Critical Debate Research Articles

Hume beyond Theism and Atheism

Abstract: This paper defends a rigorous reading of Hume’s critiques of arguments for the existence of God and of the belief in God against interpretations that endorse Humean theism, deism, and fideism. The latter include Donald Livingston’s theist reading, J. C. A. Gaskin’s “attenuated deism” reading, and Edward Kanterian’s “humble fideism” reading. I also examine whether Hume’s rejections of a positive theology commit him to agnosticism or atheism. My innovative challenge to such conclusions maintains that, while elements of both agnosticism and atheism are found in Hume, these denote, respectively, a methodology and an incidental implication of his philosophy. But neither sufficiently captures his constructive vision for a society, individual psychology, and system of knowledge guided by naturalist principles and aims. For this, an alternate conception is needed that describes Hume’s philosophy of religion beyond mere atheism.

On improvising, contextualizing and active listening. A Dialogue with John Forester

On 14 November 2022, John Forester gave a lecture at the Department of Architecture of the University of Naples Federico II, focused on 'Improvisation, Context-responsiveness, Practices of Listening'. The historical setting of Palazzo Gravina hosted a diverse audience of students, researchers, and lecturers. Despite the conventional lecture hall setup, configured for a traditional frontal presentation, John orchestrated a close interaction with the attendees, through improvisation, transforming the back wall of the room into an expansive board and transcribing issues as the discussion unfolded, so to invert the conventional roles of speaker and audience. This embodied the transformative power not only of altering planning methodologies but also of changing the language and modes through which ideas are articulated. Such interplay is intrinsically tied to the art of listening. This article reports some reasoning solicited by the encounter with John Forester and it is developed in three sections. The first one synthetizes the main issues coming from an interview lead by Gilda Berruti and Cristina Mattiucci, which had place before the lecture. John Forester was asked about the relationships between planners and changes in contemporary complex contexts, to update the methodological statements developed along the years. Forester's answers are reported after an argued description of the questions. The second and third sections are the critical arguments to the main topics of John Forester's speech, focusing on context-responsiveness and practices of listening. They are authored by Enrico Formato and Laura Lieto, invited as discussants to the lecture. The texts deal with the perspectives of urban planners engaged respectively in making plans and in the local government1.

“Ma semblable, ma soeur”: Negative Capability and Self-Fashioning in “The Quilt Maker” by Angela Carter and Flights by Olga Tokarczuk

ABSTRACT Reading fiction by Angela Carter and Olga Tokarczuk side by side is a fascinating but eerie experience: the celebrated British fabulist and the Nobel-winning Polish writer-cum-public intellectual share some indefinable quality – their oeuvres resonate. My aim in this paper is to add to the critical debate on self-fashioning in Carter and Tokarczuk by comparing how they script their lives as reflected in their fiction. The following discussion of Carter’s short story “The Quilt Maker” and Tokarczuk’s Flights points to how they portray the ambiguities involved in being a female writer. Both writers emphasize the extreme subjectivity of their projects, both script their lives as reflected in their fiction, both create their literary personas with allusions to their real biographies, and both make these personas create constellations and patchworks of narrative fragments employing negative capability to suggest – rather than – tell stories.

Disrupting the “Tamil diaspora-terrorism” paradigm: the political mobilisation of younger generation Tamils in the London diaspora

ABSTRACT Following three decades of armed conflict, the Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) defeated the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam in 2009. The victory was framed as a successful counterterrorism operation, yet, the GoSL’s military campaign in the Tamil-populated Northern and Eastern Provinces of Sri Lanka, faces credible allegations of war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide. As the armed conflict reached its apex, the Tamil diaspora mobilised politically across the globe and the participation of younger generation Tamils (YGTs), namely, those who were born outside their parents’ country of origin, or had settled outside of their ancestral homeland as children, caught the attention of scholars and analysts. Within this small pool of literature, the pervasive and problematic counterterrorism-inspired concept of “radicalisation” surfaced. This article contributes to critical debates on terrorism by analysing the cursory application of a radicalisation framework to the political mobilisation and perspectives of YGTs. Based on critical ethnographic research on YGT activism in the London diaspora, this article provides an alternative to criminalising and marginalising approaches by utilising an emotion-based conceptual framework, derived from social movement studies, to unearth and understand the complex mechanisms, contexts, and processes surrounding their political mobilisation.

Exploring role-playing as a tool for involving citizens in air pollution mitigation urban policies

The design of air pollution control policies is a complex decision-making process. Public participation can enhance the legitimacy and effectiveness of environmental urban regulations but does not always occur naturally. This article presents the experience of the use of role-playing in six mid-sized cities in southern Chile to evaluate how residents affected by high concentrations of fine particulate matter perceive the problem and debate possible solutions. For this, the participants were asked to assume the role of advisors. On that premise, they had to prioritize between a series of mitigation measures and reach a consensus with other advisors. The results show the potential of role-playing games, on the one hand, to promote critical thinking and argument skills among the general public and, on the other, to help policymakers in the design of more operative and fair plans of action.

The Ethical Implications of Finfluencers Promoting Financial Products to their Followers

The booming trend of financial influencers (“finfluencers”) has sparked critical debate about the ethics of their product endorsements. While they can empower audiences with financial knowledge, promoting products raises concerns about conflicts of interest, financial literacy disparities, and potential follower harm.The booming trend of financial influencers (“finfluencers”) has sparked critical debate about the ethics of their product endorsements. While they can empower audiences with financial knowledge, promoting products raises concerns about conflicts of interest, financial literacy disparities, and potential follower harm. Uninformed audiences, particularly younger or financially disadvantaged groups, are vulnerable to exploitation through simplified, potentially misleading content pushing risky investments. Predatory targeting and manipulative marketing further exacerbate this vulnerability. Building trust and mitigating misinformation requires transparent disclosure of sponsorships and conflicts of interest. Additionally, accessible financial literacy education empowers audiences to make informed decisions beyond influencer recommendations. Responsible targeting aligned with individual circumstances and risk tolerance is crucial. Finally, presenting a balanced perspective on investment outcomes, including both successes and failures, fosters authenticity and encourages responsible decision-making. Regulations are evolving to address disclosure and liability, but self-regulation and ethical responsibility remain fundamental. By prioritizing audience well-being and upholding ethical standards, finfluencers can contribute to a responsible online financial environment. Harnessing their influence for positive change empowers individuals to make informed financial decisions and cultivate a culture of responsible investing in the digital age.

Thailand’s new soft power focus and the makings of a paradox

Soft power, obtained when a state develops the ability to attract rather than coerce other actors because of the legitimacy of its values, has been on the national agenda in Thailand since 2010, when efforts were made to expand the Kingdom’s creative industries. However, under nearly a decade of military rule after the May 2014 coup d‘état, Thailand focused largely inward in order to secure its legitimacy and survival, consequently curtailing soft gains. The military junta frequently targeted public dissent, including Thai activist rappers Danupa “Milli” Kanaterrakul and Rap Against Dictatorship (RAD). This article reviews soft power and state repression during the Prayut Chan-o-cha era and makes two critical arguments, that nation branding and soft power, related concepts, require a degree of authenticity and that Thailand’s soft power is increasingly outside of the government’s ability to completely control. Consequently, in a new semi-democratic environment under Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, successful soft power and nation branding efforts are likely to occur outside the Kingdom’s ideological constraints or self-serving elite interests or risk an unwanted paradox and an operating environment contradictory to either objective.

Why does urban Artificial Intelligence (AI) matter for urban studies? Developing research directions in urban AI research

ABSTRACT New digital technologies and systems are being extensively applied in urban contexts. These technologies and systems include algorithms, robotics, drones, Autonomous Vehicles (AVs) and autonomous systems that can collectively be labelled as Artificial Intelligence (AI). Critical debates have recognized that these various forms of AI do not merely layer onto existing urban infrastructures, forms of management and practices of everyday life. Instead, they have social and material power: they perform work, anticipate and assess risks and opportunities, are aberrant or glitchy, cause accidents, and make new demands on humans as well as the design of cities. And yet, urban scholars have only recently started to engage with research on urban AI and to begin articulating research directions for urban development beyond the current focus on smart cities. To enhance this engagement, this intervention explores three sets of questions: what is distinctive about this novel way of thinking about and doing cities; what are the emerging mutual interdependencies and interrelations between AI and their urban contexts; and what are the consequent challenges and opportunities for urban governance. In closing, we outline research directions shaped around new research questions raised by the emergence of urban AI.

The limits to the urban within multi-scalar energy transitions: Agency, infrastructure and ownership in the UK and Germany

This article critically interrogates the over-emphasis upon urban solutions when considering complex and multi-scalar energy infrastructures that must transition to low-carbon intensity for a sustainable future. While urban actors can play an important role in energy transition, their interventions are riven with difficulties, and at times failure, as they encounter challenges of politics, capacity and agency in a broader and multi-scalar governance landscape. Drawing upon the comparative and variegated political economies of energy infrastructure governance in Germany and the UK, this article makes three critical arguments. Firstly, it contends that patterns of ownership of key infrastructures, particularly in the highly privatised context of the UK but also in Germany’s more diversified energy market, trouble urban-level interventions. Secondly, against a backdrop of post-financial crash austerity, we raise the issue of capacity at an urban level, principally concerning the financing and technical administration of urban infrastructural ‘solutions’. Thirdly, the entrenched politics of neoliberalisation, its multi-scalar articulations and in particular discourses of marketisation and competition, while distinct across the two contexts, shape the possibilities, imaginaries and support available for local-level change in complex infrastructures. The article points to differential urban capacities and governance conditions that require a greater degree of nuance in sustainability narratives, and a critical conversation around the need for multi-scalar coordination in energy transitions, in order to avert catastrophic climate breakdown.

Discourses of resistance: pre-service teachers’ reflections on the challenges of inclusion in physical education

ABSTRACT Scholars have identified a need for more learner-centred pedagogical practices as one way to facilitate more inclusive learning in physical education (PE). In this regard teacher education plays an important part through the preparation of future teachers. Yet, disrupting pre-service teachers’ prior values or beliefs to transform PE, has proven difficult. Grounded in critical pedagogical perspectives and discursive psychology, the current study enquired into the following question: What discourses of resistance can be identified in PE pre-service teachers’ written reflections on the challenges of inclusion and the need for changed pedagogical practices in PE? The sample in this qualitative research comprised 11 PE pre-service teachers enrolled in a general teacher education programme, and the analytical approach involved textual analysis of reflection notes written by the pre-service teachers. The findings highlighted two discourses of inclusion (‘More gender inclusive PE is needed’, and ‘PE practices must embrace diversity’) and two discourses of resistance (‘Resistance to PE transformation’, and ‘Resistance to gender diversity in PE’). Drawing on discourses such as the assertion that education is better suited for girls, the students expressed resistance towards accommodating girls’ need in PE, with the use of interpretive repertoires such as ‘gender differences are natural and inevitable’ or ‘boys need PE because girls do better in other subjects’. Secondly, referring to discursive understandings of a general openness towards gender diversity in society, they exhibited resistance against breaking the gender binary in PE in fear of confusing vulnerable youth. Thus, although the pre-service teachers challenged how gender is reproduced through PE practice, their perspectives remained within a cis-normative frame of reference. We argue that with increased understanding of how pre-service teachers rehearse and reproduce interpretative repertoires in their written assignments, teacher educators are better equipped to help students develop their critical thoughts and arguments.

Mindfulness in education: Critical debates and pragmatic considerations

AbstractMindfulness has all but become a mainstay in modern education. Yet despite the incredible enthusiasm and increased application in schools, there remains significant divergence between advocates and critics. Advocates assert that mindfulness practice promotes individual and societal health and well‐being. Meanwhile, critics question the intention and the social and political implications of promoting these ancient practices in schools, arguing that the Buddhist ethics underlying mindfulness remain incompatible with the neoliberal ideology and instrumentalism of contemporary schooling. As mindfulness has been commodified, instrumentalised and used as a therapeutic tool for acute coping, its broader potential for human growth and development may be undermined. Furthermore, scholars caution that the fledging nature of mindfulness research leaves critical questions unanswered, especially the potential for adverse effects. The work herein examines these critiques, presenting three critical considerations for mindfulness in education, and articulates practical recommendations for educational leaders, policy makers and stakeholders. We aim to empower educators and others to make judgements about the promotion and integration of mindfulness into educational settings, considering context‐specific factors such as developmental needs and capacities, as well as recommendations to support effective and ethical practice of mindfulness in education.

Beyond “Academia”: Disseminating Knowledge in the Arab World

In recent years, the rise of the knowledge economy has paved the way for a change in the dynamics of knowledge production. This has been translated into two contradictory trends: (1) the commodification of knowledge production and (2) connecting social sciences to society, necessitating that academics go beyond their traditional role of teaching and research to engage wider publics in contemporary critical debates. Based on a survey of grantees of the Arab Council for the Social Sciences, this article considers the case of Arab social researchers by looking at their research outcomes beyond “academia,” identifying the forms of dissemination of their research and how they engage in dialogue with the public. Compared to previous research done on this topic, the findings demonstrate considerable engagement of their research, which is contributing to the reconciliation of knowledge production and use. Changes are seen not only in the scope of engagement but also in the use of different styles of expressions and deployment of topics. The survey and the interviews allow us to understand the challenges the researchers face, whether these are structural (political, institutional, and socioeconomic) or cultural.

The Letter‐Writing Manual and the Epistolary Novel

AbstractThe relationship between real and fictional letters in the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries has been the source of much critical debate. Disagreement surrounds the extent to which the increasingly popular genre of the epistolary novel drew on the practices and techniques of actual correspondence. On the one hand are those who see epistolary fiction as developing out of real‐life letters, with some literary‐stylistic additions. On the other hand are those who reject this teleological approach in favour of one that emphasizes the functional versatility of the letter in the period, and the difficulty, if not impossibility, of drawing a distinction between its real and fictional incarnations. This relationship between real correspondence and epistolary fiction is brought into sharp focus by the genre of the letter‐writing manual, which rose sharply in popularity from the last two decades of the seventeenth century onwards. Concentrating on John Hill's The Young Secretary's Guide (1689), Thomas Goodman's The Experience's Secretary (1699), and G. F.'s The Secretary's Guide (1705), in particular, in this article, I suggest that the style of the letter‐writing manual from this period can, with caution, be compared with that of the epistolary novel. I pay particular attention to the ways in which letters in these manuals respond to and quote from each other and the often subtle ways in which they thus incorporate different voices. This polyvocality is taken further in Samuel Richardson's manual Familiar Letters (1741), which, as is well known, provided the raw material for his first novel Pamela; or Virtue Rewarded (1741). I demonstrate that some of the stylistic techniques which would prove crucial to the great epistolary novels of the later eighteenth century, including Richardson's, can be found, at least in embryonic form, in the letter‐writing manuals of the Restoration period.

God’s Gift of Science: Theological Presuppositions Underlying Exploration of the Natural World

God’s Gift of Science: Theological Presuppositions Underlying Exploration of the Natural World

God’s Gift of Science: Theological Presuppositions Underlying Exploration of the Natural World

God’s Gift of Science: Theological Presuppositions Underlying Exploration of the Natural World

“My mother did not have civil rights under the law”: Family derived race categories in negotiating positions on Critical Race Theory

AbstractHow do persons negotiate the relevance of historic racial injustice for contemporary concerns? In this paper, I show that persons could develop and use racial categorizations in association with family relations to make salient (or not) the relevance of past racial injustice for contemporary concerns. I examined how people construct and orient to racial group membership as implying historical oppression, and its relevance for contemporary interracial relations in the form of supporting or opposing Critical Race Theory (CRT) teaching in the United States public school system. I examined debates and discussions on CRT televised in the American news media using discursive psychological approaches. Findings show that race categories were developed and used in relation to one's ancestors: parents, aunts and uncles, and distant generations. This was done to raise the salience of past racial injustice, which otherwise would involve offering historic or other social structural arguments. The use of family derived race categories at once personalized and enhanced the credibility of the speaker, and countered possible implications for taking responsibility for past actions. These family‐derived race categories were then a resource speakers could use to negotiate their position on CRT. These findings are discussed in relation to the relevance of time for negotiating racism. Further arguments are developed in relation to how an ethnomethodological approach can illuminate critical arguments on race and racism.

Institutionalised violence and child imprisonment in England and Wales: a case for abolition

This article focuses on youth custody and the imprisonment of children. It applies an abolitionist, anti-carceral lens to exploring this injustice. In doing so the article critically explores the imprisonment of children and young people in England and Wales and the institutionalised violence to which these children are subject. It presents a case study of the youth secure estate, using document analysis focused on two recent reports of Werrington Young Offenders Institution, undertaken by the HM Inspectorate of Prisons in 2022. These reports are drawn upon to support the key critical arguments, concerning the imprisonment of children, presented within this article. Such arguments are centred on the failure of the state to afford legitimate safety and protection to children imprisoned in these institutions, and the deplorable role of the state in directly causing and perpetuating a range of harms against children, including ‘cultural, physical and institutionally structured violence’ (Scott, 2020: 58). Finally, the article will present a framework for abolitionist alternatives to the imprisonment of children which will ultimately serve to ensure their safety and protection.

The relevance of ableism in social (work) pedagogy

ABSTRACT Ableism, a system of thought that creates notions of normality based on abilities and ability expectations, is closely tied to capitalist logics that promote the productive citizen. While the pursuit of certain abilities is a fundamental part of any society, the individualisation of abilities and the coercive character of some ability expectations marginalise people differing from the ideal citizen as unprofitable and burdensome. Through issues of access to various social support services and through social practice within in the welfare system, the need to consider ableism and its consequences in social (work) pedagogy becomes apparent. The aim of this theoretical essay is to emphasise the relevance of ableism in social (work) pedagogy by linking ableism theory to critical debates in social pedagogy/social work. I first describe the concept of ableism and its roots in Disability Studies, but also its relevance exceeding them. Second, I argue for anti-ableism as a critical pedagogy and third, I elaborate its relevance in the context of social work by drawing on examples of structural ableism evident in youth vocational support and homeless services. Finally, I explain how anti-ableism may be anchored in social (work) pedagogy.

Development as Utopia? Road to a Better Future Between Fiction and Lived Utopian Practice

ABSTRACT Development as presented in the MDGs/SDGs is a well-planned step-by-step enterprise. If we dig deeper into the development debate, it is clear that the dilemma of eradicating poverty and achieving sustainable development is still unsolved, despite all efforts. Thus, development seems to be fictional in the sense of an unreachable utopia. Against this background, it is helpful to connect the development debate with utopian studies. We learn from utopian studies that there are not only fictional utopias as a vision of a just world, which may never be realised. There are also lived utopias that unpack alternative approaches to overcoming inequality or meeting ecological challenges, and which can be realised at least within a limited space. This applies to concepts from in the Global South, such as swaraj, buen vivir and ubuntu, or ecovillages and solidarity economies that present themselves as models for alternative development. As lived utopias, they follow future practice in a defined area in which the desired future becomes part of the present. These concepts are new models in the critical development debate. They are particularly successful in communities that share a common vision and common values. At the same time, there are doubts whether these models may be realised at the national or global. With regard to the fictional character of development goals, it is obvious that we still lack a feasible global strategy with a vision for the future that is attractive enough to gain global support and that can really be accomplished.

“We Never Say We Are Integrating People!” Interpretative Repertoires of Integration Among Local Stakeholders in Sweden

This article examines how local stakeholders in Scania, the southernmost county of Sweden, talk about integration. Drawing on 28 qualitative interviews, we use the theoretical concept of interpretative repertoires to analyze perceptions and conceptualizations among those who work closely with migrant integration. We identify two interpretative repertoires that stakeholders draw upon to make sense of the concept on the ground: the separation and de-migranticization repertoires. The repertoires display a shared understanding among the stakeholders of integration as a failure, although they do not agree on the extent or cause of the perceived failures of integration, or even how the problems should be defined or tackled locally. Within the separation repertoire, integration is failing in terms of processes where primarily migrants are seen as accountable and responsible for their (in)ability to adapt to the Swedish society. Within the de-migranticization repertoire, integration is differently perceived as something that is plagued with misdirected or even false boundaries between groups (in this case “migrants” and “non-migrants”), and authorities are held accountable for problems beyond migrants and migration, such as inequality, racism, and discrimination. The findings reflect the contested field of integration on the ground and contribute to ongoing critical debates on the concept of integration within migration research, by providing snapshots from a bottom-up perspective of local stakeholders’ acceptance of, or resistance to, present-day integration discourses.