research by drawing a clearer and more accurate knowledge map of Chinese politics. The emergence of institutional concepts in Chinese political science implies that Chinese political science as a discipline is increasingly moving from the "form" of discipline establishment to the "content" of "what is China". This signifies a real new beginning.


10.12737/5075 ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 48-53 ◽  
Author(s):  
Екатерина Наквакина ◽  
Yekatyerina Nakvakina

The article deals with the problem of differences in the structure and functioning of court systems in the certain countries. Examples of these differences trace to the Ancient and Medieval history. Some model of explanation is proposed. Differences and interpretation of them are demonstrated concerning the contemporary court systems of the leading Western countries, including Great Britain, France, the USA, Germany, Scandinavian countries. The author concludes that reception of this or that foreign experience concerning Russian court system must be very carefully based upon full comparativist analysis touching not only comparative law, but comparative state studying and comparative political science.


2002 ◽  
pp. 68-74
Author(s):  
K. Banek

Every year, an increasing number of scholarly and popular works on issues relating to the relationship between the fields of religion and politics appear around the world, especially in the English-speaking world. This shows, on the one hand, the growing importance and relevance of these problems, and on the other, the great interest of researchers in such issues. These works focus primarily on the connections and processes that take place in the world of Islam, in particular at the junction of the Islamic Christianity. Based on this, we can say that in our eyes a new scientific discipline is being created, which, on the model of existing religious disciplines (philosophy of religion, psychology of religion, sociology of religion and geography of religion), can be called the political science of religion.


2018 ◽  
pp. 97-108
Author(s):  
Wiktor SZEWCZAK

The author of the paper undertakes to present and analyze one of the research instruments applied by comparative political science in quantitative surveys, namely scales of democracy (sometimes referred to as indices or factors of democracy). This instrument is quite common in Western, in particular Anglo-Saxon political science, whereas it remains relatively unknown in Polish political science. The aim of the paper is therefore to introduce the reader to this theoretical and methodological construct. In order to achieve this aim the author indicates the possible uses of scales of democracy and the areas of research that apply them. He also analyzes methodological problems related to the development and application of scales of democracy. Although they offer a useful tool in comparative analyses, the essence of this instrument may raise certain methodological and epistemological doubts. Therefore it is significant to maintain the utmost diligence when developing these scales, which must be based on the application of advanced statistical instruments and research algorithms. On the basis of the conclusions of G. L. Munck and J. Verkuilen, the author presents a model process for developing scales of democracy and demonstrates the challenges faced by the researcher trying to develop such scales. The last part of the paper discusses the place of the issue of democracy measurement in Polish political science. The author claims that Polish researchers’ interest in this issue does not correspond to its significance and the potential advantages that could be obtained.


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