Inclusive businesses as a development strategy to fight poverty

Inclusive businesses implement policies aimed at bringing a marginalized part of the global population into value chains. This paper analyzes these social inclusion strategies which have gained increasing importance in the development debate. In order to do so, we have examined the role of two multilateral organizations – the United Nations and the World Bank – in constructing the concept of inclusive businesses and analyzed 107 cases which are considered inclusive. From the analysis of how inclusive businesses incorporate low-income people and microenterprises into value chains, we identified three central approaches: inclusion through consumption, distribution chains, and supply chains. We rely on Boltanski and Chiapello's (1999) theoretical model to understand the assumptions and dynamics behind each of these three approaches and to grasp the moral justifications that legitimize them. In this sense, such strategies are understood here as a response by capitalism to its critics, a kind of response that allows neoliberal capitalism to absorb the less threatening demands of the progressive agenda and promote new forms of engagement in the system. We conclude that these development strategies do not address the structural asymmetries of the global productive and distributive system, since they replace an agenda for decreasing inequality and poverty eradication with one of mere poverty relief and overshadow the role of the state in the development process. The first step to move beyond this approach requires bringing collective and redistributive demands back into the center of development debate.

Voting for Diversity? Politische Einstellungen und formale politische Partizipation von schwulen und lesbischen Bürger_innen in Deutschland

Der Artikel beschäftigt sich mit politischen Einstellungen (Gabriel 2009) sowie formeller politischer Partizipation (Ekman/ Amna 2012) auf individueller Ebene (Wahlen) und auf kollektiver Ebene (Mitgliedschaft in politischen Parteien, NGOs und Gewerkschaften) von schwulen und lesbischen Bürger_innen in Deutschland. Die Mehrheit der schwulen und lesbischen Wähler_innen, die an der Umfrage teilgenommen haben, unterstützten dabei eine progressive Agenda und wählen progressive bzw. linke Parteien. Die wichtigsten Themen für ihre Wahlentscheidung waren dabei neben Diskriminierung und Homophobie, Migration und Umwelt. In Bezug auf formelle politische Partizipation auf kollektiver Ebene sind schwule Männer stärker in politischen Parteien engagiert als lesbische Frauen, die hingegen mehr in NGOs aktiv sind.

One Day at a Time: The Political Limits of the Domestic Sitcom

Most critics argue that the television comedy One Day at a Time (2017), produced in the United States, is a progressive show, mainly due to its cast, its attempt at faithfully representing an ethnic minority, and its courage in advancing relevant, sensitive topics. In order to qualify such assumptions, we will review the history of the sitcom formula, particularly the genre often defined as domestic comedies of the 1970s, and argue that its formal constraints impose unsurmountable limits on a progressive agenda. Finally, we proceed with an aesthetic analysis of the first season, which further demonstrates that the genre’s need of family stability—what we call a hierarchy of values—compromises the dramatization of political content. We hope that by examining the genre’s history and analyzing the show’s aesthetic, we can contribute to a better understanding of its inherent shortcomings and compromises.

A Critical Analysis of Europeanism as an Ideology. Its Preconditions and Tenets

This paper looks at European integration and specifi cally at its institutional form – the European Union from an ideological perspective. The author claims that ‘Europeanism’ has become a new ideology shared among intellectual, political, judicatory, societal, and even dominant economic elites that influence or shape the European Union as an institution and its major policies. As an ideology, ‘Europeanism’ is a somewhat exotic mixture of various, seemingly incoherent trends that give the current European Union its intriguing characteristics. On the one hand, economically, one can easily identify numerous elements of neoliberalism, especially regarding the financial aspects of European integration. Likewise, arguments used by the major proponents of European integration vis-à-vis USA, China, or Japan are of neoliberal character. At the same time, regarding international trade in agricultural products, intellectual property, or internal (single market) competition (freedom of labour) one rather quickly spots distinct elements of protectionism and over-regulation. Finally, in terms of philosophical outlook and especially moral issues, ‘Europeanism’ seems to be mostly focusing on the progressive agenda.

Politics and Diplomacy: Lessons from Donald Tusk’s Time as President of the European Council

The 2020 COVID pandemic has posed an unprecedented challenge to Europe’s economies, societies and political institutions. Finding solutions for the immediate and longer-term impact of the pandemic requires collaboration between the European Union’s (EU) member states and leadership from their governments at both national and European levels. The President of the European Council is central to this process, as he leads and facilitates the collaboration between the heads of states and governments. Looking back at the lessons from Donald Tusk’s time as President of the European Council from 2014 to 2019, this article argues that Tusk made an immensely important political contribution to the EU as he set the tone for a liberal and progressive agenda at a time of significant threat from populist and pro-Russian voices in Europe. However, with the recent political and institutional developments in the EU, and based on the insights from Mr Tusk’s successes and challenges, the article also argues that the role of the European Council President today requires strong brokering skills and leadership behind the scenes more than an openly political and public figure.

Challenges Facing the Economic Partnership Agreement between the EU and West Africa

Six years after negotiations, the Economic Partnership Agreement between the European Union and the West African region is still in abeyance pending signatures from Nigeria. Following the fallout from the Cotonou Agreement, the proposed EPA was designed to comply with WTO rules on preferential trade agreements while reinforcing the long-standing relationship between the two parties. This article analyses the crucial challenges facing the ratification of the Agreement and the potential landmines that may be encountered with the harmonisation of the proposed agreement in the region. It shows that although the EPA provides a progressive agenda for the economic development of West Africa, effective implementation and proactive regional integration are key to realising the full potential of the Agreement.

Transhumanism and Christianity

Although supporters of transhumanism present their agenda as a secular movement that specifically challenges the basic ontological and ethical premises of Christian metaphysics, there are also techno-progressive thinkers who claim that Christians should endorse a moderate version of biotechnological human enhancement. The main objective of this essay is to scrutinise this claim by outlining the relationship between transhumanism and Christian anthropology from the perspective of Joseph Ratzinger’s thought. The order of this analysis is constituted by three steps: first, I will critically analyse Benedikt Paul Göcke’s main arguments in favor of a Christian transhumanism; secondly, I will discuss the normative foundation of the techno-progressive agenda with regard to Ratzinger’s/Benedict XVI’s critique of the modern concept of freedom and its anthropological implication – the technological “new man”; finally, I will refer the notion of the posthuman to Ratzinger’s theo-evolutionary image of Jesus Christ as the “man of the future.”