Handbook of Confucianism in Modern Japan

In mainstream assessments of Confucianism's modern genealogy there is a Sinocentric bias which is in part the result of a general neglect of modern Japanese Confucianism by political and moral philosophers and intellectual historians during the post-war era. The essays in this volume can be read for the insight they provide into the intellectual and ideological proclivities of reformers, educators and philosophers explicitly reconstructing Confucian thought, or more tacitly influenced by it, during critical phases in Japan’s modernization, imperialist expansionism and post-1945 reconstitution as a liberal democratic polity. They can be read as introductions to the ideas of modern Japanese Confucian thinkers and reformers whose work is little known outside Japan—and sometimes barely remembered inside Japan. They can also be read as a needful corrective to the above-mentioned Sinocentric bias in the 20th century intellectual history of Confucianism. For those Confucian scholars currently exploring how Confucianism is, or can be made compatible with democracy, at least some of the studies in this volume serve as a warning. They enjoin readers to consider how Confucianism was also rendered compatible with the authoritarian ultranationalism and militarism that captured Japan’s political system in the 1930s, and brought war to the Asia-Pacific region.

Of Sovereignty and Saints

The chapter considers what kinds of goods and services a democratic polity should furnish via donation. Donations are a well-known solution to the problem of “public goods,” goods with characteristics that prevent efficient market provision. But are all such goods equally appropriate objects of philanthropy? Common arguments fail to appreciate that part of democracy’s value lies in reserving certain decisions for collective control. Democracy, the chapter argues, makes citizens sovereign over the legislation and administration of matters of basic justice. Citizens’ interests in democratic sovereignty supply a strong reason to maintain public control over public goods that are intimately linked to fundamental rights, duties, and opportunities. The argument helps to justify and explain discomfort that many share about privately sponsored social assistance and private funding of public schools. It also indicates that philanthropy for goods more distant from basic justice—such as the arts, research, sport, and religion—may be easier to justify in democratic terms.

Transitions and non-transitions from neoliberalism in Latin America and Southern Europe

We seek to disentangle the process through which some democratic polities ‘escape’ from neoliberal rule while others do not. We understand neoliberalism as the resulting equilibrium provoked by the restoration of class power that undermined the pro-labour policies of the post-war period. Why do some democracies enter a route of political experimentation that challenges the status quo while others remain ‘trapped’ in an orthodox neoliberal settlement? Our argument is that for a democratic polity to initiate a transition from neoliberal rule, there needs to be a crisis of neoliberal rule, a compelling alternative willing to contend for state power in national elections, and a reliable democratic settlement that allows the victory of the challenger – that is, the alternative – over the neoliberal rulers. This model will be discussed by examining the following three cases: Argentina, Greece, and Mexico.

Representative Democracy and Religious Thought in South Asia

What role did popular enthusiasm about democratic participation in the early twentieth century play in the ideas of two key religious revivalists in South Asia: Abul A‘la Maududi and Vinayak Damodar Savarkar? This chapter lays out the differently inflected visions of the two thinkers to argue that they were both working through new conceptions of religion and society, which crystallized around the mythical entity “the people.” How to recognize and organize the people who form the constituency as well as the legislators of a democratic polity was the challenge they tackled. They differed sharply in their analysis of nationalism as the glue that held “the people” together, and in their resistance to prevailing European theories of nationalism and representative government. Despite many differences, the two thinkers were united in an enthusiasm for democratic politics. Understanding the political manifestations of their ideas today requires a reckoning with their respective visions of democracy.

Revisiting norms of citizenship in times of democratic change

Over the last two decades, scholars have investigated norms of citizenship by focussing primarily on ‘dutiful’ and ‘engaged’ norms. In the meantime, contemporary democracies have witnessed growing demands for more sustainable styles of living and increasing public support for authoritarian and populist ideas. These developments point to both a change and an expansion of conventional understandings and conceptions of what a ‘good citizen’ in a democratic polity ought to do. Specifically, they raise questions about whether demands for more sustainability and increasing support for populist ideas establish new facets of democratic citizenship, and if so, how they can be meaningfully incorporated into existing images of citizenship. This study provides a re-conceptualization of citizenship norms and empirically tests a new measurement instrument using original data collected in Germany in 2019. The empirical application of an expanded set of items demonstrates the existence of more variegated facets of norms of citizenship, including norms to safeguard a sustainable future and distinct populist facets emphasizing the relevance of trust in authorities and experts as well as reliance on feelings and emotions. Contemporary conceptions of citizenship thus go beyond conventional distinctions between dutiful and engaged norms of citizenship.

Popper’s Paradox of Tolerance: An Examination of Segregated Muslim Neighbourhoods in Modern Britain

The twenty first century has witnessed a heightened interest in Muslim settlers in western democracies. In Britain, following the suicide bombings of 9/11 and particularly in the aftermath of the 7th July 2005 bombings in London, much of this focus has been on the threat of terror attacks emanating from radicalised Muslims. It is clearly the case that the same focus also applies to other west European countries which have witnessed similar attacks. The question arises as to the kind of milieu in which domestic jihadist perpetrators have been raised and live. In most cases—though not all—an upbringing in segregated Muslim neighbourhoods is a recurring theme. These can be deemed ‘closed communities’, yet they are situated in open societies underpinned by a secular, liberal democratic polity. This paper provides reasons and evidence for the epithet of closed communities with respect to Muslims in Britain and explores how these—in many significant respects—differ from mainstream, liberal, secular society. The tensions that inevitably arise are considered together with their implications. The inspiration for this paper stems from Karl Popper’s The Open Society and its Enemies.

Mutinies in Civil Wars

If mutinies during wartime are amongst the most dangerous to the establishment, mutinies during civil wars generate the most angst, for one-time comrades now become enemies and neither side celebrates success, even if there is a recognition that the day of reckoning has arrived. This chapter begins with the mutinies in the English Civil Wars that saw the Parliamentary side rent between its conservative side, led by Cromwell amongst others, and its radical side, who supported the Levellers. The mutinies also reveal the complexity of the rebels’ cause: some saw the mutiny as a way of securing a more democratic polity, while others were simply intent on securing their backpay before embarking for Ireland to eliminate Irish and Royalist dissent. Nearly 300 years later a similar situation in Russia saw the sailors of Krondstadt rebel against their erstwhile comrades in the Bolshevik Government in a failed attempt to pull the revolution back to its original roots.

Political Boundedness and the Role of Cartography

"I will question the legitimacy of borders via its underlying premise: the supposedly natural boundedness of communities. Two avenues are usually used to show the legitimacy and necessity of borders: either as a way to protect and preserve the conception of the good and the values of an already existing bounded community; or as a way to create a democratic polity, the limits of which are required to uphold the rights of citizens. Either way, what is presupposed is that communities are and/or should be bounded. I will argue that the arguments in favour of political boundedness do not hold up to scrutiny, least of all in the form of territorial borders. This will lead me to a discussion on the precedence of the graphic gesture of drawing the line, and hence on the violence of boundary-making. Keywords: Boundaries, space, nation, state, cartography, line "

“You Will Not Replace Us”: The Melancholic Nationalism of Whiteness

This article addresses recent strains of white nationalism rooted within anxieties over demographic replacement (e.g., “the Great Replacement”). More broadly, the article argues that the contemporary politics of white grievance cannot be reduced to an ahistorical desire for racial supremacy. Rather, these anxieties represent the political reflex to perceptions of loss on the part of historical white majorities—a loss that takes a distinctly melancholic form in both discourse and practice. To understand white nationalism as a melancholic politics is to recognize the pathologies that stem from its underlying psychodynamics. At the affectual level, for instance, the subject of white grievance is constituted as the subject of politicized rage through its organizing narratives. And ultimately, the politics of melancholic whiteness raises significant challenges for a democratic polity. Most fundamentally, the melancholic fixation upon loss forecloses the futurity required by a democratic politics. Upon diagnosing these destructive pathologies, the article goes on to propose alternatives to approach civic change in less destructive, more democratically generative fashion.

Quest for Identity: Re-Examining the Process of Federal Restructuring of the Nepali State

The agenda of restructuring the state has been the most deliberated issue for all intellectuals, political leaders and civil society activists in Nepal. The restructuring of Nepali state became a central component of the 2006 peace deal. Federalism was, however, included in the interim constitution as a binding principle for the Constituent Assembly on the verge of violent protests in the Tarai in 2007. The fundamental question during the Maoist insurgency remained whether federalism based on ethnic affiliation will be materialized. But after the Madhesh mutiny, the question that dominated the public discourse was whether “ethnic federalism” can be materialized as a mean to achieve more inclusive, institutionalized and sustainable democratic polity in Nepal. This article re-examines the process of federal restructuring of Nepali State on the backdrop of contemporary politics of identity.