scholarly journals The Crisis of the Concept of Identity in Modern Left-Wing Discourse

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 19-28
Author(s):  
M. A. Radchenko
Keyword(s):  
Economic Theory ◽  
Personal Identity ◽  
Market Value ◽  
Judith Butler ◽  
Frankfurt School ◽  
Political Activity ◽  
The Political ◽  
Left Wing ◽  
Marxist Ideology ◽  
The Subject

The analysis concerns the conceptual crisis within the leftist discourse, which manifests itself in conceptual tensions within the Marxist ideology and philosophy on such cornerstone issues as identity, praxis and practice. The importance of identity for the left idea is connected with both neo-Marxist origins (Frankfurt School) and modern Western left liberalism which fuels the identity debate. The postmodern rejection of activity (Marxist praxis) conditions the identity-practice crisis. Manipulating the category of identity devaluates the concept of class, and, more importantly, the concept of oppression, leading therefore to confusion of the concepts of rights and privileges. The probable reason for that is the general crisis of the subject and, thus, its identity. Inside the left it can be described as saturated generic identity of the working class (Badiou). Instead of praxis, which allows a person to embody the integrity of being, personal identity is built on practices reconceptualized here in terms of identity theory as an economic theory. Practices mean episodic activities, void of continuity and integrity, aimed at increasing one’s market value. Therefore, the left accommodates to neoliberalism, reduces the political activity to activism. The discussion on class issues and the rise of precariat shows that trend. Judith Butler can serve as an example, as her approach defines precariat vulnerable and only able to confront neoliberalism with bodily activation of protest, which only emphasizes precariat’s weakness, incorporates it in neoliberalism, prevents it from realizing its historical subjectivity.

A reply to Sujit Choudhry’s ‘Resisting democratic backsliding’: Weimar legacy and self-enforcing constitutions in post-WWII left-wing constitutional theory

2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 391-423
Author(s):  
RONALD CAR
Keyword(s):  
Political Parties ◽  
Frankfurt School ◽  
Historical Research ◽  
The Political ◽  
Constitutional Theory ◽  
Left Wing ◽  
The West ◽  
East Berlin ◽  
Basic Law ◽  
The Subject

Abstract:As claimed by Sujit Choudhry, ‘historical examples have re-emerged as important elements not only of academic analysis, but also of constitutional practice’ worried by the threat of democratic backsliding. Left-wing constitutionalists inspired by the Frankfurt School have left us a theory of constitutional stability drawn on by the Weimar experience. Following Choudhry’s call for more historical research on the subject, I will first summarise the critiques of the Weimar constitution developed by these authors and their ensuing proposals for its reformation. Secondly, I will describe the efforts made after 1945 to translate these suggestions into keys for German democratic renaissance. Apart from their impact on the Basic Law, I will focus on the much lesser known attempt to design a ‘better Weimar’ in the Soviet Zone of Occupation from 1945 to 1947. I will show how Weimar left-wing constitutionalism influenced East Berlin constitutional debate and the reactions of the West German constitutionalists. My final goal is to enrich our understanding of the issue raised by Choudhry of placing the political parties at the very core of the constitution instead of running away from political power.

The Politics and Ideology of Planning

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tim Marshall
Keyword(s):  
Political Activity ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Forces ◽  
Legal Thinking ◽  
The Media ◽  
The Subject ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Relationship Of ◽  
The Relationship

The present time is one of considerable political and ideological turmoil. This affects urban planning, like all areas of public policy. This book sets out to analyse the political and ideological dimensions of planning, focusing on the UK and particularly on England. These have been underplayed or obscured in the past, partly because professional planners have wished to present themselves as apolitical and non-ideological actors. The book proposes that good planning practice will be helped by a more explicit engagement with how planning is affected by political activity and by ideological thinking. The book therefore takes a series of cuts into the subject, starting with a survey of recent planning literature and proceeding to a historical overview of the relationship of planning to ideological currents, including a brief study of one recent UK government. There is then a survey of the main ideological composites active in Britain. There follows a chapter on the relationships between technical work, law and planning, to establish to what degree the political forces allow autonomy for technical skill and the force of legal thinking. Three chapters deal with dimensions of politics and ideology as they operate within government, pressure politics and the media, as well as the place of public deliberation in planning. Two chapters examine different facets and fields of planning, to identify variation across sub-fields of planning work. The final chapter explores some paths to improving the relationship between politics and planning, in current circumstances.

scholarly journals DOS PASSOS’S U.S.A. THROUGH THE LENS OF LEFT-WING PUBLICATIONS IN THE USSR

2020 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Stefanos Despotis
Keyword(s):  
Popular Front ◽  
The Political ◽  
Left Wing ◽  
Aesthetics And Politics ◽  
Proletarian Literature ◽  
Archival Material ◽  
Contested Space ◽  
Heated Debate ◽  
The Subject ◽  
The Aesthetic

The subject of this paper was borne out of engagement with the genre of proletarian literature in 1930’s America, the artistic output of the Popular Front era, as well as the multifaceted scholarly debates that surround them. Slightly refining the scope of this investigation, I will be examining John Dos Passos’s U.S.A. trilogy, and situating it within the context of the nuanced interconnection of aesthetics and politics in that era. I wish to argue that U.S.A. became a highly contested space of literary and ideological conflict. Within this space, a wide-ranging and sometimes heated debate on form and content transpires which is inseparable from the political project of socialist construction in the USSR. This debate was held between proponents of the aesthetic movements of modernism and realism, and was intensely present in organs and publications affiliated with these left-wing institutions. Therefore, I divert my attention towards one of these Anglophone publications, namely International Literature, in order to map Dos Passos’s presence within them and gauge the extent to which my hypothesis is legitimate. I will develop an exposition of archival material from this journal which serve the purpose of illuminating the extent to which there was a preoccupation with the work of Dos Passos within the literary circles of the organised Left, as well as outlining the content of the attitudes expressed towards him. This exposition however will necessarily be accompanied by an engagement with the scholarship around this subject, especially taking into consideration the historicity of the scholarship itself; that is to say, the recognition of historical limitations within the scholarship, as well as the attempt to supersede these limitations by more recent critical works. <p> </p><p><strong> Article visualizations:</strong></p><p><img src="/-counters-/edu_01/0760/a.php" alt="Hit counter" /></p>

scholarly journals The history of the transformation of women of Naddnipryansk Ukraine from an object into a subject of the political process: from idea to practical implementation

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (28-29) ◽  
pp. 99-108
Author(s):  
Valeria Motuz ◽  
Keyword(s):  
20Th Century ◽  
Political Process ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Political Activity ◽  
The Political ◽  
Practical Implementation ◽  
Early 20Th Century ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Ukrainian Society

The article substantiates the theoretical and practical foundations of the development of the women’s movement in Naddnipryan Ukraine in the conditions of active politicization of society in the late 19th – early 20th century. When the object of the study is the increase by women from Naddnipryanskaya Ukraine of their social status in society, and the subject is their transformation from an object into a subject of political activity. This process is revealed from the standpoint of the influence of the politicization of Ukrainian society in the late 19th – early 20th century on the movement of socially active women in Nadnipryansk Ukraine towards achieving the modernization of the system of power and management from the point of view of gender equality and is presented as a transitional stage to this.

scholarly journals Insurrection of singularities. A conceptualization of (anti)political action in postanarchism

2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
pp. 21-34
Author(s):  
Dmitry B. Polyakov ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Political Action ◽  
The Political ◽  
Radical Politics ◽  
Political Protest ◽  
Left Wing ◽  
Political Language ◽  
Political Subject ◽  
The World ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Libertarian Theory

The article reveals the political and philosophical core of contemporary anarchist thought using the example of such its theoretical variation as postanarchism. Seamlessly engaging into the current left-wing radical discursive context, postanarchism at the same time reflects the micro-political, localist and largely spontaneous tendencies that characterize today’s forms of political protest and resistance in many countries of the world. Having arisen as a reaction to the crisis of legitimacy of political and economic institutions, these tendencies lead to a rethinking of standard political categories by modern philosophy: “class”, “revolution”, “democracy”, “sovereignty”, “political”, etc. The postanarchist perspective, revealing distinctly anarchic features in current forms of radical politics (decentralization, network character, distrust of official institutions), also offers its own reinterpretation of a series of concepts on purpose of radicalizing and updating libertarian theory. In particular, this article focuses on the logic of differentiating the concepts of revolution and insurrec­tion, which is carried out by the leading theorist of postanarchism S. Newman, who starts from the philosophical individualism of M. Stirner and also proceeds from the crisis of metanarratives proclaimed by the postmodern. Furthermore, within the framework of an at­tempt to define a new political subject, that is common to Western left thought, Newman develops the concept of singularity in a number of his texts, actively using the philosophical studies of some continental thinkers. Finally, in terms of postanarchism, the conceptualiza­tion of political action and the subject of this action through the concepts of rebellion and singularity not only contributes to the clarification and revitalization of anarchist discourse but is itself a subversive gesture that destabilizes the normative political language.

Linksruck der Fakten

2018 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 107-118
Author(s):  
Albrecht Koschorke
Keyword(s):  
The Political ◽  
Right Wing ◽  
Hostile Takeover ◽  
Left Wing ◽  
Academic Field ◽  
Political Principle ◽  
Truth Claims ◽  
The Subject ◽  
French Theory ◽  
Fact Checking

Auf dem Feld der Theorie ist es zu einer Umpolung der politischen Vorzeichen gekommen. Was fünfzig Jahre lang Gegenstand einer linksemanzipatorischen Kritik war, ist zur Zielscheibe nationalistisch-autoritärer Bewegungen geworden: der Liberalismus, der Kapitalismus, die Globalisierung, das politische Prinzip der Repräsentation, der hegemoniale Charakter von Wahrheitsansprüchen. Lieblingsvokabeln der French Theory wie ›Dekonstruktion‹ und ›Simulation‹ sind in die Machtpraxis von Rechtspopulisten übergegangen. Kulturwissenschaftler dagegen finden sich in der ungewohnten Lage wieder, fact checking zu betreiben und gegen die Relativierung universell gültiger wissenschaftlicher Erkenntnisse zu demonstrieren. Der Beitrag fragt danach, wie angesichts dieser ›feindlichen Übernahme‹ das emanzipatorische Potenzial und die Erkenntnisleistungen des Poststrukturalismus verteidigt werden können. There has been a reversion of political signs in the (academic) field of theory. What has been the subject of left-wing emancipatory critique during the 1950s has become the target of nationalist- authoritarian movements: liberalism, capitalism, globalization, the political principle of representation, the hegemonial character of truth claims. Favoured words of French Theory like ›deconstruction‹ and ›simulation‹ have assimilated with the exercise of power of right-wing populists. Cultural scientists on the other hand now find themselves in the completely foreign position of being tasked with fact checking and to rally against relativization of universally acknowledged scientific findings. This article asks how the emancipatory potential and the gaining of knowledge of poststructuralism can be defended against a ›hostile takeover‹

scholarly journals Public administration and state regulation of economic activity in Ukraine: problems of legal regulation

2020 ◽  
pp. 86-96
Author(s):  
Roman Boychuk
Keyword(s):  
Public Administration ◽  
Economic Activity ◽  
Legal Regulation ◽  
Civil Code ◽  
State Regulation ◽  
Political Activity ◽  
The Political ◽  
Public Authorities ◽  
Economic Relations ◽  
The Subject

Problem setting. The article deals with the problematic issues of legal regulation of economic activity in Ukraine. At the same time, attention is focused on the need to distinguish between such categories as “public administration” and “state regulation”. Analysis of recent researches and publications. In the doctrine of economic law the problems of determining the subject of economic and legal regulation, the legal status of participants in economic relations, the essence of organizational and economic relations have attracted attention, including at the level of individual monographs, such scientists as V. K. Mamutov, I. Yu. Krasko, I. A. Tanchuk, D. V. Zadykhailo, V. A. Ustimenko; V. B. Laptev, S. I. Bevz, O. M. Vinnyk, O. Yu. Illarionov, V. Nagrebelny, V.S Shcherbina, O. P. Vikhrov and others. However, even today the question of the sphere of relations that are the subject of economic and legal regulation, the relationship between the concepts of “economic management (economic activity)”, “organizational and economic relations” and “state regulation of economic activity”, and the understanding of individual researchers of organizational and economic relations that arise in the process of implementation of public administration and regulation of economic activity, as one of the types of economic relations, are insufficiently substantiated. Formulation of goals (purpose) of the article. The author of this article aims to determine: the scope of economic and legal regulation of public relations; relations that are covered by the concept of “organizational and economic relations” and are subject to regulation of commercial law; to differentiate “organizational and economic relations” arising from the management and regulation of economic activity. Article’s main body. It is noted that the subject of regulation of the Civil Code of Ukraine includes two groups of economic relations: (a) economic relations that arise in the process of organizing economic activity; (b) economic relations arising in the course of economic activity. Legal definition of organizational and economic relations (Part 6 of Article 3 of the Civil Code of Ukraine) is based on the categories of “organization” and “management” of economic activity. However, none of these concepts is defined by a codified act. It is established that public administration should be understood, first of all, as the activity of public authorities on the practical implementation of the political course. These activities should be based on appropriate procedures that should ensure its legitimacy and protect the legitimate rights of citizens from illegal actions by public authorities and their officials. In essence, public administration is derived, on the one hand, from political activity, on the other – from the political course and traditionally these activities. Conclusions. It is emphasized that the management of economic (commercial) activities includes forecasting, planning, financing, budgeting, taxation, lending, administration, accounting and control. The purpose of state regulation is to streamline the activities of business entities, provide economic processes with an organized nature, ensure compliance with laws, balance private and public interests, ensure public and state interests.

Sibling Logic; or, Antigone Again

PMLA ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 126 (1) ◽  
pp. 38-54 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stefani Engelstein
Keyword(s):  
Judith Butler ◽  
The Political ◽  
New Approach ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Structural Isolation ◽  
Title Character ◽  
Dialectical Opposition

A recent wave of commentary on Sophocles's Antigone by critics from Judith Butler to Bracha Ettinger to Simon Goldhill has begun to emerge from the shadow of two paradigmatic interpretations: Lacan's reading of the title character in splendid structural isolation and Hegel's dialectical opposition of familial and political spheres. Even the newer criticism, however, continues the critical elision of Antigone's siblings (particularly her sister, Ismene) and of her relationship to them. This oversight is emblematic of the problematic omission of the sibling from theoretical discourses in general. The neglected sibling is a model that allows us to move beyond both self-other dualisms and the mother-child dyad, which form the only grounds for intersubjectivity in contemporary debates. Sibling logic recognizes the subject as embedded in a transsubjective network of partial others, whose subjectivities are nonetheless partially, though differentially, shared. This article thereby provides a new approach to poststructuralist debates on subjectivity and the political.

Cicero on Private Property: Theory and Practice

1975 ◽  
Vol 22 (2) ◽  
pp. 120-128
Author(s):  
P. Walcot
Keyword(s):  
Party System ◽  
Private Property ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
Political Activity ◽  
The Political ◽  
Right Wing ◽  
Left Wing ◽  
Relevant Today ◽  
The Republic ◽  
De Officiis

It was towards the close of his life in 43 B.c. that Cicero wrote the three books of the de Officiis. The attractions of a philosophical treatise whose theme is moral duty are likely to appear slight to the modern reader, especially if that reader thinks its author to be merely the purveyor of second-hand ideas borrowed from Greek sources. Yet the de Officiis epitomizes, in an intensely Roman way, the political beliefs and ideals of the Senatorial order at Rome as the Republic finally succumbed to autocracy. The political philosophy of the ancients may be more immediately relevant today than their ethical speculation, for, while it is folly to interpret political activity as if the Roman Republic enjoyed a two-party system composed of left-wing populates and right-wing optimates, it is true that much of the turmoil generated during the last century of the Republic was related to proposals for agrarian reform and the redistribution of land; similarly, much of the debate currently being conducted between supporters of the rival ideologies is centred about the ownership of property and assets. Perhaps we may be encouraged to survey the de Officiis more sympathetically if we approach it as political scientists and as students of this subject mindful of the writings of another ancient, the historian Thucydides, and his opinion that, human nature being a constant, situations will repeat themselves in the same or a very similar form.

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