II: Political Thinkers and Ideas/Penseurs et Idées Politiques
| DOI | 10.1177/002083451206200602 |
| Published date | 01 December 2012 |
| Date | 01 December 2012 |
| Subject Matter | Abstracts |
716
II
POLITICAL THINKERS AND IDEAS
PENSEURS ET IDÉES POLITIQUES
62.7202 ALTMAN, W. H. F. — Wh y Plato wrote Epino mis: Leo-
nardo Tarán and the thirteenth bo ok of Plato's Laws.
Polis (Nicosia) 29(1), 2012 : 83-107.
Tarán's case against the authenticity of Epinomis depends on the claim
that it is incompatible with Plato's Laws. Behind this claim is the uncritica l
assumption that the Athen ian Stranger of Laws speaks for Plato. While
the Athenian Stranger of Epinomis clearly does not do so, the same is
equally true, albe it more difficult to det ect, of the Stranger in Laws. Once
the Athenian is r ecognized as both ambitious and impious, a reconstruc-
tion of the last sentence of Epinomis — on which Tarán's incompatibility
thesis princip ally rests — reveals the theological-political continuity
between the two dialogues : the Stranger is intent on bringing the city into
being while sec uring divine sanction for his own code of laws and divine
honors for himself. [R, abr.]
62.7203 AVGOUSTI, Andreas — By uniting it stands: poetry and
myth in Plato's Republic. Polis (Nicosia) 29(1), 2012 : 21-
41.
This article argues against readings that tend to overlook, dismiss or
reduce the profound role of poetry and myth in Plato's Republic. It dis-
cusses and rejects the distinction between myth and poetry that we find
in suc h readings . Then it make s the case fo r the irreducibility of poe try.
Crucially, poetry determines both the state and the frame of mind of the
dialogue's interlocutors, and we can expect it to do the same for the
Kallipoleans. The attraction of t he irrati onal par t of the soul to imitative
poetry entails that imitation is both beneficial and pleasant. The article
argues that myths, understood as false stories, play a significant role in
early education. [R]
62.7204 BELLAMY, Richar d — Right s as democracy. Critical Re-
view of International Social and Political Philosophy 15(4),
Sept. 2012 : 449-471.
Like many rights theorists, P. Jones regards rights as lying outside
politics and providing c onstraints upon it. However, he also concedes
that rights are matters of reasonable disagreement and that, as a matter
of fairness , disputes about them ought to be resolved democratically. I
develop th ese concessions to argue that rights require democratic
justification and that this can be provided o nly via a real dem ocratic
process in which those involved “hear the other s ide”. I relate this argu-
ment to the republican theory of non-domination, contending that it fits
the Lockean project of regarding rights as constraints on arbitrary power
better than liberal views that place rights outside the democratic process.
I note the implicati ons of this argument for rights-based judicial review of
legislation. [R] [See Abstr. 62.7239]
62.7205 BIANCHI, Alvaro ; ALIAGA, Luciana — Paret o e G ramsci :
itinerários de uma ciência política italiana (Pareto and
Gramsci: itineraries of an Italian p olitical science).
Análise social 203, 2012 : 322-342.
Although the y worked in different fields of social interpr etation, A. Gram-
sci and V. Pareto are both part of a Machiavellian tradition of political
studies that carries with itself considerable thematic continuities and
affinities in the over all formulati on of polit ical concept s. This is especially
visible with regard to the two main topics examined: the methodology of
political science and the distinction between the governed and those who
govern. Pareto proposes a science that is free from fictional ideals,
founded on empirical, histor ical observation. Gramsci, on the other hand,
thought that a politica l science could not but be founded on the under-
standing that any social theory must necessarily be part of the field of
relations con stituted by the social fo rces that are implicit in the dialectic
between structure and supers tructure. [R]
62.7206 BIEBRICHER, Thomas — Foucault and the politics of
rights. Journal of Political Power 5(2), Aug. 2012 : 301-318.
The article assesses the complex pos ition of M. Foucault on the political
significance of rights-claiming, i.e., the politics of rights. Although the
theorist Foucault has r eservations regarding rights-claiming and only
vaguely gestures at a “n ew form of right”, the intellectual Foucault resorts
to the practice of rights-claiming on many occasions. The article argues
that in these interventions by the intellectual Foucault indeed such a
“new form of right” is discernible that rests on a radical rights constructiv-
ism. T he artic le concludes with a number of caveats regarding such an
emphatically political practic e of rights-claiming. [R]
62.7207 BOTTING, Eileen Hunt ; KRONEWITTER, S ean — Western-
ization and women’s rights: non-Western European re-
sponses to Mill’s Subjection of Women, 1869-1908. Politi-
cal Theory 40(4), Aug. 2012 : 466-496.
The publication in 1869 of J. S. Mill’s Subjection of Women gave rise to
philosophical and political respons es beyond Western Europe on the
relationship between Westernization and women’s rights in developing,
colonial, and post-colonial countries. Through the first comparative study
of the Sub jection of Women alongside the forewords to six of its earliest
non-Western Eur opean editions, we explore how this book prov oked
local in tellectuals in Russia, Chile, and Indi a to engage its liberal utilitar-
ian, imp erial, Orie ntalist, a nd feminis t ideas. By s howing how Mill’s
Western Europea n biases and instru mental reasoning esta blish prob-
lematic rhetorical models for women ’s rights argument s, we explore the
ethical dimensions of women’s rights issues in the context of cultural and
political imperialism. [R, abr .]
62.7208 BUCCELLATO, James A. — Sign o f the outlaw: liberal
boundaries, social banditry, and the political act. New Po-
litical Scie nce 34(3), Sept. 2012 : 271-294.
Theorists should read non-traditional forms of political agency alongside
the American Left's failure to counter libera l hegemony. Accor ding to S.
Žižek, the current ideological deadlock requires unconventional ap-
proaches to political action. His notion of the Act represents o ne of th e
most original meth ods for identifying a lternative types of p olitical agency.
The Act is often violent and not only transgresses symbolic norms, but
reconfigures our understandings of legitimate po litical behavior. Linking
acts of social banditry to his theory illustrates how the outlaw represents
a sign of political resistance. Acts of social criminality, for exam ple, take
on politica l significance when undermining the regi me's hegemonic
narrative. Us ing Billy the Kid and Pretty Boy Floyd as case studies, the
article examines how conditions of uneven economic developme nt
produce non-traditional political actors . [R, abr.]
62.7209 CAVALLAR, Ge org — Educatin g Émile: Jean-Jacques
Rousseau on cosmopolitanism. Europe an Legacy 17(4),
July 2012 : 485-499.
Rousseau tries to show that civic patriotism is c ompatible with genuine
moral cos mopolitanism as well as republican cosmopolitanism (the
compatibility thesis). I clarify these concepts, and distinguish them from
other types of cosmo politanism, such as moral, cultural, econo mic, and
epistemological cosmopolitanisms. Rousseau winds up with a form of
rooted cosmopolitanism that tries to strike a balance between republican
patriotism and republ ican as well as thin moral cosmopolitanism, offerin g
a synthesis through education. A careful reading of Émile shows that this
is a book about the formation of a moral an d cognitive cosmopolitan who
avoids the deformations of a commercial society influenced by processes
of globalization. [R]
62.7210 CENTENO, Miguel A. ; COHEN, Joseph N. — The arc of
neoliberalism. Annual Review o f Sociolo gy 38, 2012 : 317-
340.
For three decades, neoliberalism dominated the global political economy.
Defined as an explicit preference for private ov er public control, neoliber-
alism represented a dramat ic break from postwar policies. This artic le
examines the historical development of neo liberalism through three
perspectives: as an economic policy, as an expression of political power ,
and as an ideational hegemony. We reject the notion of neoliber al inevi-
tability and suggest how it came to dominate all other possible alter na-
tives. The review emphasizes the critical importance of political prefer-
ences and influences as well as the central role ideas played in defining
policy paradigms. [R]
62.7211 DOLGERT, Stefan — Thucydides, amended: religion,
narrative, and IR theory in the Peloponnesian crisis. Re-
view of International Studies 38(3) , July 2012 : 661-682.
Most of our k nowledge of the Peloponnes ian War comes from the text of
Thucydides' History, yet IR scholars are strangely c redulous when
evaluating Thucy dides' pronounc ements. I s uggest that h is text obsc ures
important infor mation regarding the outbreak of the w ar. Thucydides has
a secular bias which leads him to d iscount t he Spartan religious self-
narrative, but by attending to this schema, in which Sparta sees itsel f in
the r ole of the pious defender of moderation pitted against the corrupt
Athenians, we gain a ric her understanding of the cha in of events that led
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