Universalist Project Research Articles

Unsettling Affect

Unsettling Affect Pamela K. Gilbert (bio) Despite long-standing critiques of dominant theories of emotion, the basic structure of emotions is persistently considered by many commentators and even researchers, such as those in the social sciences and artificial intelligence, to be largely settled. Our understanding of emotion and affect is indebted to universalizing physiological theories emerging from the Enlightenment, and subsequently, from evolutionary science. Each of the authors in this forum is interested in unsettling our sense of how feelings work and signify. Alisha Walters and Zachary Samalin detail how the history of emotions depended upon nineteenth-century beliefs about embodied racial and civilizational hierarchies. Such beliefs about emotion were also undergirded by and instrumentalized in the imperial context, as Samalin, Walters, and Sukanya Banerjee show. Often they relied on definitions of modernity that imposed the burden of anteriority and primitivism on racial alterity. Sympathy was and is both centered and critiqued as a mode of community building and bridging racial divides. Rachel Ablow, Banerjee, and I each examine some of its prerequisites, opposites, and alternatives. Finally, although several of the essays here examine particular feelings, or histories or assemblages of feelings, the concept of affective potential has a history as well, as Elisha Cohn demonstrates. By exploring oppositions swirling around these terms and structures, these essays collectively invite us to consider the affordances of those histories and to question their deployment in the present. Samalin limns the history of Darwin’s research in “Affect Theory’s Colonial Sources.” Whereas Darwin’s liberal universalist project still underlies much discussion of emotion, so too do Enlightenment liberalism’s investments in racial [End Page 592] hierarchy and domination. Darwin’s sources all over the world were steeped in racial theories which, as Samalin shows, were tightly connected to “assertions of civilizational difference”; in turn, stadial theories of development tended to be organized around concepts of affect (562). Together, these two types of theories mediated the nexus between individuals and cultural groups. The study of emotion has long claimed objective universality while simultaneously relying on appeals to feeling itself as evidentiary, as Walters makes clear. In “James Hunt, Robert Knox, and the Feelings of Empirical Race Science,” Walters argues that while race science called for a future of objectivity, it depended upon a present of “unruly” feelings (555). She discusses the Celtic section of Knox’s The Races of Men (1850), in which race comes to be defined through the feelings marking the dangerously emotional Celtic body and its supposed proclivity for violence. The period mobilized such feelings in the service of an imperial modernity. Banerjee’s “Loyalty” notes the importance of that feeling in Adam Smith’s writing as a precondition for sympathy. She explores the ways in which loyalty is positioned as uneasily contractual and performative yet natural and customary, deriving from deliberate alliance on the one hand and on predefined allegiance on the other. Arguing that loyalty is fundamental to modernity’s many-layered institutions—the family, the state, the economy—Banerjee shows how this “associational attachment” must also insist upon exclusions in turn grounded in loyalty itself (qtd. in Banerjee 568). Sympathy has of course long been an important term—perhaps even the most important—in discussions of the history of emotion as well as in literature and aesthetics. Saidiya Hartman, among other current critics, has taught us to be less trusting of sympathy, which at best “fails to expand the space of the [Black] other but merely places the [white] self in its stead” (Hartman 20). Yet, as Ablow observes, the importance of sympathy as a generator of social action is still a fundamental assumption underlying present social science discussions. But the critique of sympathy’s centrality was nascent in eighteenth- and nineteenth-century thinkers; then, too, the question of what alternatives might inspire action often swirled around questions of race. Ablow shows us how the counter discourse against the effectiveness of sympathy extended into the literary world. In “Unsettling Sympathy,” Ablow shows how Martineau avoids such appeals in her novel about the Haitian revolution, emphasizing instead the “insane contradictions” created by slavery (qtd. in Ablow 576). Ablow argues that the text incites only horror in the...

Exercises in peace: Āẕar Kayvānī universalism and comparison in the School of Doctrines

AbstractIn 1650, an encyclopedia of comparative religion known as Dabistān-i Maẕāhib (the School of Doctrines) was completed near the city of Hyderabad. Asserting that the religions of the world are reflections of a single inner truth, its author Mīrzā Ẕu'l-fiqār Āẕarsāsānī, known by the poetic penname ‘Mūbad’, travelled widely across India to record encounters with diverse religious figures. This article re-examines the composition and legacy of the Dabistān in light of new manuscript evidence relating to its author and the world he inhabited. It argues that the Dabistān's universalist project reflects a widely held theory of the interrelatedness of the macrocosm, in which sociality with diverse populations was understood to be a spiritual exercise leading to saintly perfection in the same way that venerating the cosmos and ascetic bodily practices were. The article provides a close reading of the Dabistān's shortest chapter on the religion of the Tibetans, the earliest such description in Persian. Situating the Dabistān within the diverse expressions of ‘Universal Peace’ (ṣulḥ-i kull) during the Safavid and Mughal periods, it argues that the Dabistān's project of recovering a universal theology that was attributed to ancient Iran and India led to expressions of dual religious belonging—to particular religions of revelation as well as to the universal religion of the philosophers—parallel to and connected with what Jan Assmann has termed the ‘religio duplex phenomenon’ in early modern Europe. Finally, the article briefly traces the legacy of the Dabistān into the modern period.The free do not think of religion, doctrine, and spiritual guidance—Those shackled by seeking liberation are not truly free.For how long must we wander the alleyways of religion and nation?—There is no highway through the land of verification (taḥqīq) besides heresy (ilḥād).—‘Mūbad’ Mīrzā Ẕu'l-fiqār Āẕarsāsānī (fl. 1060s ah/1650s ce)1

Global Citizenship Education, Global Educational Injustice and the Postcolonial Critique

This contribution develops a defence of a universalist conception of Global Citizenship Education (GCE) against three prominent critiques, which are, among others, put forward by postcolonial scholars. The first critique argues that GCE is essentially a project of globally minded elites and therefore expressive both of global educational injustices and of the values and lifestyles of a particular class or milieu. The second critique assumes that GCE is based on genuinely ‘Western values’ (e.g., in the form of a conception of human rights or conceptions of rationality or the self), which are neither universally accepted nor universally valid and therefore unjustly forced on members of non-Western cultures and societies. GCE, according to this critique, is assumed to be another version of the educational justification of a hegemonic and unjust global Western regime. The third critique focuses on the epistemological preconditions of GCE. It assumes that GCE relies on a particular, culturally embedded ‘Western epistemology,’ which perpetuates historically grown global educational and epistemic injustices by dominating and subjugating alternative epistemological approaches. With respect to the first critique I argue that it is to a certain extent sociologically plausible, but wrong when it is applied to the educational and political legitimacy of GCE. The second critique overestimates the consensus within the ‘Western tradition’ and underestimates the transnational dissemination of universalist ideals and values as well as its own reliance on universalist validity claims. I argue that in order to provide a plausible criticism of historically grown global educational and political injustices, it is imperative for GCE to integrate central insights provided by the postcolonial critique, without giving up on universalist ideals and values. The third critique is, according to my argumentation, based on flawed epistemological assumptions, which do not withstand critical scrutiny. Instead of identifying epistemic and scientific claims as the expressions of a particular ‘culture’ or geographical location (the ‘West’), I defend the position that philosophical and scientific research should ideally be conceived as a democratic and universalist project, whose emancipatory potential can only be realized on the basis of a universalist epistemology.

Reform of a Russian science as an institutional constructing

The article analyzes theoretical and methodological aspects of the ongoing reforms of the Russian science. The reforms are based on a set of ideas (myths) whose implementation was supposed to raise the effectiveness of the Russian science, form its new institutional structure, similar to the structure of science in more developed countries. The “sacral” mytholodical component of the reforms had no foundation in the traditional practices that had been shaped by the Russian scientific community in its long history. The reforms took no heed of the specific separation of science and education that had historically emerged in Russia helping to concentrate scientific assets in the most promising directions and most effective institutions. The myth of the “global science” stressing intermingling and interaction of scientific projects across the world played its negative role. The universalist project of reforms did not reflect on the basic differences between the “natural sciences” and “sciences of the spirit”. The “sacral” perception of the Western science as an ideal mechanism of selection boosting scientific achievement led to performance measurement indicators thatignored the interests of sciences and researchers in social sciences and humanities. The ongoing reforms are fraught with developments that can weaken the Russian science and its human potential, downgrade its research agenda.

Логика поздней глобализации: сетевизация и геоэстетика

<p>В статье проводится социально-философское исследование функционирования внутренней логики поздней глобализации. Предметом рассмотрения становится завершающаяся глобализация. Трансформация современности предполагает ряд изменений в функционировании глобализационных процессов. Сетевизация и эстетизация повседневности принадлежат к их числу.</p><p>Обращение именно к этой стадии глобализационного развития позволяет ретроспективно определить некоторые из черт, обеспечивших успех универсалистского проекта в целом. Одним из критериальных отличий глобализованной современности становится сетевизация, имеющая пространственное измерение. Автор предлагает экскурс в историю понятия и его философской интерпретации для того, чтобы прояснить смысл современного концепта «геоэстетика», пришедшего на смену более традиционному представлению о «геофилософии».</p><p>Эстетическое измерение пространства становится последствием функционирования сетевизации. Это позволяет сделать вывод, что для понимания протекания глобализации в современности следует иметь в виду культурную логику сетевизации, для которой категории эстетического становятся ключевыми.</p><p>Статья обращается к концепции космодернизма, дающей философскую интерпретацию эстетизации пространственных измерений планеты. В ходе ее критического анализа делается ряд выводов о внутренней логике глобализации. Вектор на эстетизацию пространства представляется очевидным. Сетевизация при этом функционирует по пространственным, но не темпоральным законам. Слабым местом концепции признается акцентуация на сложности литературного языка, для которого инфраструктура сетей является преимуществом.</p><p>Автор делает вывод, что сетевизация на деле процесс гораздо более односторонний и унифицирующий все под единый стандарт, что необходимо учитывать при анализе национальных ценностных оснований любого общества, в том числе и российского.</p>

Teorías feministas, abolicionismo y decolonialidad: teorías críticas que cuestionan la efectividad de los derechos de las mujeres

El objetivo principal del artículo es presentar en clave decolonial el proyecto universalista eurocéntrico de los derechos humanos y las maneras en que se entrecruzan las teorías críticas de abolicionismo penal y feminismo, con el fin de mostrar la base patriarcal de estos derechos. En este contexto, el escrito busca concretar la ineficacia del ordenamiento jurídico para garantizar los derechos a las mujeres, pero desde la óptica de tres teorías críticas: la decolonialidad, el feminismo y el abolicionismo. La metodología empleada parte del paradigma cualitativo para el análisis de realidades sociales, con un método hermenéutico, pero desde una visión decolonial, para intentar aplicar enfoques menos rígidos, pero sin mermar el rigor a la investigación social latinoamericana. Para ello, el documento se estructura en cuatro secciones: (i) aportes de los estudios de género; (ii) feminismo como teoría crítica; (iii) perspectiva abolicionista y (iv) decolonialidad como punto de cierre para contribuir a la despatriarcalización del derecho.

Alliance du Pacifique: enjeu de l’esthétique de la résolution des différends

Latin American regionalism, whether analyzed through political science or international law, intrigues and questions: between globalization and fragmentation, how to understand intersystemic relations? Or, put another way, how to untangle the spaghetti bowl from the multiplication of regional integration and WTO universalist project perspective? The Pacific Alliance, launched in 2011 by Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Peru, is presented here as a possible answer. This article aims to analyze the embryonic Pacific Alliance dispute settlement mechanism in light of the Kantian criterion of effectiveness

Обоснование правового наказания в философии Канта

The subject matter of the article is the problem of justification of punishment within Kant’s practical philosophy. Modern interpretations tend to reduce this problem to the issue of “retributivism”: To what extent is Kant’s theory of punishment to be regarded as retributivist? While acknowledging the significance of this question the author stresses a more fundamental one lying behind it: Is a non-contradictory theory of punishment conceivable at all within Kant’s philosophy? It is demonstrated that a solution of this question largely determines a justification of the doctrine of right as such as well as a solution of the problem of relation between right and ethics in Kantian philosophy. Some recent interpretations of Kant’s theory of punishment are examined, particularly those by O. Hoeffe and B. Byrd. It is demonstrated that neither is actually compatible with Kant’s statement that punishment is a categorical imperative. Futhermore, it is shown that this statement is crucial and necessary for Kant’s universalist project of justification of right. At the same time, it is shown that it is the universalism of Kant’s practical philosophy that leads to a kind of paradox of punishment: the categorical imperative of punishment might well demand those very actions which the categorical imperative as we know it from the “Groundwork” seems to forbid. It is proposed to see this paradox as another antinomy of practical reason. The hypothesis is offered that the separation of the principles of virtue directed to an individual will and right covering the public sphere can be considered as an attempt to solve this very antinomy.

La polifonía épica en El Monserrate: la voz del amor de Lixerea y Armeno

This essay focuses on the ideological confrontation that takes place in the epic poem El Monserrate by Cristobal de Virues, published for the first time in 1587. The purpose of this study is to demonstrate that this epic poem has a polyphonic character due to the tense coexistence of Universalism and Relativism that appears in the poem. Universalism is supported by the Papal discourse when he indicates that the expansion of Catholicism by means of the Spanish Empire will bring universal happiness. This ideology bears an epistemic resemblance to the Neoplatonism of Marsilio Ficino and Leon Hebreo. However, Universalism is questioned by the love story of two Muslim characters: Lixerea and Armeno. Lixerea’s death in battle represents the impossibility of Armeno’s happiness, despite his final conversion to Christianity. In fact, Armeno dies because his life does not seem to have any meaning or any possibility of fulfillment without Lixerea. Armeno’s sense of incompleteness, which is also expressed by Lixerea before her death, can be found in the work of other authors such as Ausias March (1400–1459) and El Greco (1541–1614). Armeno’s spiritual breakdown and death despite having converted to Christianity questions the universalist project of the Pope. As a matter of fact, the dialogic character of this epic poem shows the ideological tension that existed in Spain and in Europe during this period and, at the same time, proves the importance of the study of Spanish epic poetry to understand the culture of the period.

J. M. Coetzee, Elizabeth Costello, and the Inevitability of “Realism”

ABSTRACT This article examines the novelist J. M. Coetzee's changing attitude toward the representational mode of literary realism. In his earlier writings, Coetzee is critical of realism or “illusionism” as a form of ideology that serves to naturalize existing power relations. But in Elizabeth Costello, he advocates a sense of realism that is capable of challenging habits of perception while investing unavoidably in the universalist project of humanism.

Review of Holy Ignorance: When Religion and Culture Part Ways

Olivier Roy argues that the separation of culture and faith—by secular as well as religious actors—has fuelled a "holy ignorance" which paves the way for fundamentalist claims as "authentic." This review draws attention to the consequences for human rights in the Muslim world, especially with regard to gender and religious freedom. While agreeing with Roy's overall thesis, the review finds it too sweeping in its assumption that religious traditions can be grounded at all outside of some cultural foundations. Further, both secular and religious forces have much to gain from—as well as contribute to—a pluralism that offers the strongest prospects for the cultural legitimacy that human rights needs as universalist project.

The India Project

AbstractWhile pockets of India are now approaching the living standards of Switzerland, other regions are debilitated by a level of poverty that is akin to that of Zimbabwe. Sunil Khilnani asks what remains of the universalist project of India's political founders. Has architecture, in the rush for market and economic success, lost its self‐understanding? Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Ідея модерну і традиція заходу. Стаття 2

The Enlightenment invented a new unique format for philosophical thinking, turning philosophy into a force that affects the real world. The author calls for recognition of the productive forces of the Enlightenment, which appear as defenders of rational transparency and intellectual honesty. By rejecting the teleological context and focusing on formal aspects, Enlightenment ideas lead to a loss of connection with concrete reality and the purpose of actions. The last decades have seen a revival of the classical tradition, but there are difficulties in understanding the physical order and its relationship with the moral order. The author agrees with the criticism of the Enlightenment project, but opposes the rejection of any universalist project in general. Considering value pluralism as a result of the late Enlightenment, the author points out that the universalist project is opposed by various forms of relativism. It is in this context that tradition should resume its role.

The Limits of the Universal Knowledge Project: British India and the East Indiamen

183 1. SeeMary Poovey,AHistory of theModern Fact: Problems of Knowledge in the Sciences of Wealth and Society (Chicago, 1998). 2. “The universalist project . . . hurtled itself against an insuperable barrier in colonialism” (Ranajit Guha,Dominance without Hegemony: History and Power in Colonial India [Cambridge, Mass., 1997], p. 19). The Limits of the Universal Knowledge Project: British India and the East Indiamen

La seconde guerre d'Algerie: the ambivalent nature of the French state's response to the Algerian crisis

Summary There is no one response by the French state to the crisis but a series of responses. The ambivalent nature of the French reaction is illustrative of France's failure to disentangle itself from the legacy of empire, particularly in Algeria. The French handling of the Algerian crisis also demonstrates a failure to resolve the strain between the universalist project of the republican revolution and the narrow nationalist politics of conservative anti‐immigrant rhetoric. To examine the foundations of these strains, the author focuses on the arguments of Lucile Provost's 1996 book, La Seconde Guerre d'Algérie: le quiproquo franco‐algérien.