II Political Thought and Theory / Théorie et Pensée Politiques
| DOI | 10.1177/00208345211023818 |
| Published date | 01 June 2021 |
| Date | 01 June 2021 |
354
II
POLITICAL THOUGHT AND THEORY
THÉORIE ET PENSÉE POLITIQUES
71.3524 ACHA, Omar — From Marxist to post-Marxist populism:
Ernesto Laclau’s trajectory within the national left and
beyond. Historical Materialism 28(1), 2020 : 183-214.
Ernesto Laclau’s Marxist and post-Marxist works are best understood
when they are embedded in the history of Argentina’s National Left. This
socialist-populist current underpinned his strategic horizons onward of at
least 1963. While purely theoretical interpretations of Laclau can some-
times be enlightening, they tend to lose sight of the historical density of
the Argentine’s thought. Over the course of his working life, Laclau’s
theories presented the Argentinean Left with a challenge concerning how
to engage with Peronism: specifically, how to develop a leftist hegemonic
project in an era when the working class remained stubbornly linked to a
Peronist political identity. Laclau’s political trajectory and his understand-
ing of Marxism are analysed here in order to explain the nature of his
post-Marxism. [R]
71.3525 BADANO, Gabriele ; NUTI, Alasia — The limits of conjec-
ture: political liberalism, counter-radicalisation and un-
reasonable religious views. Ethnicities 20(2), Apr. 2020 :
293-311.
Originally proposed by John Rawls, the idea of reasoning from conjec-
ture is popular among the proponents of political liberalism in normative
political theory. Reasoning from conjecture consists in discussing with
fellow citizens who are attracted to illiberal and antidemocratic ideas by
focusing on their religious or otherwise comprehensive doctrines, at-
tempting to convince them that such doctrines actually call for loyalty to
liberal democracy. Our goal is to criticise reasoning from conjecture as a
tool aimed at persuasion and, in turn, at improving the stability of liberal
democratic institutions. To pursue this goal, we use as case study real-
world efforts to counter-radicalise at-risk Muslim citizens, which, at first
glance, reasoning from conjecture seems well-placed to contribute to.
This case study helps us to argue that the supporters of reasoning from
conjecture over-intellectualise opposition to liberal democracy and what
societies can do to counter it. [R, abr.] [See Abstr. 71.3453]
71.3526 BAI Tongdong — Confucianism and same-sex marriage.
Politics and Religion 14(1), March 2021 : 132-158.
In the majority opinion by the US Supreme Court over same-sex mar-
riage, a claim by Confucius was quoted, which led to an uproar among
Confucian scholars in mainland China. In this article, I will first explain
the background of the debate over same-sex marriage in the United
States, and why Confucius's claim was quoted. I will then show how a
contemporary Confucian philosopher Zhang Xianglong addressed the
issue of same-sex marriage from a Confucian perspective. In my view,
compared with other mainland Confucians' responses, Zhang's are one
of the most scholarly and moderate responses that nevertheless follow
Confucian values. But he eventually rejected same-sex marriage on the
Confucian ground. I will argue that, based on some Confucian values
and principles which are shared by Zhang, we can answer Zhang's
concerns with same-sex marriage, thus offering an even more moderate
Confucian stance that accepts same-sex marriage. But this stance is still
different from the typical liberal one. [R, abr.]
71.3527 BALANSARD, Anne — Le gouvernement de l’homme
royal dans le Politique: une utopie assumée (The gov-
ernment of the royal man in Statesman: an assumed uto-
pia). Polis (Journal of Ancient Greek Political Thought) 37(3),
Sept. 2020 : 421-434.
The object of this article, which analyses Statesman 291a1-303d3, is to
show how the good, the object of politics quaknowledge, makes the
regime with which it is associated a utopia. The good cannot be actual-
ized anywhere in the sensible realm, because no city can be governed
without laws, and the laws define what is good most often for the great-
est number. A government of the good, without laws, is a utopia, but the
laws, to the extent that they aim at the common interest, are in them-
selves the imprint of the good. I defend the thesis, at first sight paradoxi-
cal, that the true politicians are not those who know the good and imitate
it, but those who recognise the utility of laws and agree to submit them-
selves to their authority. Thus Plato dismisses all existing regimes as
sophistic regimes where power is exercised in the interest of the rulers
and not of the ruled. Not every regime, however, bears the imprint of the
good equally. [R, abr.] [See Abstr. 71.3531]
71.3528 BENBOW, David — An Adornian ideology critique of neo-
liberal reforms to the English NHS. Journal of Political Ide-
ologies 26(1), 2021 : 59-80.
I undertake an ideology critique of reforms to the English NHS within the
neo-liberal era. The critique draws primarily on the writings of the Frank-
furt School philosopher Theodor Adorno. I use the method of ideology
critique to explain the influences on and reasons for the reforms, the
contradictions in government discourse and policy and the potential
reifying effects of the reforms. I also use the method as a basis for
conceiving alternatives. Adorno thought that ideology was becoming
more positivistic, thereby rendering critique more difficult. I identify both
liberal and positivistic elements within the discourse of successive
governments pertaining to healthcare. Liberal norms (such as freedom
and equality) within government discourse, and the law, concerning
healthcare, continue to enable the critique of ideology and are a basis for
conceiving alternatives to current neo-liberal policies, which have the
potential to reify healthcare and undermine the solidarity underpinning
the NHS. [R]
71.3529 BLOCK, Fred — Nine theses on twenty-first-century
socialism. Politics and Society 48(4), Dec. 2020 : 553-566.
This essay, written in memory of Erik Olin Wright (1947-2019), outlines
nine characteristics of a future socialism. It elaborates socialism as a set
of processes and institutional arrangements that would open the way to a
society that is radically more democratic, more just, and more sustaina-
ble than the existing order. [R] [See Abstr. 71.3535]
71.3530 BRENNAN, Timothy — "I believe I have demonstrated it":
the status of Rousseau's original state of nature. History
of Political Thought 41(4), 2020 : 588-621.
According to an important strand of scholarship, the original state of
nature in Rousseau's Discourse on Inequality is not meant to be a real
historical condition. In my view, however, this interpretation obscures the
grounds of Rousseau's natural-law scep ticism, the import of his 'great
principle' (the natural goodness of man), and the character of the con-
sent he thinks necessary for a legitimate republic. [R]
71.3531 BRISSON, Luc — Plato’s political writings: a utopia? Polis
(Journal of Ancient Greek Political Thought) 37(3), Sept.
2020 : 399-420.
Thomas More’s 1516 Utopia describes a ‘fictitious’ republic on an imagi-
nary island, and draws heavily on ancient political ideas. This paper
explores the difficulties of applying the term ‘utopia’ to Plato’s political
thinking, given that More’s term is anachronistically applied to ancient
texts. The projects of the Republic and Laws should not be interpreted as
‘utopian’, but as blueprints for a foundation such as a new city, rather
than as imagined ideal cities after More’s model. Support for Plato’s
practical involvement in matters of political foundation is drawn from the
Seventh Letter. The Republic and the Laws are discussed not as utopi-
as, but political manifestos. The political context in which Plato lived, and
his objectives, gives his political writings a wholly d ifferent dimension.
The goal of the Republic and the Laws is not to describe unrealizable
constitutions, but to exchange the Athenian constitution of Plato’s time
for another. [R] [First article of a thematic issue on "Democracy and its
rivals: Plato’s Statesman and Laws", edited by Ryan BALOT and Hall-
vard FOSSHEIM. See also Abstr. 71.3527, 3582, 3591]
71.3532 BROWN, Garrett Wallace ; ANDENAS, Mads — The Euro-
pean Convention of Human Rights as a Kantian cosmo-
politan legal order. Global Constitutionalism 9(3), Nov.
2020 : 490-505.
In A Cosmopolitan Legal Order: Kant, Constitutional Justice and the
European Convention on Human Rights [Oxford U. P., 201 8], Alec Stone
Sweet and Clare Ryan argue that there has been the emergence of, and
increasing prospects for, a cosmopolitan legal order based on the Con-
vention. This symposium engages with, and better explores, the theoreti-
cal implications and practical legal ramifications of their argument. This
first article acts as a gene ral introduction to the symposium, laying out
the major arguments of the book as well as arguments presented by the
symposium contributors. This introduction also situates A Cosmopolitan
Legal Oder within broader debates in global constitutionalism, while
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