Versions of Pragmatic Liberalism: from Rorty back to Dewey

Aim. The aim of this study is to analyze and evaluate two versions of the theory of liberalism which emerged within the philosophical tradition of pragmatism: Richard Rorty’s “ironic liberalism” and John Dewey’s “renascent liberalism”. Methods. The study is based on: 1) comparative analysis, which shows the differences and points of contact between Dewey’s classical pragmatism and Rorty’s neo-pragmatism, in particular, between different versions of their liberal theories; 2) critical analysis, which made it possible to identify the shortcomings and advantages in the arguments of the above-mentioned philosophers. Results. The author analyzed Rorty’s and Dewey’s theories of liberalism in relation to their theories of reality, human specificity, and ethics. In this way, the specific liberal views of these American philosophers on such issues as the relationship between private and public, the main goals of politics, and the values of the social order were explicated. It allowed offering a thorough critique of Rorty’s “ironic liberalism”, and supporting of Dewey’s “renascent liberalism”. Conclusion. While Dewey saw the mission of liberalism in enabling individuals to improve their experience, Rorty insisted on the need for a liberal policy of providing the basic conditions for individual self-creation. The main disadvantage of Rorty’s neo-pragmatism, and, in particular, “ironic liberalism”, was the exclusion from the philosophy of the modifying tools of human behavior, which were expressed by the concepts of “good” or “virtue”, in Dewey’s “renascent liberalism”. This circumstance necessitates a return from Rorty back to Dewey in the discussions on pragmatic liberalism. Key words: philosophy of pragmatism, Richard Rorty, John Dewey, historicism, naturalism, liberalism.

Liberal Displacement Policies Attract Forced Migrants in the Global South

Most forced migrants around the world are displaced within the Global South. We study whether and how de jure policies on forced displacement affect where forced migrants flee in the developing world. Recent evidence from the Global North suggests migrants gravitate toward liberal policy environments. However, existing analyses expect de jure policies to have little effect in the developing world, given strong presumptions that policy enforcement is poor and policy knowledge is low. Using original data on de jure displacement policies for 92 developing countries and interviews with 126 refugees and policy makers, we document a robust association between liberal de jure policies and forced migrant flows. Gravitation toward liberal environments is conditional on factors that facilitate the diffusion of policy knowledge, such as transnational ethnic kin. Policies for free movement, services, and livelihoods are especially attractive. Utility-maximizing models of migrant decision making must take de jure policy provisions into account.

Party Competition and Policy Liberalism

Party competition is foundational to the study of modern politics, affecting outcomes as varied as policy choices, political participation, and the quality of representation. Scholars have long argued that increased levels of party competition are associated with more liberal policy making. By this logic, parties in close competition with one another try to expand their bases of support by catering to the desires of those who tend to abstain from the political process—the “have-nots.” We extend this classic hypothesis by examining the relationship between competition and policy liberalism over several decades, articulating and testing a theory that suggests that party competition relates differently to social and economic policy liberalism. We find robust evidence that increased competition has a positive relationship with economic policy liberalism, weaker evidence for a negative relationship between competition and social policy liberalism, and suggestive evidence that the direction and magnitudes of these relationships have changed over time.

Commonality and Diversity in Administrative Justice: Fin de siècle

There is variety of opinion about the origins and development of administrative law. The studies collected in this volume seek to contribute to a better understanding its development in a period of crucial importance; that is, the last decade of the nineteenth century and the first decade of the twentieth century. This chapter is divided into three parts. The first explains the choices made concerning the timeframe, the methodology, and the selection of legal systems. The focus then shifts to four main features that characterized administrative laws in those years, including the variety of judicial mechanisms, the more liberal policy on standing, the gradual reinforcement of procedural constraints on the exercise of powers by public authorities, and the abandonment of immunity. The chapter concludes with discussion of commonality and diversity between administrative laws in Europe.

Yeni Kapitalizm ve Türkiye'de Tarım Sektörünün Dönüşümü

The 1980s are a new era that indicates that capitalism has entered a new phase in the world. This new situation, which is named with concepts such as neo-liberalism or globalization, has influenced the whole world through international organizations, and especially underdeveloped and developing countries that were not included in the capitalist system were tried to be included in this system with neo-liberal policy proposals. In Turkey, since 1980, it has been implemented neo-liberal policies and the agricultural sector with high importance socioeconomically has entered into a conversion. The aim of this study is to examine the process of transformation and change in this historical context, to examine the transformation of the agricultural sector in Turkey.

Gender Equality Prior to and Following Separation: Nordic and Liberal Policy Inconsistencies

We compare family policy in Australia and Finland, focusing on child support as interrogating how gender equality ideals and realities play out when families diverge from the dual-parent model. Despite Finland’s de-gendered leave and employment policy, a gender wage gap continues to position mothers as primary carers. In Australia, pre-separation policies are gendered in that leave benefits position mothers as primary carers. In both countries, child support policy took the opposite approach. Finland’s child support policy provides less incentive for the father to take care of children post-separation.

Chinese FDI Activity in Europe

Today, China has become one of the major exporters of capital in Europe. It is expected that China's liberal policy and growth model will soon make China a major provider of cross-border investment. This process is expected to have significant impact on host European countries of Chinese investment. Europe needs to change its policies and position itself strategically to not only reap the benefits of this massive influx of Chinese investment but also minimize potential risks that European countries face due to their historical linkages with China for trade and investment. The objective of this chapter is to review Chinese FDI in Europe to identify its impact on Europe's economy and suggest some measures for European economies to optimize the benefits of Chinese FDI for their national competitiveness and economic growth.

Neo-Liberalism, Policy Incoherence and Discourse Coalitions Influencing Non-Communicable Disease Strategy Comment on "How Neoliberalism Is Shaping the Supply of Unhealthy Commodities and What This Means for NCD Prevention"

Lencucha and Thow have highlighted the way in which neo-liberalism is enshrined within institutional mechanisms and conditions the policy environment to shape public policy on non-communicable diseases (NCDs). They critique the strong (but important) focus of public health policy research on corporate interests and influence over NCD policy, and point toward neo-liberal policy paradigms shaping the relationship between the state, market and society as an area for critique and further exploration. They also importantly underline the way in which the neo-liberal policy paradigm shapes the supply of unhealthy goods and argue that health advocates have not engaged enough with supply side issues in critiques of policy debates on NCDs. This is an important consideration especially in the Asia-Pacific where trade and agricultural policies have markedly shaped production and what is being produced within countries. In this commentary, I reflect upon how neoliberalism shapes intersectoral action across trade, development and health within and across institutions. I also consider scope for international civil society to engage in advocacy on NCDs, especially where elusive ‘discourse coalitions’ influenced by neoliberalism may exist, rather than coordinated ‘advocacy coalitions.’

The Contestation of the IMF

Few international organizations wield as much political authority over nation states, and provoke substantial political controversies, as does the International Monetary Fund (IMF). This chapter investigates the extent to which rising powers in the global economy, notably Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa (BRICS), contest the IMF’s policies and rules. Do they express a general discomfort with its economic policy paradigm, or do they seek to improve their position within the institution and extend their influence over it? In a quantitative analysis of statements during the meetings of the International Monetary and Financial Committee over time, the chapter finds that both rising and established powers contest the IMF to a comparable extent. Yet, the BRICS’ contestation behaviour differs qualitatively from that of the major advanced economies. While the latter demand institutional reforms, the former strongly criticize institutional procedures and rules. The BRICS most strongly contest the issue of their institutional representation in the IMF’s quota-based decision-making system and the Fund’s (neo)-liberal policy paradigm does not seem to play an important role in that behaviour.

“Patriotc Work” of Yu.F. Samarin

The article is devoted to the outstanding Russian thinker and social figure of the conservative-protective (“khranitel”) ideology – Yuri F. Samarin (1819–1876). One of the aspects of his work was connected with raising the “Baltic issue” – the issue of “inner” Russophobia of Baltic Germans, who supported “centrifugal” aspirations of the Western outlying areas of the Russian Empire, as well as the issues of the situation with Russians, Russian language and Orthodox religion in the Baltic areas, oppression and Germanization of the local population by the Baltic barons, weakness of central authorities pursuing the “liberal” policy in the area that contradicted the national interests of Russia. Samarin’s views and statements caused government repressions against him as well as fierce Baltic-oriented media attacks. But M.N. Katkov, I.S. Aksakov and M.P. Pogodin supported Samarin. Their joint efforts made the government change its attitude to the Baltic issue, draw a perspective plan and start carrying out reforms in the area that were directed to full consolidation of the Baltic areas with Russia. But later events showed the realization of Samarin’s predictions, – in the 20th century the central authorities stopped paying due attention to the outlying areas and it marked the start of the country disintegration.