Deep Diversity: Charles Taylor and the Politics of Federalism

1999 ◽  
pp. 108-118
Author(s):  
Beth J. Singer
Keyword(s):  
Charles Taylor ◽  
Federal System

This chapter studies a concept introduced by Charles Taylor, who is an advocate of special status for Francophones and the province of Quebec. What Taylor calls for is a more decentralized and more complicated federal system than that which presently obtains in Canada. He specifies that the “asymmetrical federalism” he is talking about “means special status for Quebec.” But in fact, the kind of “deep diversity” he recommends would confer special status on each constituent, including several new political entities that would be created. That is, each might have different powers, different spheres of autonomy. He would like to see Quebec retain all its current provincial powers, but other provinces might “opt for the centralization of several powers” and while some “coordination will occur through interprovincial agreements,” in certain cases “it would be better to imagine a shared or concurrent jurisdiction.”

From Crusades to Colonization: Violence in Secular and Religious Political Theory

2019 ◽  
Vol 1 ◽  
pp. 1-21
Author(s):  
Xavier Scott
Keyword(s):  
Political Philosophy ◽  
Modern Philosophy ◽  
Early Modern ◽  
International Law ◽  
Political Theory ◽  
John Rawls ◽  
State Power ◽  
Charles Taylor ◽  
Medieval Period ◽  
Beliefs And Values

This paper examines the transition in political philosophy between the medieval and early-modern periods by focusing on the emergence of sovereignty doctrine. Scholars such as Charles Taylor and John Rawls have focused on the ability of modern-states to overcome conflicts between different religious confessionals. In contrast, this paper seeks to examine some of the peace-promoting features of Latin-Christendom and some of the conflict-promoting features of modern-secular states. The Christian universalism of the medieval period is contrasted with the colonial ventures promoted by the Peace of Westphalia. This paper’s goal is not to argue that secularism is in fact more violent than religion. Rather, it seeks to demonstrate the major role that religion played in early modern philosophy and the development of sovereignty doctrine. It argues against the view that the modern, secular state is capable of neutrality vis-à-vis religion, and also combats the view that the secular nature of modern international law means that it is neutral to the different beliefs and values of the world’s peoples. These observations emphasize the ways in which state power and legitimacy are at the heart of the secular turn in political philosophy. 

Human Double Embeddedness

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Natalia Marandiuc
Keyword(s):  
Charles Taylor ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Human Recognition ◽  
Authentic Self ◽  
Human Subjectivity

The chapter proposes that human beings are conditioned by a double embeddedness: humans are immersed in inescapable frameworks of meaning and shaped by relationships of significance. In dialogue with Charles Taylor, the chapter discusses how these two elements are constitutive features of human subjectivity and how they relate to each other. In order to operate, subjectivity needs a horizon of meaning, which accrues in relationships of attachment that, in turn, thrive under the canopy of common meaning. After discussing the specificity of one such framework, the culture of authenticity, the chapter delves more deeply into one of its paradoxical dimensions: recognition. It is shown how human recognition from loving others is an ineliminable trait for an authentic self, the implication of which is that relationships of significance constitute relational homes that “house” the human self as it grows and flourishes and as it heals when broken.

Timber

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christine Cheng
Keyword(s):  
Civil War ◽  
Dispute Resolution ◽  
Charles Taylor ◽  
The Other ◽  
Other Hand ◽  
Forestry Sector ◽  
The Government ◽  
The One ◽  
Timber Market

During the civil war, Liberia’s forestry sector rose to prominence as Charles Taylor traded timber for arms. When the war ended, the UN’s timber sanctions remained in effect, reinforced by the Forestry Development Authority’s (FDA) domestic ban on logging. As Liberians waited for UN timber sanctions to be lifted, a burgeoning domestic timber market developed. This demand was met by artisanal loggers, more commonly referred to as pit sawyers. Out of this illicit economy emerged the Nezoun Group to provide local dispute resolution between the FDA’s tax collectors and ex-combatant pit sawyers. The Nezoun Group posed a dilemma for the government. On the one hand, the regulatory efforts of the Nezoun Group helped the FDA to tax an activity that it had banned. On the other hand, the state’s inability to contain the operations of the Nezoun Group—in open contravention of Liberian laws—highlighted the government’s capacity problems.

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