Twenty Observations on a World in Turmoil

Twenty Observations on a World in Turmoil PDF Author: Ulrich Beck
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 0745676146
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 175

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Book Description
Translated by Ciaran Cronin. The world is a state of turmoil. From the financial crisis to the chaos in the eurozone, from the Arab uprisings to protests in Athens, Barcelona, New York and elsewhere, many of the familiar frameworks are collapsing and we have to find new ways to orient ourselves in a world undergoing rapid change. Of course, it is necessary for political leaders to address local issues and react to people’s specific demands, but without a cosmopolitan outlook, such a reaction is likely to be inadequate. Ulrich Beck’s Twenty-one Observations on a World in Turmoil is a demonstration of cosmopolitan politics in practice. It is more than a mirror: it is a magnifying glass that brings into focus the processes that are transforming our world and highlights the great challenges we face today. ‘Global domestic politics’, the concept introduced and developed by Beck, is much more than a political theory, a philosophical utopia (or dystopia), a governance programme or a mental state: it is the reality of our times. Beck turns the argument that ‘global domestic politics’ is an unrealistic ideology on its head, arguing that it is the proponents of the national who are the idealists. They view reality through the obsolete lenses of the nation-state and thus cannot see the profound global changes that are transforming our reality. Global domestic politics is therefore a perspective, a political reality and a normative idea. And it is the critical theory of our times since it challenges the most profound truths which we hold dear: the truths of the nation.

Twenty Observations on a World in Turmoil

Twenty Observations on a World in Turmoil PDF Author: Ulrich Beck
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 0745676146
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 175

Get Book Here

Book Description
Translated by Ciaran Cronin. The world is a state of turmoil. From the financial crisis to the chaos in the eurozone, from the Arab uprisings to protests in Athens, Barcelona, New York and elsewhere, many of the familiar frameworks are collapsing and we have to find new ways to orient ourselves in a world undergoing rapid change. Of course, it is necessary for political leaders to address local issues and react to people’s specific demands, but without a cosmopolitan outlook, such a reaction is likely to be inadequate. Ulrich Beck’s Twenty-one Observations on a World in Turmoil is a demonstration of cosmopolitan politics in practice. It is more than a mirror: it is a magnifying glass that brings into focus the processes that are transforming our world and highlights the great challenges we face today. ‘Global domestic politics’, the concept introduced and developed by Beck, is much more than a political theory, a philosophical utopia (or dystopia), a governance programme or a mental state: it is the reality of our times. Beck turns the argument that ‘global domestic politics’ is an unrealistic ideology on its head, arguing that it is the proponents of the national who are the idealists. They view reality through the obsolete lenses of the nation-state and thus cannot see the profound global changes that are transforming our reality. Global domestic politics is therefore a perspective, a political reality and a normative idea. And it is the critical theory of our times since it challenges the most profound truths which we hold dear: the truths of the nation.

Ulrich Beck

Ulrich Beck PDF Author: Ulrich Beck
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 3319049909
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 202

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Book Description
This book presents Ulrich Beck, one of the world’s leading sociologists and social thinkers, as a Pioneer in Cosmopolitan Sociology and Risk Society. His world risk society theory has been confirmed by recent disasters – events that have shaken modern society to the core, signaling the end of an era in which comprehensive insurance could keep us safe. Due to its own successes, modern society now faces failure: while in the past experiments were conducted in a lab, now the whole world is a test bed. Whether nuclear plants, genetically modified organisms, nanotechnology – if any of these experiments went wrong, the consequences would have a global impact and would be irreversible. Beck recommends ignoring the mathematical morality of expert opinions, which seek to identify the level of a given risk by calculating the probability of its occurrence. Instead, man’s fear of collapse should offer an opportunity for international cooperation and a cosmopolitan turn in the social sciences.

Creativity and Limitation in Political Communities

Creativity and Limitation in Political Communities PDF Author: Ignas Kalpokas
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1351718843
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 344

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Book Description
There is an inherent tension between popular and establishment powers in political communities. With anti-establishment sentiment on the rise across Western democracies, exploring the underpinnings of this dualism and rethinking theories of political life within states is of paramount importance. By combining the theories of Carl Schmitt and Benedict Spinoza, this book develops a framework of continuous reproduction, whereby the two powers simultaneously hold one another in tension and supersede one another. In the same vein, political communities are shown to be perpetually caught in a cycle of creativity/contestation, derived primarily from Schmitt (the tragic groundlessness of politics) and limitation (derived primarily from Spinoza as a quasi-theological belief in the status quo). Providing a novel theoretical framework explaining the workings of democratic politics, this book also offers a non-traditional reading of Spinoza and Schmitt. Whereas traditionally both have been treated as almost polar opposites, here they are held in creative tension, providing equally important building blocks for the proposed theory. By furthering their analysis, the author creates a new theory of political action.

The Social Democratic Parties in the Visegrád Countries

The Social Democratic Parties in the Visegrád Countries PDF Author: Ania Skrzypek
Publisher: Springer Nature
ISBN: 3031307925
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 245

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Book Description
This book provides an in-depth analysis of the social democratic parties in the four member states of the so-called “Visegrád Group”- Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia. The timeline spans the last two decades, which saw the parties in question come to power, govern and collapse. The case studies of all four countries are structured in the same way, offering: explanation of the historical background (including electoral results), analyses of the context, structures, membership and voters; evaluation of the programmes and hypotheses for potential future trajectories. Given the European relevance of the topic, the fifth chapter provides a comparative analysis, with a handful of explanations as to why Visegrád Group countries have proved to be tough partners in European integration processes.

The Bloomsbury Handbook of Literary and Cultural Theory

The Bloomsbury Handbook of Literary and Cultural Theory PDF Author: Jeffrey R. Di Leo
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1350012815
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 801

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Book Description
The Bloomsbury Handbook of Literary and Cultural Theory is the most comprehensive available survey of the state of theory in the 21st century. With chapters written by the world's leading scholars in their field, this book explores the latest thinking in traditional schools such as feminist, Marxist, historicist, psychoanalytic, and postcolonial criticism and new areas of research in ecocriticism, biopolitics, affect studies, posthumanism, materialism, and many other fields. In addition, the book includes a substantial A-to-Z compendium of key words and important thinkers in contemporary theory, making this an essential resource for scholars of literary and cultural theory at all levels.

Progressive Politics after the Crash

Progressive Politics after the Crash PDF Author: Olaf Cramme
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 0857722719
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 272

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Book Description
Those who hoped the collapse of financial markets would usher in the end of neoliberalism and rehabilitate support for traditional social democratic policies programmes have been disappointed. It is not only the irrationality of markets which is the focus of public discontent, but the inefficiency of states and the inability of elected governments to humanise and control global market capitalism. So, in the aftermath of the 2008 crash prompted by the failure of US financial services conglomerate, Lehman Brothers, this book addresses a deceptively simple question: what is to be done? It makes the case for a new, post-crisis settlement harnessing the dynamic traditions of social liberalism and social democracy as the foundation for progressive reforms geared towards alleviating crisis aftershocks and addressing the deep-seated structural challenges afflicting western capitalist democracies.

Formations of Terror

Formations of Terror PDF Author: Simon Bell
Publisher: Cambridge Scholars Publishing
ISBN: 1443878510
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 270

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Book Description
There are a host of books about fear but, as yet, there has been little attempt to methodically and systemically assess how fear emerges and is targeted. This highly readable yet rigorous book sets about the methodical assessment of fear as an emergent property. Working from the personal experience of fear as ‘everyman’, and then using examples and case studies, it explores the main principles which lie behind the manifestation of fear of all kinds. Using climate change as its specific point of focus, fear is seen to be a major force in problem assessment and analysis and, by accident or intention, a significant confusion to human decision making. By the systemic development of the main features of the Paradigm of Fear and the identification of Fear Amplifying and Fear Attenuating systems, the book demonstrates how fear can be contained, how new social forms can arise and how new behaviours and social qualities can mitigate the Formations of Terror.

Sociology in Greece

Sociology in Greece PDF Author: Spiros Gangas
Publisher: Springer Nature
ISBN: 3031161904
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 205

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Book Description
This Palgrave Pivot provides a concise history of the development of sociology in Greece. It provides a compelling narrative of the discipline’s embryonic state, its promising beginnings that aligned with its contact with the then robust French and German accomplishments in sociology. It continues with sociology’s entanglement with modern Greece’s turbulent history during the Civil War and the junta years. It charts Greece's gradual recovery during the mid-1970s, which led to sociology’s institutionalization. Yet such institutional boom was not free of politicization processes, many of which proved residual and resilient, stemming from the dictatorship years, as well as from Greece’s dependency during its process of modernization. This book completes this historical account by reconsidering sociology’s gradual embrace of a multi-paradigmatic orientation, its opportunities in light of the burgeoning Greek EU membership and extroversion. It concludes with charting sociology’s position in the 21st century, facing challenges like the Great Recession and its impact in Greece as well as the COVID-19 pandemic.

Post-Truth, Fake News

Post-Truth, Fake News PDF Author: Michael A. Peters
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 9811080135
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 233

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Book Description
This edited collection brings together international authors to discuss the meaning and purpose of higher education in a “post-truth” world. The editors and authors argue that notions such as “fact” and “evidence” in a post-truth era must be understood not only politically, but also socially and epistemically. The essays philosophically examine the post-truth environment and its impact on education with respect to our most basic ideas of what universities, research and education are or should be. The book brings together authors working in Australia, China, Croatia, Romania, Canada, New Zealand, Portugal, Sweden, UK and USA.

The Public in Peril

The Public in Peril PDF Author: Henry A. Giroux
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1351700243
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 367

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Book Description
This is one of the first books to thoroughly critique the rise of Trumpism and its potential impact, nationally and globally. One of the world’s leading social critics, Giroux offers new critiques of Trump and his early Cabinet choices in the context of longer term trends, including the rise of right-wing populism, the threat of planetary peril, anti-intellectual fervor, the war on youth, a narrowing political discourse, deepening inequality and disposability, authoritarianism, the crisis of civic culture, the rise of the mass incarceration state, and more. Giroux dissects the diverse forces that led to Trump’s rise and points to pathways for resisting his authoritarian instincts. Offering a new language of hope and possibility, Giroux’s optimism is rooted especially in the resurgence of progressive politics among youth. Giroux reclaims the centrality of education to politics and boldly articulates a vision in which the radical imagination merges with civic courage as part of a broad-based struggle for a radical democracy. Deep inquiries into fast-changing and pressing issues of our time makes this book 'the essential Giroux' that citizens and students must read, debate, and act upon.