From political philosophy to social theory

Critical accounts of the origins of sociology stress both continuity and change as they are related to previous styles of political and social thought. This article further extends these accounts. It analyzes substantive as well as formal continuities and changes in the transition from political to social conceptions of order. Both intellectual and societal factors are responsible for this theoretical transition. Explicitly political and social conceptions of order reflected two stages in the development of European society. But purely internal, intellectual factors, involving the refinement of empirical analysis, called into question political theories of society. Finally, the article makes explicit and defends the distinction between bourgeois and Marxist varieties of theoretical reflection with reference to the transition from political philosophy to social theory.     

The justification of political conformism: The mythology of Soviet intellectuals

Only during a brief period in the aftermath of the revolution was a portion of the Soviet intelligentsia eager sincerely to cooperate with the Soviet system. Soon, with Stalin's repressions, the intelligentsia, and especially its elite — the intellectuals, or those involved in creative activities such as science, literature and the arts, became locked in permanent conflict with the government.Once mass terror disappeared after Stalin's death in 1953, intellectuals faced the possibility of confronting the regime without fear of instant arrest and eventual death in the Gulag.Moral choices became a serious problem, especially during the period of political reaction under Brezhnev in the 1970's, when the regime resorted to repressions (albeit in milder form than during Stalin's times) and corruption in order to prevent the oppositional activity of intellectuals. Brezhnev's regime was rather successful in this endeavor, an issue which was hotly debated by Russian intellectuals in the period ofglasnost' when soul-searching and recanting about their behavior of the 1970's.The political conformism of intellectuals bore an interesting product, namely, a special mythology which had to exculpate passive intellectuals as well as those who corroborated with the authorities and betrayed their colleagues.The goal of this paper is to analyze this mythology. The author makes a distinction between two kinds of mythology used by the intellectuals to justify their conformity — a current mythology, which is employed for the vindication of contemporary deeds and a retrospective mythology, the purpose of which is to acquit one of past actions. The importance of the mythology employed by the intellectuals goes beyond the Soviet experience and reminds one of the developments in the American intellectual community during the McCarthy era, as well as in German and French communities during the Second World War. As a theoretical basis for this paper, the author uses the concept of a two-level mentality which helps explain how people can easily separate their behavior from their system of values.     

Personal identity in multicultural constitutional democracies

Awareness of, and respect for differences of gender, race, religion, language, and culture have liberated many oppressed groups from the hegemony of white, Western males. However, respect for previously denigrated collective identities should not be allowed to confine individuals to identities constructed around one main component used for political mobilisation, or to identities that depend on a priority of properties that are not optional, like race, gender, and language. In this article I want to sketch an approach for accommodating different kinds of identity within a multicultural constitutional democracy. From a vantage point provided by a definition and explanation of personal identity, I want to show how people define, construct and change their personal identities to make themselves into unique individuals. Next I show how democratic political institutions and the personal identities of individuals reciprocally influence one another. In the final section I sketch ways in which diverse personal identities ought to be accommodated in multicultural constitutional democracies. The conclusion is that a society which gives its members the liberty, space, and opportunity to freely construct their own identities might avoid the formation of closed groups committed exclusively to their own sectional interests.     

A theory of Islamic political radicalism in Britain: sociology, theology and international political economy

This polemical essay based on on-going ethnographic research explores the phenomenon of Islamic political radicalism in Western Europe, in particular Britain, and the challenges that emerge in relation to the maintenance of a successful multicultural project. Analysing recent events in Western Europe, namely the Madrid train bombings and the murder of Theo van Gogh in 2004 and the London suicide bombings in 2005, this paper argues that Islamic political radicalism is on the increase because of factors that are both endogenous and exogenous to the various Muslim minority communities. Local, national and international pressures conspire to compound the aspirations, expectations, attitudes and perceptions of already disenfranchised groups. First, the layers of the ‘radicalisation onion’ are peeled away to explore the nature of the experience of Muslim minorities, analysing questions of evolving Islamic political identities in the context of the 2001 terrorist attacks and subsequent ‘war on terror.’ Second, the dynamics of Islamic political radicalisation are discussed, specifically alluding to the Qur’anic ideals that ‘Jihadis’ variously appropriate. Finally, the discussion explores the ways in which the nation-state has involved Muslim elite groups in acting as a bridge between government and the Muslim citizen. Many young Muslims view these actions cynically with elites vying for position and profile in an intensely active period of political manoeuvring. In conclusion, it is argued that should the status quo remain intact, the threat of Islamic political radicalisation will persist and solutions will be as much dependent on the nation-state becoming aware of its potential role while disaffected Muslim minorities continue to develop theological and sociological approaches to life in the non-Muslim West.     

On the fate of psychoanalysis and political theory

The author explores the present structure of the relationship between psychoanalysis and political theory, finding that the two often attempt to integrate each other's findings as mere resources within the pursuit of fundamentally self-determined projects. This radically misconstrues the force and meaning of the insights upon which they draw. Especially when psychoanalytic interpretations of collective subjects (nations, regions, etc.) occur, the relationship between psychoanalysis and political theory may not be appropriately mediated, promoting suspiciousness about the interpretive and therapeutic efficacy of such nonclinical "interventions." The author proposes an alternative paradigm for a new working relationship between psychoanalysis and political theory.     

The neglected non-citizen: statelessness and liberal political theory

The non-citizen is the new ‘other’. From popular discourse to political pronouncements and academic research, the non-citizen has become one of the subjects du jour. Among the ranks of the non-citizen, one finds a lesser-known category of people which has yet to be considered seriously by liberal political theory – the stateless. Thus far, liberal political theory has either ignored this category of persons or subsumed them under the subjects of immigration or refugeehood. The present article challenges this theoretical exclusion in two ways. First, it analyses the treatment of statelessness within the works of three prominent theorists on just membership – Michael Walzer, Seyla Benhabib and William Barbieri, Jr – and contends that these authors ignore the stateless as a unique category of non-citizen. Secondly, it explains why statelessness demands a distinct theoretical framework than is currently provided for within liberal political theory. The article contends that just membership questions necessitate not simply looking at who is let in and what naturalization procedures should be extended to them, but also entails examining who has always been on the inside and to whom we need to justify their continued exclusion.     

An archaeology of borders: qualitative political theory as a tool in addressing moral distance

Interviews, field observations and other qualitative methods are being increasingly used to inform the construction of arguments in normative political theory. This article works to demonstrate the strong salience of some kinds of qualitative material for cosmopolitan arguments to extend distributive boundaries. The incorporation of interviews and related qualitative material can make the moral claims of excluded others more vivid and possibly more difficult to dismiss by advocates of strong priority to compatriots in distributions. Further, it may help to promote the kind of perspective taking that has been associated with actually motivating a willingness to provide aid by individuals. Illustrative findings are presented from field work conducted for a normative project on global citizenship, including interviews with unauthorized immigrants and the analysis of artefacts left behind on heavily used migrant trails.     

Order,experience, and critique: The phenomenological method in political and legal theory

Continental Philosophy Review - The paper investigates phenomenology’s possibilities to describe, reflect and critically analyse political and legal orders. It presents a...     

Role of psychocultural factors in the adjustment of Soviet Jewish refugees: Applying Kleinian theory of mourning

The purpose of this paper is to show how failures of adjustment of Soviet refugees to America are to a great degree determined by their difficulties in mourning. The author argues that due to such difficulties, Soviet refugees may get fixated sometimes for long periods of time at different stages of the mourning process. Such fixations may be the causes for peculiar types of behavior, frequently exhibited by these refugees in America and attributed by various authors to their psychocultural characteristics. Melanie Klein's analysis of mourning and its relationship to manic depressive states is applied to understand the mourning process in this population. The author shows that difficulties in the mourning process experienced by Soviet refugees may be connected with the culturally acquired inhibitions of mourning. Such inhibitions are analyzed from a family, historical and cultural perspective.