Previous Historical Periods Research Articles

Self-Determination and Indigenous Peoples in International Law

In an era of pragmatism, dominated by institutions in international law, scholars have so far failed to move away from longstanding elitist attitudes and practices regarding the politics of power inherent in international relations and in international law. To no surprise, questions of universality and particularity keep recurring with little hope of resolution. This is especially evident in the arena of international human rights law, where human rights discourse claims universality while remaining deeply embedded in the colonial sources of the international legal order. At the same time, such rights discourses offer promises of liberation by mobilizing marginalized peoples everywhere. By focusing on indigenous1 rights in international law, this investigation seeks to engage with a larger contemporary inquiry into the universalist aspirations of the public international legal order and the continued debate over the possibility of globally accepted human rights. As a result of a state-centred international legal order, the unresolved status of indigenous claims unfolds in the context of a global struggle over universal human rights, where indigenous rights do not seem to be easily recognizable in either the national or international arena. This analysis will examine the struggle over the recognition of indigenous peoples as subjects under public international law and their right to self determination as expressed in Articles 1 and 55 of the UN Charter, as well as in common Article 1 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR). Three guiding questions will orient the analysis. First, Part II will address whether the established human rights discourse can serve as a strategic tool for indigenous peoples, or whether it works to delegitimize indigenous discourses and world views. Second, Part III examines the difference, if any, between the present situation of indigenous peoples in international law from that of previous historical periods. And finally, Part IV asks whether a contradiction exists between the right to self-determination as a liberating, legal instrument, and the current politics of national reconciliation that purport to bring peace and security.

The institutionalization of community interventions in Chile: characteristics and contradictions.

A critical analysis of the consequences of successive institutionalization of community intervention in Chile is presented. This analysis is based on research of current community interventions in Chile, whose results are compared with Chilean community practice from previous historical periods. Chilean community intervention was formerly practiced out of governmental institutions and universities and was sustained primarily by foreign agencies and ecclesiastical institutions. Nowadays, with the return to democracy, the vast majority of community intervention programs arefinanced, partially or totally, by means of governmental resources. This institutionalization of community interventions has had consequences worthy of critical analysis: an increase in the number and stability of intervention programs; and also negative consequences for intervention goals definition of target groups, and intervention practices. Dilemmas, such as assistance vs. promotion or adaptation vs. social change, have arisen. These dilemmas show the contradictions of a Community Psychology, which has left behind the position of institutional marginality to form part of Chilean society's "normal" psychosocial care. They also show the need for a paradigm shift from a "critical" view of the social world to a constructionist one.

The Facts on File dictionary of cultural and historical allusions

This dictionary combines an updated and expanded edition of The Facts On File Dictionary of 20th Century Allusions with more than 600 entirely new entries from previous historical periods. The result is The Facts On File Dictionary of Cultural and Historical Allusions. Spanning a.d. 1000 to 2000

Higher Education in Russia

The reform of higher education along lines of the democratization that is under way in Russia in the past few years has prompted scientists, teachers, politicians, and administrators to study and take into account experiments in education reform in previous historical periods. In this regard it is especially interesting to consider the grand experiment that was undertaken by the Soviet regime during the first postrevolutionary years, the core of which was a reorganization of the teaching of the social disciplines. This measure was one of the most important ideological-political gains in higher education in the practice of that time.

Reinhold Niebuhr and History: The Elusive Liberal Critique

AbstractInterpreters of Reinhold Niebuhr generally ascribe the inconsistencies in his view of history to either his changing mind or inadequacies in the development of Christian realism. These perspectives can be insightful but they neglect larger and more systematic questions about the relation of Niebuhr to the specific historical period he addresses, that of liberalism. This essay argues that Niebuhr's work both draws more deeply on liberal assumptions and poses sharper historical criticism than is often recognized. The analysis provided below demonstrates that while Niebuhr identifies the rationalized self-legitimation in the liberal teleology of progress, his view of the historical development of individuals and societies reproduces the idea that liberal society is the culmination of all previous historical periods. The difficulties Niebuhr has in overcoming the limits of liberal categories are instructive regarding the complexity of criticizing a society of which we are a part.

SENESCENCE IN WESTERN PHILOSOPHY

This paper exposes the sources of meaning and attitude concerning old age in our civilization. The writings of philosophers from four historical periods — ancient, medieval, modern, and contemporary..— are surveyed and presented. Four main topics are used as organizational categories: descriptions/explanations of old age, the psyche of the elderly, the powers of the elderly, and the position of the elderly. Few patterns are detected; the meaning and attitudes associated with senescence today have appeared in each previous historical period.