scholarly journals The Historicity of Materialism and the Critique of Politics

2021 ◽  
pp. 313-326
Author(s):  
Alex Demirović
Keyword(s):  
Human Freedom ◽  
Political Community ◽  
General Interest ◽  
Political Reason ◽  
Political Rationality ◽  
Historical Question ◽  
Definition Of

This chapter proposes one definition of critical materialism and a critique of politics based on several authors from Marx to Foucault. This critique occurs in several stages and unfolds as a criticism of universals such as human freedom, general interest, political rationality, or reconciled political community. The decisive materialist-historical question, then, is which of the different materialities is dominant at a certain point of time. I argue that Marx condemns politics as an illusion. He thought of ‘political reason’ as a form of ‘spiritualism’. Hence, critical materialism argues for a move away from the illusion of politics.

Historical inevitability and human agency in Marxism

1986 ◽  
Vol 407 (1832) ◽  
pp. 65-87 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Human Agency ◽  
Human Freedom ◽  
Political Activity ◽  
General Interest ◽  
Socialist Society ◽  
To Come ◽  
Human Rationality

Marx and Engels believed that the advent of a socialist society was inevitable. How was that belief compatible with their advocacy of political activity to bring about socialism? I reply that Marx and Engels thought socialism was inevitable, not whatever people might do, but because of what people, being rational, were bound, predictably, to do. It is therefore no more irrational for Marxists to struggle for the goal they regard as inevitable than it is for an army of overwhelming strength to fight and thereby achieve its inevitable victory. That answer to the stated question raises problems about the relations among human rationality, human freedom, probability and predictability, which I proceed to explore. Because non-Marxist politicians often devote a lot of energy to the attempt to realize goals that they say are bound to come, the problems have a general interest that transcends the parochial Marxist context in which they most famously arise.

scholarly journals Reconstruction and Analysis of the Energy Demand of a Healthcare Facility in Italy

2020 ◽  
Vol 197 ◽  
pp. 02009
Author(s):  
Alessandro Bianchini ◽  
Carlo Carcasci ◽  
Giampaolo Manfrida ◽  
Marco Zini
Keyword(s):  
Energy Demand ◽  
Electric Energy ◽  
Weather Conditions ◽  
Healthcare Facility ◽  
Basic Knowledge ◽  
General Interest ◽  
Building Energy Efficiency ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Strongly Connected ◽  
Definition Of

The energy demand in healthcare and hospital premises has distinctive features. Due to specific constraints in terms of service continuity and indoor air quality, the demand is at a large extent constant during the day and throughout the year. Indeed, a healthcare facility must fulfil several different activities. Medical equipment needs electric energy, while the Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning systems require thermal energy. It is extremely difficult to define reference characteristics for the energy demand, since the proportions of the different consumptions are strongly connected with the specific activities/services carried out within each structure. The present work aims at analysing the energy demand of a healthcare facility located near Firenze (Italy). The energy demand has been analysed by means of the available documentation to get a basic knowledge of the expected consumption of each component of the facility. These data have been then correlated with information on the actual healthcare activity parameters (e.g. staff in service, medical services) and on weather conditions. As a result, the study led to the definition of the principal energy drivers that characterize the Healthcare Facility. The analysis procedure is thought of general interest for the community working in the field, representing a benchmark for the calibration of energy digital twins and a reference data set useful to carry out building energy efficiency optimization strategies.

scholarly journals Interés general = General Interest

2019 ◽  
pp. 173
Author(s):  
Pablo Acosta Gallo
Keyword(s):  
Public Service ◽  
Legal System ◽  
Social Interest ◽  
The State ◽  
Public Utility ◽  
General Interest ◽  
Administrative Action ◽  
Legal Texts ◽  
Definition Of

Resumen: El concepto de interés general está sólidamente implantado en nuestra Constitución y en nuestro textos legales. La cláusula “intereses generales” legitima la acción de gobierno y la existencia misma del Estado, así como sus poderes de limitación de las esferas de libertad de los ciudadanos. Sin embargo, nuestro ordenamiento jurídico no ofrece una definición de lo que son los intereses generales. En este estudio se intentan encontrar las características que permiten orientar la acción administrativa hacia la satisfacción de los intereses generales, así como identificar los elementos que construyen el concepto.Palabras clave: Interés general, intereses generales, utilidad pública, interés social, servicio público.Abstract: The concept of general interest is firmly implanted in our Constitution and in our legal texts. The clause "general interests" legitimizes the action of government and the very existence of the State as well as its powers to limit the spheres of freedom of citizens. However, our legal system does not offer a definition of what general interests are. In this study we try to find the characteristics that allow us to orient the administrative action towards the satisfaction of the general interests as well as to identify the elements that construct the concept. Keywords: General interest, general interests, public utility, social interest, public service. 

scholarly journals Beyond identity: Membership norms and regional organization

2016 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 217-240 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel C. Thomas
Keyword(s):  
Social Construction ◽  
Political Community ◽  
Social Psychological ◽  
Geographic Proximity ◽  
Regional Organization ◽  
Regional Organizations ◽  
Common Definition ◽  
The Social ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Over Time

What is a region and how can we best understand a state’s eligibility for membership in a regional political community? Scholars have sought to answer these questions in terms of geographic proximity and social-psychological identity, but neither concept can accommodate the contestation and change that characterize the social construction of regions. Instead, this article argues that the limits of regions are defined within regional organizations by member states’ governments plus supranational actors deliberating over a common definition of the characteristics that members and potential members are expected to share. The concept of membership norms thus offers powerful insights into how regional communities define who is eligible for membership, how these definitions change over time and the incentives they create for those seeking to promote or block an applicant state. The evolution of the European Union’s membership norms since the 1950s illustrates this argument.

scholarly journals Arendt’s Political Theology—From Political Religion to Profanation

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
pp. 111-131
Author(s):  
Bulent Diken ◽  
Carsten Bagge Laustsen ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Political Theology ◽  
Human Freedom ◽  
Political Community ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Religion ◽  
Politics And Religion ◽  
The Republic ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Voluntary Servitude

The article elaborates on Arendt’s take on the religious and the political and on how they interact and merge in modernity, especially in totalitarianism. We start with framing the three different understandings of religion in Arendt: first, a classic understanding of religion, which is foreign to the logic of the political; second, a secularized political religion; and third, a weak messianism. Both the classic understanding of religion and the political religion deny human freedom in Arendt’s sense. Her transcendent alternative to them both is the notion of the democratic political community: the Republic. Then we turn to Arendt’s political theology, illuminating why interrogating Nazism is central to examine the relationship between politics and religion in modernity. This is followed by a discussion of Nazism as a type of political religion. We focus here on totalitarianism, both as an idea and actual institution. We conclude with an assessment of the role of profanation in Arendt’s work and its significance vis-à-vis the contemporary ‘return of religion’ as well as totalitarian tendencies which call for new forms of voluntary servitude.

scholarly journals Cultural Decentralization A French Decentralization Model

2004 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 57-70
Author(s):  
Moise Tchankoumi
Keyword(s):  
Balance Of Power ◽  
Power Sharing ◽  
The Political ◽  
General Interest ◽  
Real Balance ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Cultural Sector ◽  
Napoleon I ◽  
De Gaulle ◽  
Financial Aspect

The debate on centralization ofr decentralization is an old one in France. Settled by Napoleon I, relaunched by General De gaulle in 1960, renewed by Francois Mitterrand in 1982 and recently backed up by the <>, it can be seen that France is lavish in policies in this domain.. Although this past decade has witnessed a strong financial and institutional upsurge, stimulated both by the resoluteness of the central power and by growing dynamism of regional communities, fundamental questions still remain unanswered; Can the definition of general interest and standards be entrusted to local authorities? How can one build a real balance of power between central and peripheral organization; generally according to France history how can one build a Girondist State in a Jacobin manner? The objectives of this paper are to analyze through the financial aspect of the cultural sector the complex relations that bind the centre and the periphery in France, to highlight the reality of the French decentralization policies mainly subjected by the "1982 Decentralization laws."; By observing the means devoted to the cultural sector between 1980 and 1990 we will take a focus on the political game of power sharing between the central power and the regional communities.

scholarly journals PUBLIC INTERESTS AND LEDAL CONSTRUCTIONS DERIVED FROM THEM

2018 ◽  
Vol 22 (4) ◽  
pp. 425-462
Author(s):  
Alexander B Zelentsov ◽  
Marina V Nemytina
Keyword(s):  
Law Enforcement ◽  
Legal Regulation ◽  
General Interest ◽  
Constitutional Court ◽  
Russian Society ◽  
Legal Doctrine ◽  
Public Interests ◽  
Legal Science ◽  
Theory Of Law ◽  
Definition Of

The article observes public interests, firstly, as a social regulative system in the Russian law, and secondly, as a scientific conception of law in legal science. It also researches possibilities of building legal constructions based on public interests with an aim to improve the legal regulation. Basing on the general theory of law and administrative law, the authors analyze: 1) the essence and grounds of public interests; 2) transformation of the Russian historical-theoretical conceptions of public interests; 3) modern interpretations of the phenomenon of public interests in the Russian legal doctrine, legislation and judicial practice; 4) some differences in the Western and Russian conceptions of public interests; 5) separate legal mechanics based on public interests. I.e. the authors talk about objectivating public interests, defining its forms of appearance and possibilities of implementation in the Russian society, law and state. Nowadays categories «public interest», «state interest», «social interest», «general public interests» as well as similar ones are widely used in the Russian legal science, law-making and law enforcement. The problem of its defining as well as identifying public and state interests is still not solved. The article emphasizes the absence of legal definition of public interests in the Russian legislation what causes its use as an evaluation category in the law enforcement practice. This follows by uncertainty in the legal regulation. From other side the term remains flexible and movable, helps coordinate moral and legal content, allows take into account specificity of public interests in each and every case. The article observes position of the Constitutional Court of Russia which defines correlation between public interests and similar categories, e.g. general interest. According to the authors’ opinion, public interests form legal mechanics uniting legal principles, institutes and rules. Examples of such mechanics are corporate-public regulation and public-private partnership.

scholarly journals How Is Collective Identity Possible in Democracies? Political Integration and the Leitkultur Debate in Germany

2022 ◽  
Author(s):  
Simon Bein
Keyword(s):  
Collective Identity ◽  
Theoretical Perspective ◽  
Political Community ◽  
National Identities ◽  
Political Integration ◽  
Right Wing ◽  
Modern Democracy ◽  
Long Run ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Functional Inclusion

AbstractThe quest for a common collective identity has become a challenge for modern democracy: Liberal demands for greater inclusion and individual freedom, aspirations for a strong and solidaric political community, as well as nationalist or right-wing populist calls for exclusion and a preservation of hegemonic national identities are creating tensions that cannot be overlooked. This article therefore formulates the central question of how collective identity can be possible in a liberal democracy. Based on a case study on Germany, it will therefore be examined whether Leitkultur as a model of political integration can serve in generating a functional democratic collective identity. The necessary benchmarks guiding the analysis will be defined beforehand from a systems-theoretical perspective, balancing inclusion and exclusion within three crucial dimensions: normative basics, historic continuity, and affirmative bindings. The results show that a static definition of a German Leitkultur would in the long run neither achieve functional inclusion nor be able to generate the necessary cohesion of a political community, especially regarding the second and third identity dimensions.

Ethnic Conflict: A Political Analysis of 1437 Transylvania

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Heather Sarsons
Keyword(s):  
Ethnic Groups ◽  
Ethnic Minorities ◽  
Political Representation ◽  
Political Community ◽  
Large Impact ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Analysis ◽  
Laws And Policies ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Peasant Revolt

Transylvania was, in 1437, a political community in which the interests of only a select few were represented. The definition of who belonged to the political community had a large impact on whose interests were reflected in the laws and policies that were set at the time. The presence of three distinct ethnic groups, the Romanians, the Magyars, and the Saxons, complicated this definition and, in consequence, whose interests would be represented. Although both were ethnic minorities, the Magyars and the Saxons held the majority of the political power in 1437 (Domonkos, 1983). Cultural friction between the Magyars and the Romanians resulted in the Magyars using their positions to deny the Romanians participation in politics, thereby preventing the Romanian culture from having any influence in Transylvania (Otetea, 1985). This paper examines the effects that the deprivation of political representation for the Romanians had on the political structure, laws, feudal obligations, and conscription policy in 1437 Transylvania and how this deprivation influenced the Babolna Peasant Revolt of 1437. Specifically, the Magyars were able to prevent the Romanians from receiving political representation by imposing restraints on who could participate in politics. This resulted in the denial of Romanian rights and allowed the Magyars to increase feudal and military obligations. As these burdens became more onerous, the Romanians became increasingly oppressed and were eventually forced to oppose the Magyars, giving way to the Babolna Peasant Revolt of 1437.

Freedom, Discipline and Bondage

Philosophy ◽  
1949 ◽  
Vol 24 (89) ◽  
pp. 133-143
Author(s):  
Maurice Cranston
Keyword(s):  
Human Freedom ◽  
Sufficient Condition ◽  
In Captivity ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Special Case ◽  
Moral Philosophers

I believe we could learn more about freedom if we talked less about freedom. Because “freedom” is a word with singular prestige, various moral philosophers have embodied it in their teaching and claimed to set forth its true characteristics. Many words employed in philosophical controversy are ambiguous. “Freedom,” I think, is one of the most troublesome. I propose to attempt some disentanglement.To begin with, there is a sense in which the meaning of “freedom” seems to present no difficulties. This sense occurs in such a remark as: “That animal was in captivity and now it is free.” I shall call this “simple freedom” and what it means is the absence of constraint. Thus applied there would probably be general agreement about the word. The difficulties arise when we come to consider freedom as pertaining to human persons. Here the distinction between simple freedom and the more philosophical definitions of the word will emerge.On the simple definition a man is free if constraint is absent, and that is all there is to it. But this will not do for most philosophers.It is pointed out that man is a special case in that he experiences conflicting desires. He wills a thing and he does not will it; or he wills something and at the same time he wills something else which is incompatible with it. Man, we are reminded, is a rational creature, but besides his rational will he is subject to the solicitations of impulses and desires which are not rational. Therefore, it is argued, the mere absence of constraint is not a sufficient condition of human freedom and hence not a sufficient definition of the word “freedom” as applied to human persons.

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