Showing papers in "European Journal of Social Theory in 1998"
TL;DR: The authors modifies Mannheim's original conceptualization through Bourdieu's original concept of generation, and modifies it through a Bourdieux-like approach to the generation concept.
Abstract: The concept of generation has had little refinement and application in recent sociology. After reviewing the literature, this article modifies Mannheim's original conceptualization through Bourdieu...
293 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors suggest that an understanding of the impact of citizenship in the modern world must consider not only its role in bringing together members of particular sub-populations and promoting some of their interests, but also the effects of rendering the global population governable by dividing it into sub-population consisting of the citizens of discrete, politically independent and competing states.
Abstract: Academic discussion of citizenship focuses primarily on the citizen in relation to the particular state of which s/he is a member From this perspective the modern spread of citizenship, first in a few western states and then somewhat more generally, is usually regarded as a definite advance in human well-being, as turning what had once been the privileges of the few into the rights of the many This paper aims, if not entirely to undermine, then at least to unsettle this celebration of citizenship It suggests that an understanding of the impact of citizenship in the modern world must consider not just its role in bringing together members of particular sub-populations and promoting some of their interests, but also the effects of rendering the global population governable by dividing it into sub-populations consisting of the citizens of discrete, politically independent and competing states
204 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors present a model of a structural context conducive for the emergence of the culture of trust, and then argue that democratic organization contributes to trust-generating conditions, such as normative certainty, transparency, stability, and accountability.
Abstract: The measure of trust that people vest in their fellow citizens or institutions depends on three factors: the `reflected trustworthiness' of the target as estimated by themselves in a more or less rational manner, the attitude of `basic trustfulness' deriving from socialization, and the `culture of trust' pervading their society and normatively encouraging the trusting orientation. The author presents a model of a structural context conducive for the emergence of the culture of trust, and then argues that democratic organization contributes to trust-generating conditions, such as normative certainty, transparency, stability, and accountability. This influence is found to be doubly paradoxical. First, democracy breeds the culture of trust by institutionalizing distrust at many levels of democratic organization. And second, the strongest influence of democracy on the culture of trust may be expected when the institutionalized distrust remains a resource used sparingly and only when there appear significant b...
168 citations
TL;DR: The authors explores the theoretical implications of Freud's notion of ''the narcissism of minor differences'' -the idea that it is precisely the minor differences between people who are otherwise alike that form the basis of feelings of strangeness and hostility between them.
Abstract: This essay explores the theoretical implications of Freud's notion of `the narcissism of minor differences' - the idea that it is precisely the minor differences between people who are otherwise alike that form the basis of feelings of strangeness and hostility between them. A comparative survey shows that minor differences underlie a wide range of conflicts: from relatively benign forms of campanilismo to bloody civil wars. Freud's tentative statements link up with the insights of Simmel, Durkheim, Levi-Strauss, Dumont, Elias, and Girard. Especially helpful is what Bourdieu writes in Distinction: social identity lies in difference, and difference is asserted against what is closest, which represents the greatest threat. An outline of a general theory of power and violence should include consideration of the narcissism of minor differences, also because its counterpart - hierarchy and great differences - makes for relative stability and peace.
95 citations
TL;DR: The concept of a differentiated universalism as mentioned in this paper is proposed as a means of encapsulating the creative tension between the universal and the particular that lies at the heart of this approach to citizenship.
Abstract: Citizenship can be represented as both a status and a practice, reflecting the liberal/social rights and civic republican traditions but also moving beyond them in a critical synthesis. A key challenge for contemporary feminist and radical citizenship theory is how to move beyond the bogus universalism that underpinned both of these traditions, as well as that implied by the category `woman', so as to accommodate citizenship's universalist promise to the demands of diversity and difference. The article suggests how citizenship as both a status and a practice can be rethought so as to respond to this challenge. Drawing on a range of social and political theorists, it offers the concept of a `differentiated universalism' as a means of encapsulating the creative tension between the universal and the particular that lies at the heart of this approach to citizenship.
87 citations
35 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors focus on the different patterns of modern nation states in the framework of the more general approach to the construction of collective identities and show that despite common characteristics, there developed great differences in their construction; in the analysis of such differences it is very important to take into account the historical and civilizational backgrounds of the respective soci...
Abstract: This paper is based on four assumptions concerning the analysis of the construction of collective identities. First, such construction, like power and economic relations, is an analytically autonomous basic component of the construction of social life. Second, such constructions have been going on in all human societies throughout history. Third, all such patterns of collective identity have been continually constructed from some basic yet continually changing building blocks, codes or themes - especially those of primordiality, civility and `sacredness'. The paper focuses on the different patterns of modern nation states in the framework of the more general approach to the construction of collective identities. This analysis of different modern nation states indicates that despite common characteristics, there developed great differences in their construction; in the analysis of such differences it is very important to take into account the historical and civilizational backgrounds of the respective soci...
33 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors address the question of the relationship between creativity and autonomy, originally related to each other in the concept of the ''self'' as one of the crucial parts of the Meadian and...
Abstract: This paper addresses the question of the relationship between creativity and autonomy - originally related to each other in the concept of the `self' as one of the crucial parts of the Meadian and ...
20 citations
TL;DR: In this article, a reading of Derrida's interpretation of Blanchot in The Politics of Friendship is used to explore the relation between two sets of terms: friendship and democracy, and ethics and politics.
Abstract: In this article, I attempt to explore the relation between two sets of terms in Derrida's work: friendship and democracy, and ethics and politics. On the basis of a reading of Derrida's interpretation of Blanchot in The Politics of Friendship, I argue that Blanchot's notion of a non-traditional conception of friendship is a reconstruction of Levinas's notion of the ethical relation to the other, which in turn provides the basis for the formalistic ethical affirmation of Derrida's work, an affirmation found most clearly in his remarks on justice. I then move from the The Politics of Friendship to Derrida's more recent text on Levinas, Adieu, and try to explore the relation between ethics and politics in Derrida's work, with particular reference to the question of democracy. My concluding thesis is that Derrida's recent work is attempting to articulate, through notions such as democracy to come and the new international, what I call 'a repoliticization of Marxism'.
20 citations
TL;DR: The postwar period has been marked by a problematization of nations and nationalism: these phenomena, which were previously assumed to be natural products of evolution, have received a growing amount of attention from social theory.
Abstract: The postwar period has been marked by a problematization of nations and nationalism: these phenomena, which were previously assumed to be natural products of evolution, have received a growing amount of attention from social theory. First an attempt was made to debunk nationalist constructions, and then a `primordialist' reaction defended the nation. Explanatory theory has however been held back due to vagueness regarding key categories such as culture, agency, rationality and motivations. Nationalism studies must be clearer in its use of these categories, and separate normative and explanatory questions if it is to yield more useful generalizations in the future.
8 citations
TL;DR: The fertility of contemporary social theory is matched only by its problematic relationship to its past as discussed by the authors, and the future of social theory therefore lies with a renegotiation of that relationship, which is the goal of this paper.
Abstract: The fertility of contemporary social theory is matched only by its problematic relationship to its past. The future of social theory therefore lies with a renegotiation of that relationship. I begi...