Georg Simmel’s political thought: Socialism and Nietzschean aristocratism

Georg Simmel’s political position has rarely been discussed explicitly – perhaps because many scholars have assumed that Simmel was ‘apolitical’ before 1914. The present article shows that even before 1914 Simmel held a distinct political position, to wit a peculiar kind of liberal-Nietzschean aristocratic individualism. This individualism is the result of a passage through ‘the hard school’ of egalitarian socialism in order to reach true individuality. It is closely related to Simmel’s central theorem of the so-called ‘individual law’. After a socio-historical contextualisation of Simmel’s political thought, the article follows this motif in detail through his diagnosis of the times, his theory of socio-cultural development, his engagement in cultural politics, his ideal of personality formation and his engagement in the bourgeois women’s movement. Simmel’s thought culminates in a conception of ‘dialectic aristocratism’. In this respect, the normative core of Simmel’s political standpoint is very close to Max Weber’s position. The last section argues that Simmel’s war writings do not mark a break in his political thinking, but rather apply the same theorem of the ‘individual law’ to the German state. Through its various stages, the article shows that Simmel’s political orientation, linked to key theoretical concepts, is deeply rooted in the educated bourgeoisie’s worldview and habitus.

Dementia, Care and Elder Abuse in Late Twentieth-Century Detective Fiction: Reginald Hill's Exit Lines and Michael Dibdin's The Dying of the Light

Dementia-themed detective fiction has become something of a trend. This article extends the critical history of this development to a period often ignored by scholars, considering two noteworthy examples from the late twentieth century: Reginald Hill's (1984) Exit Lines and Michael Dibdin's (1993) The Dying of the Light. Through textual analysis and historical contextualisation, the article shows how these novels raise disturbing questions about dementia care, older people's rights and therefore their citizenship. Both texts make sophisticated use of the distinctive affordances of the detective fiction genre to comment on failings of care in their time, belying common assumptions that the productive engagement of detective fiction with dementia is a recent innovation.

Decolonising quantitative research methods pedagogy: Teaching contemporary politics to challenge hierarchies from data

Decolonisation of the curriculum in higher education is a radical, transformative process of change that interrogates the enduring Eurocentric and racist narratives surrounding the production of academic ‘knowledge’. Our key argument is that it is essential for students of politics to understand the authorities and hierarchies exerted through quantitative data. In this article, we show that (1) quantitative methods and data literacy can be an explicit tool in the endeavour to challenge structures of oppression, and (2) there is a need to apply decolonial principles to the teaching of quantitative methods, prioritising the historical contextualisation and anti-racist critique of the ways in which statistics amplify existing micro and macro power relations. To explain how this can be done, we begin with a commentary on the ‘state of decolonisation’ in higher education, its relevance to the subdisciplines of politics, and its application to quantitative teaching in the United Kingdom. We then suggest some guiding principles for a decolonial approach to quantitative methods teaching and present substantive examples from political sociology, international political economy, and international development. These suggestions and examples show how a decolonial lens advances critical and emancipatory thinking in undergraduate students of politics when it is used with quantitative methods.

The Verbal-Visual Architecture and Symbols of Sacred History in Russian Émigré Newspapers of Bulgaria

In this article, the author tests a novel analytical approach, confining himself to the necessary historical contextualisation of this approach and its objects. By applying it to the celebratory aesthetic activity of a non-clerical community in late modernity, it is possible to discern a sincere and sophisticated commitment to the sacred and a cultivation of mysticism that vivifies deeply traditional forms of the sacred. Referring to Hans Belting’s theory of cult image, Dimitŭr Georgiev’s methods of analysis of the “architecture of the newspaper”, Otto Demus’ theory of Byzantine mosaic decoration, and the theories of festivity of Roger Caillois, Mirchea Eliade, and Joseph Pieper, the author defines his core object as celebratory visual-verbal newspaper compositions and his approach as an architectural literary analysis of newspapers. In effect, a newspaper issue is viewed as a typographic projection of a festive chronotope and a potential visualverbal religious ensemble on the verge between a cult image and a work of art. The expressive forms within a newspaper, including literary works, are understood against the framework of such distinctions as those between appeal/expression and representation, aniconism and iconism, and tautegory and allegory. Referring to these distinctions and an analysis of the 1925 Easter composition in Rus’, the author introduces the concept of “grades/levels/degrees of illustrativity”, or “degree of mediation of the presence of the sacred”. The concept and its workability are exemplified by analysing elements of Easter compositions from 1924–1925 (Rus’ edited by Kallinikov), 1933–1935 (Golos Truda), and (again) 1934 (Rus’ edited by Butov): these examples were chosen after an examination of a wider range of sources from the period between 1922 and 1936. The author demonstrates that current historical events were perceived through a specific mental prism so that they were integrated into Christian sacred history. Visual and verbal elements of newspaper design were combined and artistic and non-artistic texts were concatenated in ways actively reminiscent of the liturgical function of the word and its connection to the architectural-liturgical ensemble, varying from a loose and conditional attachment to actual embeddedness. This article presents poetological preliminaries (while the author views the sociological approach as equally desirable) to an investigation of newspaper as the Gesamtkunstwerk form within the interwar Russian émigré community of Bulgaria.

A bronze mirror with Aphrodite and Eros from Nicomedia in Bithynia (northwestern Turkey)

The Archeological and Ethnographical Museum of Kocaeli has in its collection a small, disc–shaped bronze mirror decorated with a relief scene, whose protagonist is the goddess Aphrodite. The scene shows Aphrodite seated left of centre on a rock. She is accompanied by two figures, a female who stands on a pedestal in front of her and her young son, Eros, who is behind her. This formerly unpublished object was found in Nicomedia in Bithynia, and has been dated to the fourth century BC. This paper will give a detailed presentation of the mirror relief scene, focus on its art–historical contextualisation and argue a first century BC. date for this object.

One-Eyed Archive

During 2016, the Royal Danish Library digitized more than 200.000 pages from the library’s, collections all of which related to the former colonies in the Caribbean. This included books and other printed matter, but also sheet music, manuscripts, personal documents, photographs and drawings. Images were published in Digital Collections, the library’s platform for digitized materials, and were accompanied by limited metadata, thereby posing challenges in terms of accessibility and important historical contextualisation. This essay therefore reflects on the gaps and the silences that haunt indexing and descriptive practices in the migration online. Mette Kia Krabbe Meyer is Senior Research Fellow at the Royal Danish Library and has been project-managing the digitisation. Temi Odumosu is Senior Lecturer in Cultural Studies at Malmö University and has worked intensively with the collection as user and collaborator in the project What Lies Unspoken. As the Library embarks on initiatives to address the limited metadata associated with its digital collections, the authors come together to unfold key questions about approaches and process. They describe the characteristics of Digital Collections and the metadata currently provided, and ask what is left out and why; thereby engaging cultural biases that uneasily mirror the colonial project. The authors also explore how more inclusive user involvement, particularly in the United States Virgin Islands (USVI), could shift language and epistemology. The leading inquiry question is: In the one-eyed colonial archive, what is it possible for metadata to do?

Environmental degradation: The urgency of socio-historical contextualisation and the contribution of non-hegemonic perspectives

This article aims to discuss the issue of environmental degradation based on understanding the material foundation of modern socialisation, which in capitalism is centred on the production of surplus value. This topic is justified by the hegemonic way in which the environmental issue is currently addressed: the inevitability of environmental degradation considering a supposed historical march towards the progress of humanity, to the detriment of natural resources. The argument put forth is that effective environmental education depends on proper contextualisation of the capitalist process. Central to this discussion is an ideological understanding of the neutrality of science and the assumption of the inevitable ongoing environmental degradation considering a presumed population explosion and pursuit of human well-being. Thus, alternative historical-cultural forms are sought to address the tensions that emerge between humanity and nature, or culture and nature, divided into the origin of the hegemonic cultural form consolidated in late modernity. Levi-Strauss’ work is taken here as an accurate historical-empirical record, namely the Nambikwara people of the Brazilian Midwest in the context of the 1930s. The referential used in this article seeks to articulate science education and environmental education with the critical theory.

„Cadre de vie”. Jean-Luc Godard’s „Deux ou trois choses que je sais d’elle” (1967), French TV and Architectural Discourse

The article demonstrates how Jean-Luc Godard’s Deux ou trois choses que je sais d’elle (1967) contributed to the contemporary critical discourse on (social) housing estates (grands ensembles). With his work, the filmmaker aimed to show the grand ensemble, or ‘the big(ger) picture’ of what it meant to live in contemporary consumerist oriented France. The protagonist Juliette Johnson represents the French citizen and simultaneously the metaphor of the Paris Region that underwent a huge transformation. The main interest of the text lies in the use of the 360-degree pan shot and the notion of cadre (frame), as they connect film theory and the contemporary discourse about how the décor, i.e. the (built) environment, influences people’s cadre de vie (living conditions). A close reading of two film sequences and a historical contextualisation of architectural discourses and theories is completed by a comparison with documentary TV programmes. While they had fostered the critical discussion about housing estates already before, they used the panorama shot only after Deux ou trois choses…

Ethics of socially assistive robots in aged-care settings: a socio-historical contextualisation

Different embodiments of technology permeate all layers of public and private domains in society. In the public domain of aged care, attention is increasingly focused on the use of socially assistive robots (SARs) supporting caregivers and older adults to guarantee that older adults receive care. The introduction of SARs in aged-care contexts is joint by intensive empirical and philosophical research. Although these efforts merit praise, current empirical and philosophical research are still too far separated. Strengthening the connection between these two fields is crucial to have a full understanding of the ethical impact of these technological artefacts. To bridge this gap, we propose a philosophical-ethical framework for SAR use, one that is grounded in the dialogue between empirical-ethical knowledge about and philosophical-ethical reflection on SAR use. We highlight the importance of considering the intuitions of older adults and their caregivers in this framework. Grounding philosophical-ethical reflection in these intuitions opens the ethics of SAR use in aged care to its own socio-historical contextualisation. Referring to the work of Margaret Urban Walker, Joan Tronto and Andrew Feenberg, it is argued that this socio-historical contextualisation of the ethics of SAR use already has strong philosophical underpinnings. Moreover, this contextualisation enables us to formulate a rudimentary decision-making process about SAR use in aged care which rests on three pillars: (1) stakeholders’ intuitions about SAR use as sources of knowledge; (2) interpretative dialogues as democratic spaces to discuss the ethics of SAR use; (3) the concretisation of ethics in SAR use.

Stelae from ancient India: Pondering anew through historical empathy for diversity

Diversity management is generally considered to be rooted in activism, legislation and scholarship in Europe and North America. In this article, we draw on the notion of historical empathy to analyse and highlight an Eastern legacy, specifically Aśokan (273–232 BC) stelae, for management learning on diversity. Thus, we encourage pondering anew on history based on Aśokan teachings in ancient India, via dhamma (affective connection) and governance (perspective taking). We contribute to an emerging scholarship which uses history for management learning, and we do this through elaborating on the concept of historical empathy. Moreover, we reveal how an Eastern legacy may enable the (re)construction of the present in contemporary organisations which exist in the interstices of history, politics, gender and diversity. Through our analysis, we develop a matrix, which integrates historical empathy with dhamma, governance and historical contextualisation to provide implications for learning in the field of diversity.