Aesthetics relation between art, culture, politics: social turn

Рукопись поступила в редакцию 1 июня 2016 г.This article deals with the problem of important social turn in the relationship between politics and art in the contemporary situation. In the postmodern sense, the relation between politics and art is assumed as performance or, in other words, as the representation of art and politics in the realm of cultural discourses and figures. The relations between art and politics in the contemporary sense may be assumed in terms of this triple definition, as: the transfer of politics into art, as the spectacularization of politics through art, and as a potential field of intervening critical, subversive practices in the global-transitional social processes of performing forms of life in the realm of expansive neoliberal capitalism and its global crisis

Medicine as Friendship with God: Anointing the Sick as a Theological Hermeneutic

A theological bioethics needs, first, a theological politics. The thesis of this essay rests on the claim that the contours of a theological politics are found in the nature of sacramental practices. More specifically, a theological politics of medicine is found in the sacramental practice of anointing of the sick. Anointing provides a radically theological hermeneutic—a theologically robust vision for interpreting medicine that, if enacted, can powerfully make real God\u27s work in the world. Such a vision is embodied in one particular twentieth-century exemplar—the organization called Partners In Health (PIH) and its cofounder, Paul Farmer. Farmer and PIH, I argue, live the théologie and theological politics of medicine embodied in the practice of anointing. What is more, they show—against those who would accuse such an approach of being naively idealistic—that such a theological politics is possible, powerful, and can even change the world

The past is evil/evil is past: on retrospective politics, 'philosophy of history, and temporal manichaeism

One of the most remarkable phenomena in current international politics is the increasing attention paid to historical injustice. Opinions on this phenomenon strongly differ. For some it stands for a new and noble type of politics based on raised moral standards and helping the cause of peace and democracy. Others are more critical and claim that retrospective politics comes at the cost of present- or future-oriented politics and tends to be anti-utopian. The warnings about the perils of a retrospective politics outweighing politics directed at contemporary injustices, or strivings for a more just future, should be taken seriously. Yet the alternative of a politics disregarding all historical injustice is not desirable either. We should refuse to choose between restitution for historical injustices and struggle for justice in the present or the future. Rather, we should look for types of retrospective politics that do not oppose but complement or reinforce the emancipatory and utopian elements in present- and future-directed politics. I argue that retrospective politics can indeed have negative effects. Most notably it can lead to a temporal Manichaeism that not only posits that the past is evil, but also tends to treat evil as anachronistic or as belonging to the past. Yet I claim that ethical Manichaeism and anti-utopianism and are not inherent features of all retrospective politics but rather result from an underlying philosophy of history that treats the relation between past, present, and future in antinomic terms and prevents us from understanding transtemporal injustices and responsibilities. In order to pinpoint the problem of certain types of retrospective politics and point toward some alternatives, I start out from a criticism formulated by the German philosopher Odo Marquard and originally directed primarily at progressivist philosophies of history

False Idles: The Politics of the "Quiet Life"

The dominant Greek and Roman ideology held that the best human life required engaging in politics, on the grounds that the human good is shared, not private, and that the activities central to this shared good are those of traditional politics. This chapter surveys three ways in which philosophers challenged this ideology, defended a withdrawal from or transformation of traditional politics, and thus rethought what politics could be. Plato and Aristotle accept the ideology's two central commitments but insist that a few exceptional human beings could transcend the good of human activities. Epicurus argues that the human good is private, not shared. Socrates and some of his followers, including especially the Stoics, argue that the activities central to the shared human good are not those of traditional politics

Election Law and White Identity Politics

The role of race in American politics looms large in several election law doctrines. Regrettably, though, these doctrines’ analyses of race, racial identity, and the relationships between race and politics often lack sophistication, historical context, or foresight. The political status quo is treated as race-neutral, when in fact it is anything but. Specifically, the doctrines rely upon sanguine theories of democracy uncorrupted by white identity–based political calculations, while in fact such calculations, made on the part of both voters and political parties, are pervasive. In this Article, I appraise the doctrine pertaining to majority-minority voting districts, racial gerrymandering doctrine, the doctrine governing ballot access disputes, and campaign finance doctrine through the lens of white identity politics. Drawing from research in political science, sociology, and history, I argue that these doctrines are blighted by what I identify as “racial blind spots” that are inconsonant with political reality. Given the role that courts play in enunciating these doctrines, their failure to meaningfully engage with the significance of white identity politics renders their governing frameworks and remedial prescriptions inapt. The Article concludes by offering a number of suggestions, both doctrinal and legislative, for how to mitigate white identity politics

Pressure politics: a politics of collective consumption?

The nature of a politics of collective consumption is reviewed in terms of how we can distinguish those actions that pursue a broader public interest. The argument that outsider groups may be influential in terms of setting the political agenda is explored in relation to the politics of obesity and controversies about child access for divorced fathers. Animal rights militancy has proved a difficult issue for government to handle and has wider implications for pressure group activity. Government continues to favour a close relationship with big business but is less interested in reforming trade associations. Increasing cooperation between the National Farmers Union and Farmers for Action suggests that insider groups may be more willing to cooperate with outsider groups as they become more effective. The question of whether pressure group activity is moving in the direction of an ‘uncivil society’ is considered

Poverty and community: understanding culture and politics in poor places

This lack of participation, low trust and failure to invest in community wide institutions allows corrupt politics to emerge in poor inner cities and rural communities, and then that bad politics in turn becomes an obstacle to change and development. Those in charge see schools and local government as sources of patronage jobs and political power rather than as public institutions to serve the common good. Politics and political forces become part of the problem instead of part of the solution. Only investment and organizing can turn the poor community around and provide real opportunity for low income residents to succeed

Tensions in Young People's Conceptualisation and Practice of Politics

Young people have been characterised as apathetic and disengaged from mainstream politics. This discourse draws upon a narrow, regulatory and hegemonic model of politics that centres on parliamentary politics. This paper reports findings from a qualitative study of young people drawn from across the political spectrum that also found most participants to adhere to this dominant model of politics. However, this conceptualisation of politics did not match their forms of socio-political engagement, instead it generated a series of tensions and worked to discount their actions as not \'genuine\' or \'real\' politics. It is argued that this narrow, regulatory model of politics does not reflect contemporary social conditions and actually militates against young people understanding themselves as political actors and beings.Activism, Feminism, Politics, Young People

Art+Politics

For the exhibition Art + Politics, students worked closely with the holdings of Gettysburg College\u27s Special Collections and College Archives to curate an exhibition in Schmucker Art Gallery that engages with issues of public policy, activism, war, propaganda, and other critical socio-political themes. Each of the students worked diligently to contextualize the objects historically, politically, and art-historically. The art and artifacts presented in this exhibition reveal how various political events and social issues have been interpreted through various visual and printed materials, including posters, pins, illustrations, song sheets, as well as a Chinese shoe for bound feet. The students\u27 essays that follow demonstrate careful research and thoughtful reflection on the American Civil War, nineteenth-century politics, the First and Second World Wars, World\u27s Fairs, Dwight D. Eisenhower\u27s campaign, Vietnam-War era protests, and the Cultural Revolution in China. [excerpt]https://cupola.gettysburg.edu/artcatalogs/1009/thumbnail.jp

'A Monstrous Failure of Justice'?:Guantanamo Bay and National Security Challenges to Fundamental Human Rights

This article considers challenges to the existing international human rights regime in the post-9/11 era. It uses an interdisciplinary approach that brings together issues of politics and law by focussing on international legal provisions and setting them into the context of International Relations theory. The article examines the establishment of Guantanamo Bay as a detention centre for suspected terrorists captured in the 'war on terror' and focuses on violations of international human rights and humanitarian law in the name of national security. This article demonstrates that the wrangling over Guantanamo Bay is an important illustration of the complex interaction between interests and norms as well as law and politics in US policy making. The starting point is that politics and law are linked and cannot be seen in isolation from each other; the question that then arises is what kind of politics law can maintain. International Politics (2010) 47, 680-697. doi: 10.1057/ip.2010.25</p