Influential Debates Research Articles

The State of Nationalism (SoN): Nationalism and Religion

The relationship between religion and nationalism has received increasing scholarly attention since the late 1990s. An article I co-authored a decade ago provided a detailed review of this literature as it intersected with macro-culturalist and micro-rationalist theories of violence. Since that time, the field has kept expanding and other reviews covering this topic have been published. In this review, I will follow in their footsteps by providing the reader with coverage of the most influential debates on religion and nationalism.

Feminist alliances against precarity or capitalism? A continuation of the Butler–Fraser debate

The relation between different forms of oppressive structures has been an object of dispute throughout the history of feminism. One of the most influential debates devoted to this issue is the one between Judith Butler and Nancy Fraser during the 1990s. Although the debate attracted a great deal of attention, and both thinkers have subsequently developed their theories by introducing novel concepts to describe oppression as well as the conditions of contemporary emancipatory movements, they have not continued to engage in each other's work. This article offers a critical reading of the positions that Fraser and Butler took in the 1990s debate, as well as an identification of shifts in their thinking ensuing from the debate. A particular interest of the article is their conceptualisations of the grounds for political alliances among groups with distinct experiences of oppression. The article not only offers a critique of both Butler's and Fraser's positions in the 1990s debate but also argues that the way in which Fraser's trajectory has come to directly address the issue of the capitalist social order, and which can also be read as an implicit self-critique, is more satisfactory than Butler's later work on precarity.

No separate spheres: the contingent reproduction of living labor in Southern Africa

Social Reproduction Theory (SRT) rejects the classical political economy distinction between productive and unproductive labor, the latter defined as all labor that does not produce surplus-value. Rather, much non-commodified labor, particularly that done in the domestic sphere, is not unproductive but necessary since it produces labor-power. Hence, SRT has proposed an alternative distinction: productive versus reproductive spheres of labor. This article argues that this opposition too is analytically and politically misleading. Capital is concerned with profit, not with the reproduction of the living labor within which labor-power is always embedded. It is the everyday struggles of living labor that determines its reproduction. These take place not just in the kin-based sphere of the family but in overlapping, shifting places and processes, including struggles for better wages and working conditions in capitalist firms. This paper uses two different contexts in southern Africa to make this argument: an influential debate over how to understand changes in apartheid in South Africa in the 1970s; and a sugar-cane plantation in Mozambique where interdependent contradictions of class, gender and race defined a social division of labor that systematically compromised the reproduction of living labor.

Precursor-Based Earthquake Prediction Research: Proposal for a Paradigm-Shifting Strategy

The article discusses the controversial topic of the precursor-based earthquake prediction, based on a personal perspective intending to stir the current still waters of the issue after twenty years have passed since the influential debate on earthquake prediction hosted by Nature in 1999. The article challenges the currently dominant pessimistic view on precursor-based earthquake prediction resting on the “impossible in principle” paradigm. Instead, it suggests that a concept-based innovative research strategy is the key to obtain significant results, i.e., a possible paradigm shift, in this domain. The basic concept underlying such a possible strategy is the “precursory fingerprint” of individual seismic structures derived from the uniqueness of the structures themselves. The aim is to find as many unique fingerprints as possible for different seismic structures worldwide, covering all earthquake typologies. To achieve this, a multiparameter approach involving all possible sensor types (physical, chemical, and biological) of the highest available sensitivity and artificial intelligence could be used. The findings would then be extrapolated to other similar structures. One key issue is the emplacement location of the sensor array in privileged “sensitive” Earth surface sites (such as volcanic conduits) where the signal-to-noise ratio is maximized, as suggested in the article. The strategy envisages three stages: experimental phase, validation, and implementation. It inherently could be a costly, multidisciplinary, international, and long-term (i.e., multidecade) endeavor with no guaranteed success, but less adventurous and societally more significant to the currently running and well-funded SETI Project.

Principles, practices and disciplinary power struggles in political theory

The Practical Turn in Political Theory sounds like the monograph political theorists have been waiting for – a monograph that identifies ‘practices’ as a uniting theme that runs through several recently influential debates on non-ideal theory, practice dependence, realism and pragmatist theories of legitimacy and democracy, and then discusses the promise and limits of this uniting theme for the future of political theory. However, The Practical Turn is driven by selective portrayals, omissions and misrepresentation, and hence is not a good source to turn to for understanding the debates it surveys or whether they manifest a ‘practical turn in political theory’ or not; rather, it serves as a warning of how struggles over power can influence and even structure seemingly the most purely intentioned of practices.

Why Do Certain States of Affairs Call Out for Explanation? A Critique of Two Horwichian Accounts

Motivated by examples, many philosophers believe that there is a significant distinction between states of affairs that are striking and therefore call for explanation and states of affairs that are not striking. This idea underlies several influential debates in metaphysics, philosophy of mathematics, normative theory, philosophy of modality, and philosophy of science but is not fully elaborated or explored. This paper aims to address this lack of clear explanation first by clarifying the epistemological issue at hand. Then it introduces an initially attractive account for strikingness that is inspired by the work of Paul Horwich (1982) and adopted by a number of philosophers. The paper identifies two logically distinct accounts that have both been attributed to Horwich and then argues that, when properly interpreted, they can withstand former criticisms. The final two sections present a new set of considerations against both Horwichian accounts that avoid the shortcomings of former critiques. It remains to be seen whether an adequate account of strikingness exists.

Husserl’s theory of noematic sense

After Husserl?s transcendental turn and the discovery of the correlation between consciousness and the world the concept of the noema becomes one of the constant leitmotifs of Husserl?s philosophy. My paper will be devoted to the clarification of this concept and its implications for Husserl?s theory of sense. The leading question will be: How can the noema play the role of both the sense and the objective correlate of the intentional act? I will start with presenting the problematic of sense in Husserl?s phenomenology from the Logical Investigations to the Ideas I. The central part of my paper will be devoted to the influential debate regarding the interpretation of the noema. Finally, I intend to point out the most important ways in which the notion of the noema becomes enriched in later Husserl?s philosophy, as well as the difference between linguisitic and non-linguistic sense, based on the Analyses Concerning Passive and Active Synthesis. I hope to show that Husserl?s phenomenological theory of sense offers a valuable alternative to the exclusively language-oriented theories of sense.

Two attempts at grounding social critique in „ordinary“ actors’ perspectives: The critical theories of Nancy Fraser and Axel Honneth

This paper analyzes two contemporary, ?third-generation? perspectives within critical theory - Nancy Fraser?s and Axel Honneth?s - with the aim of examining the degree to which the two authors succeed in grounding the normative criteria of social critique in the perspectives of ?ordinary? social actors, as opposed to speculative social theory. To that end, the author focuses on the influential debate between Fraser and Honneth Redistribution or Recognition? which concerns the appropriate normative foundations of a ?post-metaphysical? critical theory, and attempts to reconstruct the fundamental 29 disagreements between Fraser and Honneth over the meaning and tasks of critical theory. The author concludes that both critical theorists ultimately secure the normative foundations of critique through substantive theorizations of the social, which frame the two authors? ?reconstructions? of the normativity of everyday social action, but argues that post-metaphysical critical theory does not have to abandon comprehensive social theory in order to be epistmologically ?non-authoritarian?.

Children’s Rights and Theories of Rights

This essay revisits themes touched upon in an influential debate on the nature of rights between two of the leading jurists of the past century – H. L. A. Hart and Neil MacCormick. Consideration is given to how MacCormick uses children’s rights as a basis for a critique of Hart’s version of the will theory of rights towards support of MacCormick’s version of the rival interest theory of rights. While MacCormick argues, in some respects persuasively, that children’s rights and ‘rights’ apparently grounded in the criminal law present significant challenges to Hart’s version of the will theory of rights, these challenges – including the notion that Hartian will theory, in a sense, ‘disenfranchises’ children – are shown to have less force in the light of careful reassessment. It is also maintained that MacCormick’s version of the interest theory is itself significantly challenged by difficulties, including possible conflicts of interest, inherent in practical mechanisms – such as those enabling adult representatives to act on behalf of children – which the law provides to ensure that children’s rights may be properly exercised.

Die Studienhäuser und der Hof als Kontext der Wissensvermittlung. Zu einer neueren Publikation

Reflecting upon a recently published collection of essays dealing with the study of philosophy and theology at the religious study-houses (studia) and at the papal and royal court in the 13th and 14th century, the review-article presents an overview of the various approaches to researching the relevance of the institutional context for understanding the forms and doctrinal contents of the period’s intellectual production. On the basis of the volume under discussion, five basic approaches are identified and discussed: first, a focus on the institutional framework of education at the religious orders’ studia; second, a (re)reading of important works in the context of the studia’s teaching practices; third, the regional particularity of certain study-houses; fourth, the formative role of individual personalities for the order’s intellectual profile; and fifth, the papal and fifth, the papal and royal court as specific setting of some influential philosophical and theological debates.

CULTURE AS HISTORY: ENVISIONING CHANGE ACROSS AND BEYOND “EASTERN” AND “WESTERN” CIVILIZATIONS IN THE MAY FOURTH ERA

This essay examines an influential debate that took place during China's May Fourth era (circa 1915–1927) concerning the character of “Eastern” and “Western” civilizations. In this debate, both moderates and radicals wrestle with a growing awareness that cultures have not only a spatial existence but also a historical career, which has encouraged the development of certain institutions and attitudes and discouraged others. Spatial terms mark not only the places where knowledge circulates, but also the particular pasts-and thus futures-toward which Chinese thinkers align themselves. This way of figuring “East” and “West” enables May Fourth thinkers to do more than sort civilizational characteristics into categories of the inevitably universal and the irredeemably particular, as many commentators have assumed. It also facilitates the travel of cultural products and practices across the spatial as well as temporal boundaries originally seen to contain them.

Culture As History: Envisioning Change Across and Beyond "Eastern" and "Western" Civilizations in the May Fourth Era

This essay examines an influential debate that took place during China's May Fourth era (circa 1915–1927) concerning the character of "Eastern" and "Western" civilizations. In this debate, both moderates and radicals wrestle with a growing awareness that cultures have not only a spatial existence but also a historical career, which has encouraged the development of certain institutions and attitudes and discouraged others. Spatial terms mark not only the places where knowledge circulates, but also the particular pasts-and thus futures-toward which Chinese thinkers align themselves. This way of figuring "East" and "West" enables May Fourth thinkers to do more than sort civilizational characteristics into categories of the inevitably universal and the irredeemably particular, as many commentators have assumed. It also facilitates the travel of cultural products and practices across the spatial as well as temporal boundaries originally seen to contain them.

Education for All: where does religion come in?

What roles do religions play in meeting global education challenges? This article explores five potential avenues for action: advocacy, service delivery, pluralism‐focused curricula to further religious literacy, theological training for social justice, and addressing values challenges in education. Despite growing contemporary advocacy by religious institutions – individual as well as interfaith – for global education objectives, the effort is suboptimal. Faith institutions play important but complex and often under‐appreciated roles in overall global education. Poor data and controversy about public and private roles in education can contribute to religion’s exclusion from many influential debates. Outstanding institutions that strive to increase access to education and exemplify quality can better serve as models of excellence. Faith leaders and institutions offer particular advantages in meeting the pivotal challenges of education for marginalised groups and conflict‐ridden societies. Education about religion is a thorny contemporary challenge, yet religious ‘illiteracy’ can be an obstacle to social harmony and enrichment. Religion is very much at issue as explicit and shared values are increasingly seen as critical to democratic societies and to reinforcing social cohesion.

Confronting Contradictions: Genre Subversion and Feminist Politics in Agnès Varda's L'une chante, l'autre pas

French filmmaker Agnès Varda's career has been largely defined by contradiction. She is acknowledged as influential, yet often discussed independently from the advanced filmmaking practices and intellectual debates of her New Wave generation. Her musical, L'une chante, l'autre pas, was particularly misunderstood: film critics and feminist scholars praised the film's feminist storyline, but found that the unexpected musical numbers undercut the seriousness of the feminist message, resulting in a film that is ultimately incongruous. Through archival excavation of Varda's sources, I argue that the film's incongruity was in fact intentional, an expansion of advanced filmmaking theories and strategies, in dialogue with influential Brechtian texts and contemporary feminist debates. This essay reveals specific social and economic factors that influenced the production and reception of the film and reconsiders apparent contradictions in Varda's career.

Illuminating the Details of Deep Time

Worlds Before Adam . The Reconstruction of Geohistory in the Age of Reform. By Martin J. S. Rudwick . University of Chicago Press, Chicago, 2008. 638 pp. $49, £25.50. ISBN 9780226731285. The author examine a selection of influential scientific debates on geologic topics between 1820 and 1845, some of which were focused on the details of particular moments in what all agreed were the long histories of Earth and life while others addressed putative causes of the patterns.

Lessons to Take Home From CATIE

Lessons to Take Home From CATIE

APOLOGETIC MODERNITY

What is the conceptual status of modernity in the Muslim world? Scholars describe Muslim attempts at appropriating this European idea as being either derivative or incomplete, with a few calling for multiple modernities to allow modern Islam some autonomy. Such approaches are critical of the apologetic way in which Muslims have grappled with the idea of modernity, the purity and autonomy of the concept of which is apparently compromised by its derivative and incomplete appropriation. None have attended to the conceptual status of this apologetic itself, though it is certainly the most important element in Muslim debates on the modern. This essay considers the adoption of modernity as an idea among Muslim intellectuals in nineteenth-century India, a place in which some of the earliest and most influential debates on Islam's modernity occurred. It argues that Muslim apologetics created a modernity whose rejection of purity and autonomy permitted it a distinctive conceptual form.

‘A debt was paid off in tears’: Science, IOC politics and the debate about high altitude in the 1968 Mexico City Olympics

The 1968 Olympics in Mexico City are best remembered for many significant events including the student riots that occurred outside the venues prior to the opening ceremonies, the protests by African-American athletes on the medal stand, the drug-testing of athletes for the first time, and the sex-testing of female athletes. Prior to the Games, however, the most hotly debated topic surrounding the Games was what might be the effect of high altitude on athletic performance. The 1968 Mexico City Olympics are an ideal vehicle through which the history of scientific, particularly physiological, research in relation to athletic performance can be examined. The goal of this study is to initiate a greater understanding of the place of scientific research within athletics, and more specifically, within the Olympic Movement, by focusing on the influential debate about altitude's impact on athletics in the years leading up to the Mexico City Games.

Evaluating Alternative Approaches to Social Work: A Critical Review of the Strengths Perspective

This article provides students and practitioners with a framework for assessing new or alternative approaches to social work practice. Drawing on the work of Sibeon (1990), I examine approaches to social work theory, the nature of social work, and the relationship between theory and practice; and present a typology for the assessment of social work theory. I look at the strengths perspective in social work (SPSW) (Saleebey, 1997) as an example of an alternative approach and critique it against Sibeon's (1990) typology and in light of two influential debates that have influenced discussions about the nature of social work, namely, welfarism and postmodernism. The article concludes that a framework for assessment enables critical analysis and reflection of different practice theories. Further, it allows for the review of established theory and practice assumptions and the degree to which alternative assumptions challenge or support existing approaches.

Recognition, Redistribution and Representation in Capitalist Global Society

Nancy Fraser is a Henry A. and Louise Loeb Professor in the Departments of Philosophy and Political Science of the Graduate Faculty of the New School for Social Research, New York, USA, and is considered one of the leading theorists within the 1990s recognition theoretical turn. She works with analyses of contemporary societal developments from a normatively informed position. Her analytical framework is applicable to current, empirical studies of struggles about recognition and she relates them to classic struggles of redistribution. Her thinking is located in the intersection between feminist theory, critical theory and post-structuralism. In Justice Interruptus (1997a) Fraser identifies a shift in the grammar of political claimsmaking, where struggles for recognition are becoming the paradigmatic form of political conflict and struggles for egalitarian redistribution are declining. In her view, however, recognition and redistribution present two analytically distinct but empirically interrelated reasons for struggle in capitalist, post-Fordist societies, namely struggles about socio-economic (re)distribution, and struggles about cultural recognition such as identity politics. Based on this insight, she outlines a new dual theory of justice encompassing both redistribution and recognition in contrast to the liberal canon of, most notably, John Rawls (1971)1 and Charles Taylor (1994).2 Fraser's accomplishments include the prestigious Tanner Lectures at Stanford University and the Spinoza Lectures at the University of Amsterdam, as well as numerous books and articles, of which Unruly Practices (1989), Justice Interruptus (1997a) and Redistribution or Recognition? A Political-Philosophical Exchange (2003) are the most notable. This last book was written along with Axel Honneth, the successor of Jurgen Habermas at Johann-Wolfgang-Goethe University, Frankfurt am Main, and the director of the Institute for Social Research (Institut fur Sozialforschung) as the result of an ongoing debate on the concept of recognition its relation to justice, ethics and social theory. Fraser has also been involved in influential debates with several feminists concerning her theory of justice and the uses (and abuses) of post-structuralist theories (Benhabib et al., 1994; Butler 1997; Young, 1997; Fraser, 1997a, b, c). Expounding a feminist critique of critical theory and introducing the alternative concept of 'subaltern counter publics', she has discussed the male bias of the concept of the public sphere with several other representatives of critical theory, including Jiirgen Habermas (Fraser, 1997a). A lot more could be said about Fraser's work and her theoretical enquiries, but why not let her talk for herself. This interview was undertaken in May 2003 when Fraser visited the