Obowiązek Innego. Trzeci

Author(s): Wojciech Kalaga / Language(s): Polish Issue: 6/2003

Any identity (an individual, a community, a nation) exists with an inherent debt towards the Other, since - as an identity - it constructs itself to a large extent through the difference from and of the Other. This ontological predicament inevitably involves an ethical question – the question of reciprocity: one's obligation is to repay the debt. That ethical question is frequently annulled through an essentialist construal of the concept of identity. If we reject or want to avoid essentialism, however, we have to recognize the obligation and find ways of fulfilling it: through obliterating clear-cut boundaries and construing identities as nebular densities rather than as reified objectivities and, consequently, through internalizing the difference and through accommodating the Other into the space of one's own identity. Yet, since reciprocity is of itself a symmetrical concept and must work both ways, the question of obligation must also be reversed: what are the obligations of the Other? Can the obligation to reciprocate be waived from the Other in certain circumstances? Or will it rather be an incapacitation of the Other through deprivation of responsibility? The problem becomes particularly acute in the circumstances of displacement: exile, emigration, or even hospitality. All these circumstances involve a misbalance of power, an interpenetration and a conflict of values, legitimisation of individual and communal expectations. In such a context, while keeping in mind the ethical aspect of obligation, one must also be aware of its political and axiological implications, especially when the problem of reciprocity is approached in terms of racial, ethnic and cultural difference. The objective of the essay is to explore those multifaceted aspects of the obligation of reciprocity and to place them in the context of post-Cartesian notions of subjectivity on the one hand, and of multiculturalism, on the other hand.

Labor as Assumption of Reality: Milestones toward a Theory of Legitimation

Author(s): Bernard Gbikpi / Language(s): English Issue: 03/2015

The present article presents a critical examination of Hobbes’ theory of social contract and of Hegel’s theory of recognition qua theories of legitimation of power. The analysis unfolds along four steps: from an examination of the premises of those theories, premises which consist in providing the foundations of the political power those theories aim to legitimize (section I), labor intended as an assumption of one’s own abilities as they are revealed in a trial which sets a division of labor emerges as the principle of economic and social organization (section II), which principle, in order to be politically legitimized, will have to be explained (section III) and represented (section IV).

Svojina – filozofska analiza: argument

Author(s): Jovan Babić / Language(s): Serbian Issue: 1/2016

After a short historical survey of philosophical views on property, the article contains an analysis of the argument which justifies property by referring to the universal respect due to anyone’s right to use any thing for any purpose.Usage of things for the realization of set ends (or goals) is among the conditions of action/ agency. The capacity of freedom as a specific causal power in real world is dependent on the possibility of using things as means. However, without a real prospect to finish the process of realization of set goals, this causal power would not be real. Property is a scheme within which this prospect becomes a real possibility. Property is thus a condition of effective successful purposeful agency. In property the normative position of all others, besides the owner, has been changed, as they do not have the right to use things possessed for their ends, although they have a right to use any non-possessed thing as a means for whichever end they might set. As a right, property entails, first, the obligation to respect the fact of any established possession, and, second, an obligation to accept and recognize the established possession as ownership, which does not depend on the fact of factual physical control of the property. Ownership is therefore a guarantee of future possession. For this to be established there is a need for an explicit recognition from all others; however this recognition is normatively necessary for everybody, as no-one has a right to withdraw the recognition of a legitimate right to property. This comes from the ontological and axiological difference between persons and things: persons have a right to use and possess unpossessed things as means for realization of ends they set.

Post-Structuralism and Politics: towards Postmodern Balkan Studies

Author(s): Sanja Lazarević / Language(s): English Issue: 2/2015

Although post-structuralism, on the first sight, lacks political dimension, its application to social problems expose the potential of political engagement. First, it comes from interviving linguistics and humanities, that inspired new understanding of the relationship between structure and power. While emerging from cultural studies and therefore from synthesis of history and literary criticism, studies on the Balkan, point out a role of mental images, stereotypes, discourses and therefore, political power of its image. Following the concepts of Michel Foucault, Jacques Lacan, Jacques Derrida and to lesser extent Julia Kristeva, the Balkans is set within the post-structural paradigm.

Pawning and Challenging in Concert: Engagement as a Field of Study

Author(s): Adriana Zaharijević / Language(s): English Issue: 2/2016

An introduction of sorts, this text opens the thematic collection of articles on engagement. It takes up the idea that a particular group of people engage the idea of engagement in order to establish a field of study. In so doing, the text proposes to tackle the specific creation of the field and of the ‘we’ that engages with its creation. The first portion of the text deals with the multiple meanings of engagement; the second with the idea of the group (of who the ‘we’ is and what it does); while the last segment engages the idea of the political in engagement. Its main aim is to show how the we and the field, at least for a time, cannot be easily disentangled.

Can Something Take Place?

Author(s): Igor Krtolica / Language(s): English Issue: 2/2016

First, starting from a text Deleuze and Guattari wrote in 1984 on the aftermath of May 1968 in France (“May 68 Did Not Take Place”), this article tries to analyze in what way this diagnosis – made in the middle of the 1980s, when what is now commonly called neo-liberalism was unfolding both in America and in Europe – can apply to our current political situation. Secondly, this analysis shows that maybe the very conditions of social critique and social engagement are endangered today more than yesterday, because of the new patterns of social restraint embodied by the evolution of communication (especially television). Thirdly, the author asks the question: therefore, under which conditions social critique and engagement are now possible?

The Forms of Social Engagement Regarding the Subject of Import

Author(s): Igor Cvejić / Language(s): English Issue: 2/2016

My aim is to draw attention to the different forms of social engagement regarding the subject of import. The concept of import was introduced in the theory of action by Bennet Helm. It denotes an intentional characteristic of an object, to be viewed as worthy of pursuit or avoidance. However, according to Helm, the subject of import could be: either an individual person, the other or plural agent. Using this division in the context of social engagement, I propose to distinguish three forms of social engagement: (1) personal social engagement, (2) social engagement for the sake of others and (3) social engagement as togetherness. Social engagement as togetherness (plural agent) should not be confused with plural action with the same goal-directedness (which is part of personal social engagement). This argumentative step was enabled by Helm’s complex theory about “us” as a subject of import, contrary to some contemporary theorists who dispute the possibility of plural agents.

Social Critique and Engagement between Universalism, Anti-Authoritarianism and Diagnosis of Domination

Author(s): Marjan Ivković / Language(s): English Issue: 2/2016

The paper discusses a particular ‘isomorphy’ between two forms of social criticism: the ‘holistic’ theoretical social critique represented by such authors as Jürgen Habermas and Axel Honneth and ‘collective social engagement’ represented by such civic movements as the ‘We Won’t Let Belgrade D(r)own’ initiative in contemporary Serbia, which the paper tries to distinguish from more conventional forms of popular protest. This ‘isomorphy’, the paper argues, consists in a tension between three distinct imperatives of the justification of critique – those of normative universalism, epistemological anti-authoritarianism, and diagnosis of social domination – produced by the attempts of both the ‘holistic’ social critics and the collectively engaged actors to simultaneously respond to all three imperatives. After presenting the three types of theoretical critique that crystallize around each imperative, the paper discusses the internal tension that arises in the works of ‘holistic’ theoretical critics and then identifies the same kind of tension in the ‘We Won’t Let Belgrade D(r)own’ initiative. The tension in the movement’s critique is outlined through a brief analysis of the activists’ discourse as articulated in the bulletin We Won’t Let Belgrade D(r)own issued in March 2015. Since the examples also suggest that collective engagement is better than theoretical critique at keeping this tension ‘productive’, the paper finally offers some tentative thoughts on the possible reasons for this difference.

The possibilities and constraints of engaging solidarity in citizenship

Author(s): Jelena Vasiljević / Language(s): English Issue: 2/2016

In a broader sense, this article is interested in solidarity as a politically operational concept. To be able to answer more general questions – like What does it mean to base a political community on the principles of solidarity? Can acts of solidarity be used not only to help (support) others, but with the aim to change power relations and constitute new political orders as well? – we must first situate solidarity in relation to some already established frameworks of thinking about the political community. It is within theories and models of citizenship that I want to situate my exploration of the political value of solidarity in this paper. Firstly, if we want to go beyond isolated gestures and actions of solidarity, to question its general capacities for political reordering, we need to firmly anchor it in broad concepts that capture the ideals and visions of political community. Without a doubt, citizenship is one such concept. Secondly, there is hardly a theory or approach to citizenship that does not presuppose some aspects of solidarity as foundational. Finally, and closely related to the previous point, citizenship and solidarity, although often conceptually intertwined, form a paradoxical duo, reflecting further potential paradoxes that may arise from endeavours to engage solidarity as a political principle. In short, citizenship is a simultaneously inclusive and exclusive notion, incorporating the idea that some sort of boundary encircles a body of citizens (most often, but not exclusively, nation-state boundaries), despite the fact that solidarity loses much of its meaning when expected to operate and be exercised within certain imposed limits.

Activism and Capitalism

On the Forms of Engagement

Author(s): Aleksandar Matković / Language(s): English Issue: 2/2016

This short essay aims at providing an outline for a critical reflection on the notion of activism and to bring to attention the significance for distinguishing between different forms of engagement in contemporary neoliberal societies. The article traces the history of the notion of ‘activism’ and argues that it went hand in hand with the reduction of heterogeneous political activity to immediate generic action. In order to counter such a reduction, the article relies on the work of Ellen Meiksins Wood and her critical history of the development of the liberal conception of citizenship. In conclusion, it will be argued that the conceptual significance of the notion of capitalism is crucial for distinguishing between different forms and figures of political activity – from the ‘activist’, ‘active citizen’ and what Engin Isin termed ‘activist citizenship’.

Pragmatic Epistemology and the Community of Engaged Actors

Author(s): Srđan Prodanović / Language(s): English Issue: 2/2016

In this paper I will explore the relation between engagement and social science. I will try to argue that positivist epistemology found in the early days of social sciences still greatly influences our understanding of social engagement. In the first part of the paper, I will analyze the epistemology of social sciences advocated by Fourier and Saint-Simon and try to show that, for them, scientific method was primarily the means for taming social change, as well as projecting private desires and plans onto the public sphere. In the second part, I will offer an alternative account of social engagement using the epistemic role of the community found in pragmatism.

Between the Critical and the Engaged

On the Importance of Studying Symbolic Aspects of the Reproduction of Social Order

Author(s): Tamara Petrović-Trifunović / Language(s): English Issue: 2/2016

Late 20th century developments in social sciences and humanities have placed particular focus on the symbolic aspects of reproduction of social order, stressing the importance of discursive work in the process. It has become widely accepted that discourse is profoundly embedded in society and culture, and hence, closely related also to all forms of power and social inequality. Therefore, it rightfully assumes a central position among the research objects of contemporary social sciences. The aim of this article is to critically examine the impact of the interpretive turn on the study of culture and symbolic registers of society. The analysis focuses on three approaches to the study of discourse, culture and society: critical discourse analysis, Pierre Bourdieu’s sociology of culture and Jeffrey Alexander’s strong program in cultural sociology. These approaches are further analyzed according to their position within Burawoy’s division of sociological labor, particularly between critical and public (engaged) sociology. Finally, the author suggests that engagement in detailed reconstructions of discursive manifestations of power, symbolic struggles and/or discursive codes in a society can provide valuable insight that could open up space for social engagement. However, in order to fully grasp the importance of symbolic aspects for the everyday reproduction of social order, the focus of analysis must also be placed on the role cultural traits and practices (understood as a discursive resources like any other) play in constructing stratificational categories, identities and distinctions, masking the very roots of inequalities that created the perceived cultural differences in the first place.

Engagement Against/For Secrecy

Author(s): Mark Losoncz / Language(s): English Issue: 2/2016

This essay discusses engagement against state secrecy and engagement for secrecy, free from interference. By exploring divisions introduced by state secrecy (through exclusion, subjection and oppression), it identifies the distortions of equal participation in political communities. The author introduces the notion of pata-politics in order to describe the false relation to the secrecy effect. Furthermore, the text examines key issues of today’s intelligence studies (such as democratic intelligence oversight and the balance of powers doctrine), with special emphasis on the possible limits of a liberal approach. Additionally, the author elaborates a metacritique of the framework in which the private sphere is one-sidedly described as a victim of wrong interference by state institutions.

Institutional social engagement

Author(s): Snježana Prijić-Samaržija / Language(s): English Issue: 2/2016

I am referring to social engagement as a value-based choice to actively intervene in social reality in order to modify existing collective identities and social practices with the goal of realizing the public good. The very term ‘engagement’, necessarily involves the starting awareness of a social deficit or flaw and presupposes a critical attitude towards social reality. In this article, I will attempt to provide arguments in favour of the thesis about the possibility (and, later, necessity) of institutional engagement, critical action and even institutional protest, basing this view on the thesis that institutions are fundamentally collective or social agents whose actions must be guided by ethical and epistemic virtues.

Americký trávník jako cvičiště občanské ctnosti

Author(s): Jan Hlávka / Language(s): Czech Issue: 2/2015

This article seeks to refute the thesis of contemporary environmental criticism of the aesthetic origins of American lawn culture. In contrast to the prevailing view about the aesthetic autonomy of the perfect front lawn, the author traces the history of the concept back to the eighteenth-century philosophy of internal senses as reflected in the thought of Thomas Jefferson. The author seeks to demonstrate that in Jefferson’s processual conception of civic virtue (a foundation stone of democratic society), moral sense and the sense of beauty are entangled with the workings of cognitive capacities. Thus, the architectural and landscape designs of Jefferson (as well as of those of his successors, A. J. Downing, F. L. Olmsted, and F. S. Scott) perform an aesthetic, moral, educative, and, above all, political function. The ideas discovered in Jefferson’s work are followed throughout the nineteenth-century industrialization and the spread of suburban housing to the emerging of post-war residential colonies, imposing ‘lawn politics’ by means of legal and social pressures.

Az emlékezés mint múltfeldolgozás

Széljegyzetek egy Adorno-előadáshoz

Author(s): János Weiss / Language(s): Hungarian Issue: 2/2016

Wiara, nauki przyrodnicze i filozofia

Author(s): / Language(s): Polish Issue: 5/2016

Społeczeństwo rynkowe: jak logika rynku ekonomicznego wpływa na nasze życie

Author(s): Damian Mazur / Language(s): Polish Issue: 2/2016

CENSORSHIP AS A MEANS OF PRESERVING NATIONAL IDENTITY

Author(s): Elena Agapova / Language(s): English Issue: 2/2013

In the current climate, preservation of identity and statesmanship depends on correct usage of censorship, which presents a guarding organism eliminating the consequences of “information war”. Over the past few decades cultural values have been replaced by quasivalues, which, in their turn, served as a basis for promulgation of new behavior patterns. Thus, society promotion, simplification of national culture, as well as attempts to control mass conscience in order to orient it towards strange and primitive norms and values, are a result of information war and lack of censorship as counterbalance.

Podmiotowość i tożsamość jako źródła obywatelskości

Author(s): Łukasz Brodziak / Language(s): Polish Issue: 13/2016

This article aims to show what constitutes a source of citizenship. Citizenship is defined as a set of postulated and highly promoted set of features describing pro-active behaviour and work for the common good. Citizenship can be expressed in various ways: participation, or taking part in the governing process; as well as actions with direct legal consequences. The author shows that the above can have two sources, namely subjectivity and identity. Such features are neither acquired nor given: they originate from within human nature, which is different in case of each and every individual. It is also a perfect basis for shaping desirable civic characteristics in individuals. The protection of this nature, referred to in Polish legislation also as “dignity”, is embedded in the Polish legal system (Article 30 of the Constitution of Poland). This article analyses a number of connections between human nature, its derivatives, as well as both individual and collective citizenship and, finally, legislation. In the process, the article outlines the philosophical and anthropological sources of civic virtues.