Modern Liberal Research Articles

Révéler une autre domination acosmique: La critique arendtienne du libéralisme

Hannah Arendt is famous for her influential and innovative analysis of totalitarianism. However, her thinking on political systems and ideologies is far from limited to this theorization. Arendt also criti-cizes modern liberalism and its ideological framework. Indeed, Arendt’s thought reveals many of the political consequences of world-lessness, the loss of the world in contemporary times, particularly in terms of a sense of disempowerment and the advent of a technical vision of politics. This article looks at the political effects of world-lessness, exploring the emerging opposition between liberal post-politics and conservative hyper-politics. This critique of Arendt’s thought can help us better understand the issues and questions raised by liberalism.

The Global New Woman and the Invention of Modern Feminism

The Global New Woman and the Invention of Modern Feminism

Jane Austen's Feminist Journey: From Enlightenment Sparks to Contemporary Discourse

This paper explores the multifaceted feminist themes woven throughout Jane Austen's novels. It delves into how Austen, a product of the Enlightenment era, critiques the societal constraints placed upon women in Regency England. Through witty dialogue and social commentary, Austen exposes the limitations on female agency, particularly regarding marriage, property ownership, and self-determination. The paper utilizes in-depth analysis to trace the evolution of Austen's feminist voice across her works. It unveils her subtle yet powerful critiques of patriarchal structures, highlighting the intersection of power and privilege within Austen's narratives. Furthermore, it emphasizes the importance of intersectionality in understanding the diverse experiences of women within her novels, acknowledging the impact of class and social status on their struggles. Finally, the paper underscores Austen's enduring legacy as a pioneering feminist voice. Her timeless novels continue to resonate with contemporary readers, sparking discussions about gender equality, female agency, and the fight for social change. Austen's work serves as a bridge between Enlightenment ideals and modern feminist discourse, solidifying her position as a literary icon whose influence transcends generations.

TRANSFORMATION OF THE FAMILY INSTITUTION: SOCIOLOGICAL ANALYSIS OF NEW CHANGES IN MARRIAGE AND FAMILY RELATIONSHIPS

The emergence of new positions on the issues of gender equality and justice, as they arise in the context of social liberalism and economic reconstruction, serve to ensure equality between men and women. Furthermore, they facilitate the advent of novel approaches to the birth and upbringing of children, and accelerate the transformation of the family institution. The reconciliation of new positions in marriage-family relations and the succession of generations represents an urgent problem that requires sociological analysis. The authors of the article conducted an analysis of the system of sociological theoretical and methodological concepts aimed at explaining the changes in the institution of the family. They also conducted a secondary analysis of the sociological research data (N: 1,200 respondent) on the topic “Kazakhstan Families – 2022”, which was conducted by the NJSC “Kazakhstan Institute of Public Development”. This multifaceted approach enabled the identification and analysis of the changes occurring in marriage and family relations in Kazakhstan. The findings of the analysis indicated that the attitudes and stances of Kazakhstani individuals with regard to the family are characterised by a degree of conservatism. Furthermore, the findings of the study indicate that Kazakhstani individuals place a high value on traditional family values and strive to maintain them. Nevertheless, the most significant value for a contemporary family is care and mutual respect, as well as support, which in the modern era is referred to as an “ecological relationship”. A conceptual analysis of the transformation of the family institution and its interpretation in practice through the results of sociological research has the potential to inform theoretical and methodological decisions in the development of proposals for the regulation of marriage-family relations for submission to state structures and research institutes.

The Future of Conservatism?

AbstractThe Case for Conservatism is the first report of the Onward think tank's Commission on The Future of Conservatism. It examines present discontents and offers a set of principles for addressing them. It argues that Conservatives need to shift their ideological position away from the economic liberalism of Margaret Thatcher and the social liberalism of David Cameron and adopt a position which is socially conservative and economically interventionist in order to rebuild a successful electoral coalition and an effective programme for government. They seek to re‐found Conservatism on the pillars of family, community and nation, and the obligations of citizenship rather than the freedom of the individual. They provide a distinctive voice on where Conservatism has gone wrong and how it should change, but they may struggle to become the dominant voice shaping the party's future, because the doctrines of economic liberalism still command strong support.

The Influence of Patriarchal Consciousness on Disney Princess Movies

Based on the background of the three great waves of feminism in the United States, this article examines the transformation of the image of the princess in Disney films, analyses the association between patriarchal consciousness and Disney princess films through the literature research method of studying Disney princess films literature, provides a basis for the general laws derived through the case study method of the specific analysis of specific films, and provides an interpretation of the plight of women under patriarchy, thus finding that in Disney The princess image in Disney films actually weakens the objective dilemmas experienced by women in reality, but instead creates new anxieties for the female community. This paper attempts to re-examine Disney princess films from a modern feminist perspective, helping the reader to divest herself of a perspective dominated by patriarchal consciousness and to become aware of issues that have not been generally recognized in the Disney princess series.

Moral Commendation of Feminism in the 21st Century Variety Show: A Case Study of Chinese Popular Female Gender Highlighted Variety Show

There is a series of questions interrelated with modern feminism issues which include how women are awarded moral prizes in contemporary variety shows, the forms of moral prizes, how traditional women's moral prizes are baptized by contemporary moral principles as a kind of moral shackling, and how moral changes indirectly affect the moral prizes for men. The answers to these questions will be discussed in this study. The study makes a preliminary analysis of the aesthetic planning, dance lyrics, dress, and makeup of the variety show "Sister who breaks the waves". By doing that it can be found out how capital gives moral commendation to women by arranging directors and choreographers. Through in-depth interviews with women, people can understand their life journey, and learn about how women grow up. All these lead to accomplishing more than a superficial moral reward for them.

M.N. Muravyov and “Potapovshchina’: an Attempt at Oblivion

In the article the author examines the main directions of Vilna Governor General M.N. Muravyov’s activity in the years of 1863 – 1865. He pays special attention to the issues of national and social liberation of Western Russian peasants in the context of the reconquista and Russian North-Western territories decolonization. He also examines ideological changes of Russian society under the impact of the Polish uprising. He attempts to offer comparative analysis of Muravyov’s phenomenon and that of the so-called “Potapovshchina” in connection of the fi rst experience of the forced oblivion of the Vilna Governor General’s name and work.

A Study of Female Growth Narrative of Greta Gerwigs Coming-of-age Film

This article introduces the development of feminist films, explores the combination of coming-of-age films and feminism, and introduces Greta Gerwigs film history and her film works in the past six years. First, the article introduces the famous women director-Greta Gerwig and her career as an actress and director. Second, it introduces the background of the three films. Through the introduction of three films in the past six years, the paper believes that Greta Gerwig has formed her own unique style of female coming-of-age films. Third, this paper treats of the three ways that Greta Gerwig developed her style. These three ways are: highlighting the female perspective of the film through the mumblecore style, showing the diversity of modern feminist narratives through multiple narratives, and challenging the patriarchal world through the image of an object gazed at by men. Through unique cinematic practice, Greta Gerwig increasingly shows her own characteristics in feminist coming-of-age films.

‘It is not about beauty … or is it?’ Fashion, body positivity and authenticity in micro-celebrities affective practices online

This article focuses on Italian micro-celebrities and their engagement with body positivity within the framework of affective labour and authenticity performances online, specifically through Instagram. The body positivity discourse has been embraced by very different subjects, negotiating sometimes conflicting ideals such as empowerment, social liberation, commercial exploitation and neo-liberal individualistic co-optation of the same values. Among many, I will focus on two accounts: influencer/content creator Muriel (@murielxo) and content creator Denise D’Angelilli (@dueditanelcuore). Muriel and Denise D’Angelilli are two different examples of how many young female micro-celebrities discuss issues such as beauty standards, harmful stereotypes against non-conforming bodies and female empowerment, mostly starting from their own experiences, sharing intimate accounts of their lives and images of their bodies. This type of sharing can be framed as a specific type of affective labour performed by creators negotiating their online presence and self-branding through a performance of authenticity. Moreover, the article focuses on their adoption of peculiar fashion practices and fashion choices and how these practices contribute to their ongoing narrative around authenticity and body positivity. While in the case of Muriel we have a ‘professional’ content creator who builds her online persona through the more institutional co-optation of fashion language, sponsored content and modelling jobs, @dueditanelcuore is insistently using her apparent lack of interest in fashion as a marker of an authentic self. Far from being genuinely opposite, I argue that both strategies are part of a constant negotiation between ‘authentic’ empowerment and post-feminist individualism that permeates online conversations around body positivity.

Work-family trajectories across Europe: differences between social groups and welfare regimes.

Work and family trajectories develop and interact over the life course in complex ways. Previous studies drew a fragmented picture of these trajectories and had limited scope. We provide the most comprehensive study of early-to-midlife work-family trajectories to date. Using retrospective data from waves 3 and 7 of the Survey of Health, Aging and Retirement in Europe (SHARE), we reconstructed work-family trajectories from age 15 to 49 among almost 80,000 individuals born between 1908 and 1967 across 28 countries. We applied multichannel sequence and cluster analysis to identify typical trajectories and multinomial logistic regression models to uncover their social composition. The results revealed six common trajectories. The dominant and therefore standard trajectory represents continuous full-time employment with having a partner and children. Women, the lower educated and persons from conservative and liberal welfare regimes are underrepresented in this trajectory, whereas men, higher educated people and those from social-democratic, Eastern European and Baltic welfare regimes are overrepresented. The other trajectories denote a deviation from the standard one, integrating a non-standard form of work with standard family formation or vice versa. Mothers in a stable relationship generally work part-time or not at all. When mostly in full-time employment, women are more likely to be divorced. Lower educated persons are less likely to have work-family trajectories characterized by full-time work and a non-standard family, yet more likely to be non-employed for large parts of their life with standard family formation. Younger cohorts are underrepresented in non-employment trajectories, but overrepresented in part-time employment trajectories along with a partner and children as well as full-time employment trajectories with divorce. Individuals from Southern European and liberal regimes are more likely to be non-working and self-employed partnered parents and those from social-democratic regimes are more likely to be full-time employed divorced parents. We also found pronounced gender differences in how educational level, birth cohort and welfare regime are associated with work-family trajectories from early to midlife. Our findings highlight the socially stratified nature of earlier-life work-family trajectories in Europe. Potential implications for inequalities in later life are discussed.

Hume’s liberalism based on Scottish jurisprudence

This study develops a view of Hume’s is/ought distinction as an extension of Scottish jurisprudence that, in turn, was influenced by Pufendorf’s discussion of entia moralia. Further, it investigates the unique role that Hume’s sentimentalism played in the production of elements in the context of liberalism under the rule of law, independently of previous philosophical traditions.First, we observe that Hume’s is/ought distinction corresponds to a distinction between uncivilized and civilized entities, rather than between amoral rationality and moral passions. Next, analyzing Hume’s argument for “moral evidence,” we find that such evidence is necessary for various activities, such as consent or trading, in the field of moral entities as civil societies. Finally, a study of Hume’s stance with respect to civil and common laws shows that his moral sentimentalism, which includes the is/ought distinction and moral evidence, suggests a new possibility for social development that is distinct from previous rational forms of jurisprudence. From this discussion, a unique sprout of modern liberalism can be seen in Hume’s theory of justice.

Artistic specificity of the image of a woman in the novel K. Tuchkova «Vyhnání Gerty Schnirch»

In the article examines the artistic features of «women's literature» in modern Czech literature. In recent decades, in the literature of various countries, we have observed an increase in the activities of female writers. Feminism and gender studies, which arose earlier, contributed to the formation of the image of a new woman in an artistic work, to the interpretation of events from the point of view of gender. Bozhena Nemtsova and Karolina Svetla, representatives of the last wave of the Czech national movement, started the tradition of «women's literature» in Czech literature. In modern Czech literature, the work of K. Tuchkova occupies an important place. The object of our research is the novel by the modern Czech writer K. Tuchkova «Vyhnání Gerty Schnirch», which is considered from the standpoint of feminist criticism The literary activity of K. Tuchkova is the subject of a complex analysis by Czech literary critics, however, her works have not yet received proper research in Ukraine, and our article is thought of as one of the first steps in this direction. In her novel «Vyhnání Gerty Schnirch» attention is focused on the depiction of acute social cataclysms from a woman's point of view. The novel has a clearly structured composition: it consists of a prologue and five chronologically consecutive chapters. «Vyhnání Gerty Schnirch» is considered in the context of the pan-European artistic trend, taking into account modern feminist studies. K. Tuchkova's prose continues the literary tradition of women's writing that has developed in Czech literature. The central role of female characters, close attention to the role of a woman as a mother, depiction of large-scale historical events from a female perspective, socio-didactic orientation — all this testifies to the high skill of the writer and assigns her a proper place in the modern literary process.

Interpreting Women in Historical Dramas from a Feminist Perspective

Since Chinese TV dramas have been in full swing, women have been playing an increasingly important role in TV dramas, echoing the contemporary social theme of feminism, such as the transformation of roles from housewife to strong woman. For example, from housewives to career women, women have their own unique artistic images in TV dramas. Contemporary TV dramas allow us to see the image of women in different periods of China, especially in historical TV dramas, where the way of womens survival and development is more meaningful to explore in the context of patriarchal and male-centered society and the ancient idea of balance, and the female roles in them are diverse, such as in Qing Ping Lue and The Story of Minglan, which are going to be explored in this paper. This paper will translate the language of female characters in TV dramas into modern feminism through specific cases, analyze its commonalities with modern new womens consciousness, and explain the reasons and processes of its development. At the same time, it will promote the dissemination of feminism in our daily life and raise its status by giving feasible solutions to specific cases.

The Spiritual Turn: The Religion of the Heart and the Making of Romantic Liberal Modernity, By Galen Watts

The Spiritual Turn: The Religion of the Heart and the Making of Romantic Liberal Modernity, By Galen Watts

Vision for a sustainable energy transition and decarbonization: A case study of students surveyed at a Chilean University

This study analyzes public perception towards the energy transition and decarbonization in Chile, and how these preferences change with political ideology, as well as distance between power plant installations and people’s homes. Due to a lack of scientific research on civil society preferences for energy production in Chile, we used a convenience sample and conducted a survey among future decision makers (current university students) to identify which factors impact their acceptance or rejection of energy sources. In addition, we asked them about their vision for the future energy mix. In total, 164 valid questionnaires were collected. Results show that the level of acceptance and preference changes with political ideology, with social liberals being more willing to change their lifestyle and increase their willingness to pay for a faster inclusion of clean technologies in the energy mix. Higher levels of education increase this willingness to pay. The level of acceptance decreases up to 56% for solar and wind when the installation is located within a radius less than 5 km from the population’s homes. The level of rejection is 97% for hydroelectricity and 99% for non-renewable power plants if they are located at distances lower than 5 km. The decentralization of energy policy decisions and the consideration of local society would be relevant for an energy transition towards renewable sources.

Literacy and Liberation in Baby Halder’s A Life Less Ordinary

Autobiographical narratives offer a platform for marginalised voices to express their experiences. A Life Less Ordinary, translated into English in 2006, portrays the life experiences of Baby Halder and sheds light on the experiences of Dalit women. Born into a poverty-stricken family, Halder is forced into marriage and motherhood — a reflection of the expectations imposed on women in her community. The title of the memoir underlines the remarkable journey of a marginalised woman who is anything but ordinary. Due to adverse circumstances, Halder was compelled to leave her home and venture out in search of employment. Becoming a domestic worker helped her earn a living. Her book takes us on a turbulent journey from a childhood in a broken family to being forced into marriage at the tender age of twelve, enduring an abusive husband, and ultimately defying societal norms by leaving him and starting work outside her household. According to Ranajit Guha’s definition of the subaltern, Baby Halder embodies three “attributes of subordination”: gender, caste, and poverty. Halder’s wish to fill the gap left in her formal education motivated her to read and write her life story. This paper explores how literacy opens up opportunities for knowledge, self-discovery, and critical thinking, enabling her to question and challenge the norms that once defined her life. It showcases how education can bring about transformation in the life of a marginalised woman striving for personal and social liberation.

A Feminist Analysis of George Bernard Shaw’s Mrs. Warren’s Profession: The Concept of the “New Woman”

Mrs. Warren’s Profession was written in 1893 by the Irish critic and dramatist George Bernard Shaw, who introduced social realism to the British stage. First performed in 1902 in London, the text is a social critique satirizing the stereotypical Victorian norms. Reflecting Shaw’s feminist ideals, the play also contributed to the development of the feminist movement. Mrs. Warren’s Profession introduces the “New Woman” type who rebels against the stereotyped female representations and male-centered conventions of the nineteenth century. The play mainly revolves around a controversial taboo topic, prostitution. Shaw dramatizes this profession through the two untraditional female characters. Kitty Warren is an audacious woman running a brothel to provide her daughter with better life and education standards and Vivie is a highly-educated and independent woman who expostulates her mother for her profession. Mrs. Warren’s Profession stresses that it is the social, economic and moral ills of the society that lead women to choose this profession. This paper, from a feminist lens, links these two non-conformist characters to navigate the ways through which the concept of the “New Woman” is represented. This paper also investigates how these characters protest against the stereotypical female roles imposed on them to gain an autonomous identity within society. Thus, this study, through these two female characters, reveals how this play dethrones the myth of the “Angel in the House,” the ideal Victorian woman, and sheds light on the modern feminism.

Policy instruments attitudes and support for government responses against Covid‐19

AbstractAn individual's political attitudes have been documented as the most important predictor of acceptance of government measures against the COVID‐19 pandemic. Their effect, however, is somewhat unclear and cannot be reduced to one dimension. In this article, we test whether general attitudes toward policy instruments might, together with left–right orientation, authoritarianism, social liberalism, and attitudes to state intervention, explain attitudes to policy instruments used to combat COVID‐19. The predictiveness of models of attitudes toward three different types of policy instruments to address the COVID‐19 pandemic was tested using a study of Czech university students). We found that individuals' general attitudes toward policy instruments are best measured by posing direct survey questions. Structural equation modeling was used to estimate the independent effects of general attitudes toward three different types of policy instruments on attitudes toward specific policy instruments for combating COVID‐19. We found that an individuals' general tendency to prefer an information, regulatory, or economic instrument significantly affects their attitude toward specific policy solutions, even after controlling for political orientation. These results provide novel empirical evidence for the autonomy of policy instruments attitudes (APIA) theory. The general attitudes toward policy instrument types are reflected in individuals' attitudes toward specific policy instruments, such as those used to combat COVID‐19.

Satisfactory, but not enough: Liberalism’s outlooks on the Russian war in Ukraine

The Russian war against Ukraine is an attack on liberal values. This essay bases itself on the critical analysis of few selected exponents and defenders of modern liberalism in International Relations, which recently appeared in some media outlets and academic reviews. It critically engages with this International Relations’ theory and offers the advantages and limitations, interpretations, and outlook on it considering the aggression in Ukraine. Most of all, it discusses the advantages – security concerns, principles of ethics, defence of national independence, spread of democracy – and the disadvantages – security threats, fallacy of trade, geopolitical return of Russia, lack of State-level analysis – liberalism’s spectacles entails. Liberalism is convincing in analyzing the facts and has a good theoretical frame for exploring historical and geopolitical events. However, it risks being too naïve and incomplete in its diagnosis.