Pluralist State Research Articles

Fausto Redux: por uma nova edição do Fausto de Fernando Pessoa

This work discusses the fragmentary state of Pessoa’s Faust and the plurality of its editions. In the dramatic work of Fernando Pessoa, the recreation of Faust occupies a central role. Though Pessoa’s Faust is currently considered by critics as a “theater in ruins” (Gusmão [2003]), its main edition available presents a play supposedly organized in five acts (Pessoa, 1988). An examination of the documents that constitute this Faust reveals more than 200 disconnected fragments, mostly handwritten and undated – a puzzle whose only satisfactory solution is perhaps to accept its intrinsic incompleteness. A promising editorial possibility was presented by the University of Coimbra project Arquivo LdoD, dedicated to rethink the Book of Disquiet through an interactive online platform, with which a reader would be capable of reorganizing the textual fragments, generating her own personal anthology. This essay argues, thus, that a new edition of Pessoa’s Faust would be able to re-present the great Pessoan drama in a way to honor its state of fragment, plurality and labyrinth. FERNANDO PESSOA / FAUST / FRAGMENTS / VERSIFICATION / CRITICAL AND GENETIC EDITION

Authenticity, Power, and Pluralism: A Framework for Understanding Stakeholder Evaluations of Corporate Social Responsibility Activities

ABSTRACT:We explore the essential contestedness of corporate social responsibility (CSR) by framing the interplay between CSR activities and stakeholder evaluations as a contest for jurisdiction over what it means to be socially responsible. This contest arises because firms and stakeholders are often guided by incompatible sensemaking systems. To show why context matters we show how stakeholders evaluate the authenticity of CSR activities on the basis of schemas for responsible behavior on one hand and their perceptions of firm identity on the other. This process can generate complex evaluations whose meaning depends on the distribution of power in fields and the extent to which pluralistic sensemaking systems are compatible. By positioning authenticity evaluations within a framework that describes the state of power and pluralism within which they are produced, we are able to present a systematic explanation of how and why stakeholder responses to CSR vary over a range of settings.

Prefiguring the State

Merging means and ends, prefigurative politics perform life as it is wished-for, both to experience better practice and to advance change. This paper contributes to prefigurative thinking in three ways. It explores what it might mean to prefigure the state as a concept; takes its inspiration from a historical episode rather than imagined time ahead; and addresses what, if anything, prefigurative conceptions can do when practiced. Central to my discussion is the plural state—taking shape as micro, city, regional, national and global formations. Plural state thinking makes room for divergent kinds of states but does not necessarily foreground progressive ones. Thus, to explore in more detail a transformative left conception of the state, discussion turns to 1980s British municipal radicalism. Taking up this adventurous episode in governing as a “thinking tool”, an imaginary of the state as horizontal, everyday, activist and stewardly emerges.

Notas sobre el nacionalismo de Moulines

<p class='p1'>Este texto versa sobre un artículo de Ulises Moulines, publicado en el número 46 de Diánoia. El autor está de acuerdo con Moulines en sostener que “nación” es un concepto teórico, pero presenta varios comentarios críticos que pretenden precisar ese concepto: tiene que basarse en datos objetivamente comprobables y, sobre todo, proponer definiciones adecuadas de “nación” y “nacionalismo” que, a la vez, sean aplicables al derecho y eviten equívocos. Cualquier propuesta teórica sobre esos conceptos supone una crítica a la idea moderna del Estado-nación homogéneo y el proyecto de un Estado plural. </p>

Cluster governance: A practical way out of a congested state of governance plurality

Around the globe, government officials vigorously attempt to reinforce their own Silicon Somewhere. Doing that, however, proves to be tricky in large part due to the fact that cluster policy necessitates a new mode of governance, which changes the way cluster policy is formulated and government officials' role therein. Sub-optimality in participatory efforts, regrettably, signals that government officials have not yet fully adapted to this new reality. Transformation is still incomplete and hinges on a pragmatic outlook on how to actually accommodate this change in policy development. This paper aims to address the latter by introducing a new take on policy development and a specific institutional modality (centred on civic entrepreneurs) that incites a parallel learning process of strategic learning and institutional learning.

Disregard of Unconstitutional Laws in the Plural State Executive

In the past several years, top state officials from both major political parties have begun refusing to defend controversial laws against constitutional challenges. At the same time that they have rejected a duty to defend these laws, however, they have proclaimed a duty to continue enforcing them until the issuance of court judgments. In light of an emerging scholarly consensus that most state attorneys general (and, presumably, other top state officials) owe no legal duty to defend state laws that they consider unconstitutional, this paper argues that the supposed duty to enforce unconstitutional laws is no more real than the duty to defend them. Reviewing the text and structure of state constitutions, the paper contends that all state constitutions require governors to disregard unconstitutional laws, six state constitutions require the same of other top officials, and none prohibit the practice. The paper also explains that state constitutions place executive disregard in a more defensible position than does the federal Constitution. It then explores likely political and strategic motivations for the enforce-but-don’t-defend tactic. Finally, the paper recommends that non-enforcement accompany non-defense, suggesting — perhaps counterintuitively — that tying these two together will help ensure that statewide officials employ non-defense to advance genuine constitutional views rather than political agendas.

Da Constituição de Cádis à Constituição Federal de 1988: A Conquista da Cidadania Índigena no Brasil

O artigo tem como objetivo apontar um mecanismo para solução dos conflitos entre direitos fundamentais ou princípios constitucionais, mais especificamente do conflito entre a proteção das manifestações culturais imateriais de religiões de matriz africana, que utilizam animais de forma sacrificial, e a proteção do meio ambiente ecologicamente equilibrado, com ênfase na proteção da fauna. Os direitos fundamentais são estudados em sua gênese teórica e evolução legislativa, até a perspectiva atual do tratamento constitucional do tema. Ao final é oferecida uma técnica, que tenciona restringir os princípios de forma a possibilitar a permanência e realização de ambos, garantindo a efetividade constitucional.

For Comparative Theology's Christian Skeptics:An Invitation to Kenotic Generosity in the Religiously Pluralistic Situation

In present–day North America, with mosques and temples springing up a few streets from synagogues, cathedrals, and steepled church houses, a state of religious plurality is becoming undeniably more pronounced. In the wake of 9/11, the tensions ushered in by this shifting landscape are also increasing—not least for Christian believers who have shadowy notions of the religious “other” and are concerned about the realities of a pluralistic, post–Christian American society. Meanwhile, Christian scholars and practitioners engaged in the burgeoning field of comparative theology view this pluralistic situation not as a daunting challenge; rather, they view it in terms of its constructive potential. For them, religious pluralism is not an obstacle to be overcome but an opportunity for rich theological inquiry and practice. Thus, these comparative theologians urge their fellow Christians to take up a distinct form of conversation with the religious newcomer, guided by peaceful interreligious dialogue and the understanding that interreligious learning is a worthy aim.

SBR among targets for biotech firm Anellotech

Understanding the nature of power relations has been integral to debates in planning theory and planning practice since the 1960s. Current theoretical approaches to planning and power have evolved to a state of pluralism which impacts upon how planning is conceived of and practiced. We seek to examine power relations and knowledge via a multidisciplinary case study of an energy-from-waste (EfW) development based in South Wales. Centred on a highly contested technology, incineration, this case study incorporates in-depth, longitudinal interview data with social network analysis to build up a picture of competing framings of environmental health risk. In local environmental debates, planners are expected to be able to help resolve competition between conflicting interests and yet, in reality, such conflicts often appear intractable and have long been dubbed wicked problems. This is especially the case for waste management. In our in-depth case study, significant pre-existing power relations existed between the local planning authority (LPA), which was also the lead co-developer in the EfW project, and the local community. In terms of methods, we have been keen to unearth data that allows us to explore the nature of institutional and networked power as it plays out within a community over time. It is our contention that too often the dynamics of power have been underplayed because it is studied as a snapshot rather than over time. Here we have utilised a variety of methods – from key person interviews to social network analysis – to examine the application for development, the operation of the EfW and the closure of the plant – over a ten year time frame. By drawing upon a rich database we can better understand the ways in which, in the case of particularly contentious developments, power relations greatly hampered efforts at public participation. Our nuanced methodological approach reveals empirical evidence for tensions in theoretical approaches to power relations in the planning arena and we can identify how debates can move forward based on a more geographically informed perspective.

Networks, power and knowledge in the planning system: A case study of energy from waste

Understanding the nature of power relations has been integral to debates in planning theory and planning practice since the 1960s. Current theoretical approaches to planning and power have evolved to a state of pluralism which impacts upon how planning is conceived of and practiced. We seek to examine power relations and knowledge via a multidisciplinary case study of an energy-from-waste (EfW) development based in South Wales. Centred on a highly contested technology, incineration, this case study incorporates in-depth, longitudinal interview data with social network analysis to build up a picture of competing framings of environmental health risk. In local environmental debates, planners are expected to be able to help resolve competition between conflicting interests and yet, in reality, such conflicts often appear intractable and have long been dubbed wicked problems. This is especially the case for waste management. In our in-depth case study, significant pre-existing power relations existed between the local planning authority (LPA), which was also the lead co-developer in the EfW project, and the local community. In terms of methods, we have been keen to unearth data that allows us to explore the nature of institutional and networked power as it plays out within a community over time. It is our contention that too often the dynamics of power have been underplayed because it is studied as a snapshot rather than over time. Here we have utilised a variety of methods – from key person interviews to social network analysis – to examine the application for development, the operation of the EfW and the closure of the plant – over a ten year time frame. By drawing upon a rich database we can better understand the ways in which, in the case of particularly contentious developments, power relations greatly hampered efforts at public participation. Our nuanced methodological approach reveals empirical evidence for tensions in theoretical approaches to power relations in the planning arena and we can identify how debates can move forward based on a more geographically informed perspective.

¿Del estado de derecho al estado de los jueces?

Las transformaciones de los Estados que han reconocido el pluralismo jurídico desde su accionar han traído consigo diversos cambios en los paradigmas del derecho, es por esta razón que el presente texto busca responder el siguiente interrogante: ¿Se cambió de un Estado de Derecho al Estado de los Jueces en los estados plurales?, para solucionar esta se acudió principalmente al análisis de documentos a partir de una forma analítica deductiva, la creación de marcos analíticos, y se realizó un estudio de caso sobre la jurisprudencia de los pueblos indígenas. Los resultados obtenidos reflejan cómo, sí bien, no ha cambiado el paradigma del Estado los jueces se convirtieron en unos actores estratégicos para materializar estos nuevos derechos, lo que impacta de forma directa el derecho y sus actores produciendo una necesidad de comprender, aplicar y enseñar, elementos diferentes a los tradicionales.

Migrants at Sea: A Duty of Plural States to Protect (Extraterritorially)?

Although migration is a transnational phenomenon involving a plurality of states, the state of departure is often unwilling/unable to offer protection. Receiving/transit states can refrain from engaging with the problem until migrants have already entered their territory. With high seas, this can result in the deaths of people taking the risk of travelling to a new place. The article argues that states have a duty to offer (some) protection even when migrants are not in their territory, based on human rights’ positive effect and the principle of due diligence. Because of the transnational nature of migration, all involved states have the responsibility to offer protection. This may lead to concurrent state liability for failure to protect. The duty to protect may extend to the high seas, even when the traditional links for the establishment of jurisdiction are absent. The duty is not unlimited, it needs to prevail over other considerations.

Incremental Forward Kinematics of Wire-Suspended Parallel Mechanical System (A Many-Worlds Interpretation Approach)

In this paper, we discuss an incremental forward kinematics of wire-suspended mechanical systems. In order to deal with a mechanical system of this type, we have to take into account the characteristic property of a wire, in that it cannot take any compressive force. We give a general formulation and its solution of the incremental forward kinematics problem taking account of the slack condition of a wire. We also consider the influence of displacement of the mass center position of the suspended platform on the kinematic behavior of the system. An interval arithmetic approach is proposed to deal with the uncertainty in the kinematic parameters. One of the important points is that the number of possible solutions of the formulated incremental kinematics problem is often more than one. We introduce a kind of parallelism, referred to as the “many-worlds interpretation” taken from the quantum mechanics theory, to this problem and offer an approach to deal with plural possible kinematic states simultaneously. The developed approach is based on basic equations in general form and is applicable to various wire-suspended mechanical systems. The feasibility of the proposed incremental kinematics approach is demonstrated by example calculations of three-, six-, and eight-wire systems. On the basis of the example forward kinematics calculation results, we conclude the following. The influence of displacement of mass center position of the platform is not insignificant. The number of possible kinematic states becomes large in the case of the neighborhood of singular configuration. In spite of an incremental kinematics based on linearization, the required computational cost of the proposed parallelism approach is considerable; it is, however, demonstrated that the proposed approach is still fairly practical from the viewpoint of computation. The developed approach cannot deal with drastic change in kinematic configuration in a single incremental step, since it is based on linearization of the kinematic relation; however, the approach can distinguish such discontinuity.

Incremental Inverse Kinematics of Wire-Suspended Parallel Mechanical System Taking into Account Many-Worlds Situation

Wire-suspended platform is a parallel mechanical system consisting of a rigid platform and a number of length-adjustable wires. In order to deal with the kinematics of this type of mechanical system, we have to take into account the conspicuous characteristic of a wire that it can take only a tensile force. It has been demonstrated in the previous studies that this leads to plural possible kinematic states corresponding to a given set of wire lengths. In this study, we formulate an inverse kinematics problem in an incremental form based on the linearization of the kinematic relation of the system. Displacement of the mass center position of the platform is also taken into account for the articulation variables, in addition to the wire member lengths. A solution procedure that deals with the many-worlds situation is developed under the assumption of some adequate sensing devices. Numerical experiments based on computer simulation are carried out and the feasibility of the proposed approach is demonstrated with the attained kinematic motions of the simulated platform system.

Apartheid, Religious Pluralism, and the Evolution of the Right to Religious Freedom in South Africa

The apartheid history of South Africa contains racial and religious discrimination, both running parallel to and supporting each other. South Africa's exodus from a society of forced religious homogeneity to one of celebrating religious pluralism adds valuable and unique patterns of thought to the promotion of religious pluralism and religious freedom. A brief history is presented of religion within the context of racial discrimination and eventual democracy in South Africa. The current plural religious demography of South Africa is presented to create a sense of the extent of diversity in the country and the extent of religious pluralism that should be considered for today. This demographical position necessitates an investigation into the current legal position on dealing with such a religiously plural state as well as the challenges it presents. This is also necessary in order to present the evolution of religious pluralism in an oppressive state to the right to religious freedom in democratic South Africa. This evolution can also serve as an example internationally to countries struggling with the issue of religious pluralism. The article is also of importance to sensitise South Africa to existing and escalating challenges against religious pluralism within the country.

Gender and Welfare Regimes Revised - Connecting Danish and Chinese Perspectives

China and Denmark could hardly be more different cases for comparison: a huge developing one-party state set against a small post-industrial plural state. Despite these significant and categorical differences, however, both states are faced with similar challenges when it comes to changing demographic patterns, with more elderly persons in need of both care and support, coupled with smaller working-age populations to deliver that care and support. Mapping and comparing the combinations of welfare regarding care for the elderly in China and Denmark reveals serious inequalities of class, gender and generation. Both states are in principle fully committed to the wellbeing of all citizens through universal welfare state protection, but in reality both rely very much on market and civil society solutions, which leaves the population strongly differentiated and polarized, not only when it comes to gender and generation, but also with respect to class. The conclusion is that Denmark and China are converging towards a model of welfare combinations set within an overall framework of universalism. The most important lines of conflict revolve around generation, though class and gender also remain influential.

Politics of Secularism and the State of Religious Pluralism in Bangladesh

Politics of Secularism and the State of Religious Pluralism in Bangladesh

Do state traditions matter? Comparing deliberative governance initiatives for climate change adaptation in Dutch corporatism and British pluralism

In the emerging field of climate adaptation, deliberative governance initiatives are proposed to yield better adaptation strategies. However, introducing these network-centred deliberations between public and private players may contrast with institutionalized traditions of interest intermediation between state and society. This paper shows how these so-called state traditions affect the processes and outcomes of newly set up deliberative governance initiatives. Because of the similarities in geographical characteristics and the differences in state tradition we conducted a qualitative case study comparison of Dutch and British water management. Our comparison is two-fold. First, we compare deliberative governance initiatives in the different state traditions of the Netherlands and UK. Second, we compare the newly set up deliberative governance initiative to an existing policy regime mainstreaming climate adaptation in a similar state tradition, in our case the Netherlands. We find that: (1) deliberative governance initiatives in the corporatist state tradition of the Netherlands yields learning but shows apathy among politically elected decision-makers compared to deliberative governance initiatives in the pluralist state tradition of the UK where clearly defined rules and responsibilities yields negotiation and action; and (2) a typical corporatist policy regime mainstreaming climate adaption in a corporatist state tradition yields effective and legitimate policy formation but lacks learning.

Right to the Holy Word. A Brief Approach to Linguistic Claims in a Pluri-cultural Public Sphere: An Italian Case-Study

Evaluating linguistic rights—or any type of claim in legislation on the basis of cultural differences—is a difficult task for legal professionals working within the framework of the contemporary pluralistic state. This paper lays down some simple methodological guidelines for the assessment and classification of these rights by recently established minority religious groups in Europe, especially Islamic groups in Italy, within a democratic and pluralist polity. It is divided into two sections. The first concerns the definition and interpretation of “culture” as a legal good, as depicted from many kinds of international and constitutional provisions on the subject. The second deals with language rights of Muslim communities in the Italian legal system.

Politics and Opposition in Kuwait: Continuity and Change

This article examines the post-2006 political instability in Kuwait in light of the historical processes of political development in the emirate. It illustrates how recurring patterns of political contestation have resulted in a hybrid system divided uneasily between an elected assembly and an appointed government. The article identifies the tensions in Kuwait's political system resulting from the steady rise in the bar of political opposition over the past decade as well as mounting imbalances within both the ruling family and the political opposition. As boundaries of permissible activity have been tested and exceeded, neither the al-Sabah nor the established political groups have known how to respond, making Kuwait politics at once dynamic, fluid, and relentlessly unstable. Neither an archetypal monarchy nor a genuinely pluralistic state, Kuwait defies easy categorisation and merits special attention as the “rules of the game” are being rewritten in an intensely politicised and increasingly heated atmosphere.