Showing papers in "Distinktion: Scandinavian Journal of Social Theory in 2006"
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors argue that the works of Niklas Luhmann have not yet been fully assimilated into political theory, and that political theory which wishes to remain adequate to the conceptual evolution of the contemporary social sciences should allow itself to be challenged by the paradigm shift in Luhlmann's approach to the political system.
Abstract: This article argues, first, that the works of Niklas Luhmann have not yet been fully assimilated into political theory, and that political theory which wishes to remain adequate to the conceptual evolution of the contemporary social sciences should allow itself to be challenged by the paradigm shift in Luhmann's approach to the political system. Second, it sets out a reconstruction of Luhmann's social theory in terms of its implications for normative political inquiry, political concept-formation, and the theoretical foundations of political-theoretical discourse. In this regard, it asserts that Luhmann's theory incorporates a sociological transformation of political theory, and indeed of politics itself, and that it identifies most standard preconditions of political theory as conveniently simplified residues of metaphysical philosophy, albeit reconstituted through the perspective of Enlightenment. Third, it argues that Luhmann's account of politics also contains certain highly controversial implications...
51 citations
TL;DR: The sphere-concept arose from the need to demarcate politics from other fields or sectors, and the political system is currently serving as the main metaphor as mentioned in this paper, which can be seen as a combination of combinations of two and only two concepts of politics.
Abstract: In contemporary debates we may distinguish a number of individual conceptions of politics, which, however, can be understood as versions of combinations of two and only two concepts of politics. I will call the two the sphere-concept and the activity-concept. Although they on most occasions are closely intertwined, they refer to two distinct concepts, both of which are regularly evoked but seldom clearly distinguished from each other either in the daily or in the academic debate on politics as a concept. The sphere-concept arose from the need to demarcate politics from other fields or sectors, ‘the political system’ currently serving as the main metaphor. The conceptualization of the activity of politics refers to its qualification as a contingent, controversial and temporal phenomenon from different perspectives, which are here discussed as rhetorical topoi for the activity of politics. In this article I want to discuss the strange character of speaking about politics, to elucidate the opposition between...
27 citations
TL;DR: In this article, a concept of structural transformation is worked out and applied on the history of modernity, which involves a distinction between abstract modernity and epochs of realized modernities.
Abstract: In this article a concept of structural transformation is worked out and applied on the history of modernity. It involves a distinction between abstract modernity and epochs of realized modernities. The general theory of a structural transformation of modernity is applied on a special case; the transformation of the modern conduct of life in the West, The Weberian concept ‘conduct of life’ is today almost forgotten, but the author argues that it is a very useful conceptual tool for grasping crucial aspects of everyday life. These theoretical points of departure are then related to some classical American sociological investigations, but also to recent investigations. The result is a division of the history of conduct of life in Western modernity in three different epochs: the age of asceticism, the age of organization and the age of authenticity.
22 citations
TL;DR: This article argued that open societies must rely on a constitutive exchange between the use of legal-bureaucratic force and professional ethics in police work to support a plurality of political diagnoses in civil society.
Abstract: As holders of the final responsibility for maintaining a dynamic border between friend-and-enemy groupings, the police force watches over adversaries who share a belief in the possibility of making decisions in spite of divergent interests. This is an important responsibility for the police, although insufficiently studied conceptually. In this article such work is commenced by means of contemporary policing theory and classical perspectives on the inescapability of a democratic indeterminacy. Using concepts from Chantal Mouffe's reading of Carl Schmitt, supplemented by Karl Mannheim's and Max Weber's view of modern politics as a pluralization of life-chances, it is argued that open societies must rely on a constitutive exchange between the use of legal-bureaucratic force and professional ethics in police work to support a plurality of political diagnoses in civil society.
14 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the Austrian author Hermann Broch's voluminous crowd theory with a special emphasis on its political superstructure is discussed and a critical assessment of the legacy of the political theory is offered.
Abstract: This article discusses the Austrian author Hermann Broch's voluminous crowd theory with a special emphasis on its political superstructure. The aim of Broch's theoretical work is to understand modern crowd phenomena and, against this background, to fight totalitarian mass aberration. The article first outlines his basic socio-psychological analysis of the modern individual and its alleged urge for the totalitarian. Next, it discusses Broch's political theory of how to prevent fascist totalitarianism through a so-called total democracy that is based on extensive human rights. In the final part, the article offers a critical assessment of the legacy of Broch's political theory. It is argued that Broch provides an important understanding of irrational energies in modern political life. This could serve as a supplement to recent discussions of the socio-political impact of passions and affect.
12 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, Sennett and Joas discuss the role of creativity and pragmatism in the social sciences from different perspectives, focusing on different perspectives: creativity and pragmaticism.
Abstract: In this discussion, Richard Sennett and Hans Joas elaborate on the role of both creativity and pragmatism in the social sciences. They pursue these topics from different perspectives: the role crea...
9 citations
TL;DR: The relationship between religion and politics in modern thought as it has been derived from the 18th-century Enlightenment: exclusion and/or inclusion subject to the requirements of politics.
Abstract: The article analyzes in the work of two leading 18th-century thinkers' two dominant strategies to decide the relationship between religion and politics in modern thought as it has been derived from the 18th-century Enlightenment: exclusion and/or inclusion subject to the requirements of politics. It begins by setting out how the underlying problem was experienced from the Enlightenment's historical moment, taking stock as it does so of how their take on it compares with our own. It then juxtaposes the two thinkers: one who sought to exclude religion from politics, Voltaire; and one, Rousseau, who was willing to include it. Voltaire's radical exclusion maps to a certain organization of the concepts of truth/knowledge/belief, all separated from power and government. Rousseau departed from the Enlightenment view of truth and knowledge, and focussed instead upon the personal and social function of belief, including as a key to membership of the political community. This led him to construct a socially useful ...
8 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors reconstruct Schmitt's original question and show that his discussion of the concept of the political is, above all, the appearance and clarification of a new interpretation of politics.
Abstract: In the rich and highly debated oeuvre of Carl Schmitt The Concept of the Political is one of the least ideological pieces, although his friend-enemy distinction has caused several misunderstandings. Nonetheless, The Concept of the Political by the creation of the notion of ‘the Political’ primarily seeks a theoretical answer to the question of what is the essence of late-modern politics and how it can be interpreted and defined. This essay infers that the interpretation has three parts: the concept of categorization and distinction, the intensity criterion, the state of exception and the borderline definition. The essay reconstructs Schmitt's original question and shows that his discussion of the concept of the political is, above all, the appearance and clarification of a new interpretation of politics.
6 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors demonstrate what it means to construe Laclau's work as precisely political theory, by analyzing his work in terms of the relations between hegemony as a theory of the political, radical democracy as a normative theory, and the ever-present but of ten overlooked element of "populism" as the theory of a form of politics.
Abstract: This article demonstrates what it means to construe Ernesto Laclau's work as precisely political theory. By analyzing his work in terms of the relations between ‘hegemony’ as a theory of the political, ‘radical democracy’ as a normative theory, and the ever-present but of ten overlooked element of ‘populism’ as a theory of a form of politics, it captures the full-fledged political character of his work (as opposed to simply moral theory). Though the article offers various criticisms of the ways the three elements are elaborated and interlinked, especially through the imprecise notions of ‘the underdogs’ and ‘the underprivileged’, it also highlights the value of attempting to situate the act of political theorizing in the world at hand by explicitly trying to identify an immanent form of politics thought in terms of a theory of the political and a normative theory, an act that will allow one to go beyond value-neutral political analysis, empty moral theory, or blind political strategizing. Only together do...
6 citations
TL;DR: The notion of pure potentiality in Giorgio Agamben is central to his thought as discussed by the authors, and it is a concept that can be seen as a defence of the concept of a "form-of-life" which is inseparable from its particular form.
Abstract: This article discusses the notion of a pure potentiality in Giorgio Agamben and argues that it is central to his thought It is unavoidable if we wish to understand his general project of establishing a philosophical thought which can adequately conceptualize political freedom That project is ultimately a defence of the concept of a ‘form-of-life’, a neologism that is to denominate a form of life where the crude fact of living is inseparable from its particular form I suggest that we seek aid in our attempt to understand die concept of a pure potentiality in the works of Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph Schelling, to whom Agamben implicitly (but only implicitly) refers in the text ‘On Potentiality’, where we find some of his most illuminating remarks on potentiality This suggestion ends up necessitating a critique of Agamben, as the comparison with Schelling demonstrates that Agamben operates with an insufficient concept of the human will; a concept which we find a compelling discussion of in the so-called ‘We
6 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, a number of structural threats to the very possibility of genuine, transformative political action in modern capitalist society are discussed under three headings: seduction by media and consumerism, the draining away of political power from the state in favor of rackets, and political alienation afflicting individuals and communities excluded from circles of power.
Abstract: The purpose of this article is to explicate concepts of politics that were introduced—if somewhat implicitly—by different Frankfurt School theorists. Authors writing within this influential tradition have identified a number of structural threats to the very possibility of genuine, transformative political action in modern capitalist society. The article discusses these threats under three headings: seduction by media and consumerism, the draining away of political power from the state in favor of rackets, and political alienation afflicting individuals and communities excluded from circles of power. These three concepts can be read as transmutations of classical political ideas. Seduction subverts liberal ideas of ‘freedom’, racketeering is a degenerate way of forming ‘associations’, and political alienation is a caricature of die contractualist notion of surrendering power to the sovereign state. In conclusion, an attempt is made to evaluate the extent to which those concepts may or may not help us to b...
TL;DR: In this article, an argument that supports a pragmatic standpoint in relation to sociological description and theorization is proposed, which is based on a Wittgensteinian approach to human action.
Abstract: This essay proposes an argument that supports a pragmatic standpoint in relation to sociological description and theorization. The argument is based on a Wittgensteinian approach to human action an...
TL;DR: A recent interview with one of Germany's leading sociologists, Hauke Brunkhorst, revolves around this evolution and argues that solidarity is internal to democratic self-determination as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: Solidarity on the level of world society may appear as an intractable ideal. Nevertheless, the globalization of law and human rights can be perceived as an emerging form of global constitutionalism contributing to the integration of world society. This interview with one of Germany's leading sociologists, Hauke Brunkhorst, revolves around this evolution. Brunkhorst argues that solidarity is internal to democratic self-determination. Insofar as citizens are increasingly subject to global laws they constitute a global people in embryonic form. This is evident through the gradual constitution of a transnational public sphere and global protest movements invoking the ‘language of human rights’. Still, the legal integration of world society is ridden by democratic deficiencies, and to some extent politics after 9/11 has questioned the move toward a global constitutionalism. The interview is inspired by Brunkhorst's recent book, Solidarity.
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TL;DR: Inspired by Althusserian Marxism, the authors retraces the development and formulation of the political project informing Marx' theoretical understandin... and shows that the absence of a clear concept of politics not only presupposes a practical political project, it has no validity outside such a project.
Abstract: Even though Marxism is an extremely important contribution to modern political theory, Marx himself never formulated a clear theoretical concept of politics. The absence of such a theory has been interpreted by some as an indication of politics being a matter of secondary importance in an essentially economic theory. Others have seen this absence as a fundamental problem for Marxist thought. Inspired by Althusserian Marxism, this article offers an alternative to both points of view. A clear understanding of politics is indeed of great importance to Marxist theory, but in this context the absence of a concept reflects Marx' view of politics as practice. A clear concept of politics not only presupposes a practical political project, it has no validity outside such a project. It must, therefore, be understood as a borderline concept. Unfolding the radical consequences of this change of view, the article retraces the development and formulation of the political project informing Marx' theoretical understandin...