Bright Grey: The Political Dialectic Of Bureaucratic Boredom

In addition to accusations of authoritarianism, arbitrariness, and inefficiency, one of the more persistent criticisms of bureaucracy is that it tends to be rather boring. Yet while this boringness has historically informed both scholarly and popular forms of anti-bureaucratic critique, in this article I argue that it also might reflect necessary, and even desirable, aspects of democratic political practice. Working with fictional texts that have sought to represent bureaucratic boringness, in particular The Apartment (1960) and The Pale King (2011), this article traces how the aesthetic quality of boringness has historically been understood as a means by which bureaucratic systems can facilitate oppressive and anti-democratic forms of politics. However, with reference to recent attempts to automate and streamline contemporary bureaucratic systems, I argue that it does not necessarily follow that the elimination of boringness makes such systems more accessible and responsive. Instead, I suggest that boringness is better understood dialectically as a difficult but potentially necessary part of living together in complex societies. In doing so, I aim not to redeem bureaucracy and boringness, but also to argue for the necessity of an anti-heroic, pragmatic mode of politics.

Muslim and Democracy: A Reflection from 2012 Aceh’s Gubernatorial Election

This paper explores about governor election in Aceh period 2012-2017 as a socio-political lesson. At that moment, political trends in Aceh are ongoing mass politics, not politics ideology based on the interests of the people. Mass politics is crewed politics on the basis of pragmatic and opportunist ideology. Intimidation and massive mobilization of the masses accompanied by money politics and imagery are characteristic of mass politics. In mass politics the potential for conflict is also quite high. Not often people who are victims. People admits that gubernatorial election of Aceh in 2012 was won by Zaini Abdullah and Muzakkir Manaf (Zikir) carried out by local political parties, namely the Party Aceh, the legislature is complete and the executive is entirely in the hands of the Party's control Aceh. All his potions and political teachings will be lowered to the service arena for Acehnese people during the 2012-2017 period. But the question then blocks in all of our minds, will the opposition be still dare to survive with the political dialectic recently? Of course we can see this at least in the first six months post the inauguration of Zikir as governor and deputy the governor of Aceh later.

Persuasion and Force in 4 Maccabees: Appropriating a Political Dialectic

The present study explores the themes of persuasion and force in Greco-Roman political thought and their appropriation in 4 Maccabees. I argue that among Greco-Roman political writers, stretching from Plato to Plutarch, the problem of balancing persuasion and force and their relationship to civic virtues cut to the heart of the varied constitutional theories and proposals. While persuasion was preferred in ideal situations, force was recognized to be an important corollary for the masses (§1). Turning to 4 Maccabees, a good example of the Jewish appropriation of the dominant political philosophy, I demonstrate that the political persuasion/force dynamic is foundational both to the philosophical prologue and the martyr narrative (§2).