A call to loyalty: women’s bodies, playgrounds and battlefields

Este artículo muestra cómo los argumentos feministas utilizados por discursos de derecha populistas y xenofóbicos contribuyen a la neutralización del feminismo en el discurso público europeo, la libertad de la mujer se invoca para fines que tienen poco que ver con ellas mismas. El cuerpo de la mujer se queda exterior y ajeno a la esfera moderna de la autonomía y sigue siendo una posesión: poseído, reapropiado, cubierto y expuesto, se convierte en campo de batalla para los conflictos identitarios de la mo¬dernidad tardía. Por otro lado, la aspiración a la autonomía, transformada en deseo de consumo, causa que se convierta en un espectáculo y en una mercancía, es decir, en un patio de recreo del orden neoliberal. Ciertas tendencias en el feminismo contemporá¬neo reflejan esta versión mimética de la libertad, haciendo al feminismo vulnerable al nuevo espíritu del capitalismo (Fraser, 2009) y a los discursos populistas y xenófobos de la derecha.The article aims at analysing how the use of “feminist” arguments by xenophobic, right –wing and populist discourses– constitutes a specific form of neutralisation of feminism. In European public discourse, women’s freedom is becoming a pawn in a political game that has nothing to do with women themselves. Women’s bodies –posses¬sed, re-appropriated, impregnated, covered and uncovered– become battlefields for the “identity conflicts” of late modernity. On the other hand, the aspiration to autonomy, re-narrated in late capitalism in terms of freedom to consume, causes women bodies, exposed, spectacularised, commodified, to become the playgrounds of neo-liberal order (Fraser, 2009). Some trends in contemporary feminism reflect this mimetic version of freedom, thus contributing to make feminist critique suitable to the spirit of new capi¬talism and easily manipulated by xenophobic, right-wing populist discourses

9. Elective Affinities and liaisons dangereuses. Luther’s Heritage and the New Spirit of Capitalism

The role of the Protestant Reformation in promoting the spirit of capitalism has been a crucial theme in sociological and philosophical debates for more than a century. This paper will consider whether these “elective affinities” still exist, in a context marked by profound transformations of both capitalism and Protestantism: in particular, the notion of Beruf seems hardly compatible with the current economic transformations The chapter will analyse, relying on the critical perspectives of authors such as Boltanski and Chiapello as well as Honneth, how the “new spirit of Capitalism” is successfully re-appropriating other important aspects of the heritage of the Protestant Reformation, primarily the notion of individual autonomy

MONOTEISMO E VIOLENZA

L’autore affronta il dibattito sul rapporto tra monoteismo e violenza a partire dallo stato del dibattito, mettendo in evidenza come esso da una parte va ben oltre i confini della dimensione scientifica e dall’altra ha una lunga tradizione alle spalle; in questa tradizione, che viene presentata a partire dall’Illuminismo, la violenza politica e la violenza religiosa si sono sovrapposte e, talvolta, profondamente distinte, creando una memoria storica che pesa nella società del XXI secolo. L’articolo si conclude con una riflessione sulle ragione che spingono a considerare il monoteismo come elemento in grado di scatenare violenza e intolleranza

Civil Society and International Governance

Structures and processes occurring within and between states are no longer the only – or even the most important - determinants of those political, economic and social developments and dynamics that shape the modern world. Many issues, including the environment, health, crime, drugs, migration and terrorism, can no longer be contained within national boundaries. As a result, it is not always possible to identify the loci for authority and legitimacy, and the role of governments has been called into question. Civil Society anf International Governance critically analyses the increasing impact of nongovernmental organisations and civil society on global and regional governance. Written from the standpoint of advocates of civil society and addressing the role of civil society in relation to the UN, the IMF, the G8 and the WTO, this volume assess the role of various non-state actors from three perspectives: theoretical aspects, civil society interaction with the European Union and civil society and regional governance outside Europe, specifically Africa, East Asia and the Middle East. It demonstrates that civil society’s role has been more complex than one defined in terms, essentially, of resistance and includes actual participation in governance as well as multi-facetted contributions to legitimising and democratising global and regional governance. This book will be of interest to students and scholars of political science, international relations, civil society, sociology, European politics and global governance. 1. Introduction David Armstrong and Julie Gilson Part 1: Theory 2. Civil Society and the Democratisation of Global Public Space Debora Spini 3. Collective and Social Identity: A Theoretical Analysis of the Role of Civil Society in the Construction of Supra-National Societies Valeria Bello 4. Organized Civil Society and Political Representation in the EU Arena Carlo Ruzza Part 2: The European Union 5. Europeanization of Non-State Actors: Towards a Framework for Analysis Karolina Boro?ska-Hryniewiecka 6. Between Localisation and Europeanisation: Non-Governmental Organisations in Bosnia and Herzegovina Erica Panighello 7. European Integration, Cross-Border Cooperation and Third-Sector Mobilizations in the Basque Country Xabier Itçaina Part 3: Civil Society Outside Europe 8. Governance and Non-Governmental Organisations in East Asia: Building Region-Wide Coalitions Julie Gilson 9. Civil Society and Regional Governance in Eastern and Southern Africa Andréas Godsäter and Frederik Söderbaum 10. The Role of Civil Society in Regional Governance in the Middle East Michael Shulz 11. Transnational Labour Mobilization in the Americas Marcelo Saguie

Civil society and international governance: the role of non-state actors in the EU, Africa, Asia and Middle East

Structures and processes occurring within and between states are no longer the only – or even the most important - determinants of those political, economic and social developments and dynamics that shape the modern world. Many issues, including the environment, health, crime, drugs, migration and terrorism, can no longer be contained within national boundaries. As a result, it is not always possible to identify the loci for authority and legitimacy, and the role of governments has been called into question. \ud \ud Civil Society anf International Governance critically analyses the increasing impact of nongovernmental organisations and civil society on global and regional governance. Written from the standpoint of advocates of civil society and addressing the role of civil society in relation to the UN, the IMF, the G8 and the WTO, this volume assess the role of various non-state actors from three perspectives: theoretical aspects, civil society interaction with the European Union and civil society and regional governance outside Europe, specifically Africa, East Asia and the Middle East. It demonstrates that civil society’s role has been more complex than one defined in terms, essentially, of resistance and includes actual participation in governance as well as multi-facetted contributions to legitimising and democratising global and regional governance

La pace è femmina: lo sguardo neocon sulle questioni di genere

My essay provides a few elements to analyse how the neoconservative perspective on gender issues has evolved from its early phases to the last years. The aim is to highlight how neoconservative authors shifted from an openly patriarchal view of gender roles to more or less successful attempts at appropriating “feminist” themes and issues, in view of the affirmation of America’s moral superiority as a justification of hard power.Il saggio intende fornire alcuni elementi per l’analisi dell’evoluzione della prospettiva neocon sulle questioni di genere, a partire dalle sue fasi iniziali fino ad anni più recenti, avendo come obiettivo di evidenziare come gli autori neocon abbiano nel corso del tempo modificato l’originario esplicito patriarcalismo per avventurarsi in più o meno fortunati tentativi di appropriazione di temi “femministi”, un’operazione imposta dalla necessità di affermare la superiorità morale dell’America come giustificazione all’impiego dell’hard power

12. Unveiling Violence: Gender and Migration in the Discourse of Right-Wing Populism

Migrant women are the target of tangible and material forms of structural violence that are not visible to the public gaze: exploitation, abuse and, most of all, enslavement. Despite this, public attention tends to focus on their apparent status as oppressed victims of their misogynist cultures. Veils and burkinis — and the ocean of words that they never fail to provoke — hide the reality of the massive, enduring structural violence affecting migrant women. The structural violence to which th..

Words, Practices, Citizenship

The study day, whose Proceedings are collected in this volume, was dedicated to a reflection on the relationship between the Humanities and the public sphere. How can (or simply can) the artistic or literary criticism compare with the forms of social criticism? What is the relationship between academic research and \u201cearthly city\u201d; between philology and politics (in the broad sense)? Finally, how can we ensure that specialist research proves to be a specific mode of citizenship? We chose to focus on the relationship between art history and criticism and the public sphere, since we are convinced that the two worlds are now separated by a growing distance both in Italy and abroad. And that this distance does not benefit the one or the other - i.e. the fate of our democracy. We also investigated the gap that has arisen between formal and cultural opinion; between cultural theory and artistic practices. In reflecting on the current loss of authority of \u201ccontemporary art\u201d, we encouraged the speakers to keep an equidistant perspective from shrill complaints and unnecessary corporatism. \u201cThe risk\u201d, as properly pointed out by Giovanni Solimine in Senza Sapere (2014), \u201cis that an increasingly wide and deep gap may arise between education places, which often young people continue to attend reluctantly and without attributing them any function, and an \u2018implicit curriculum\u2019, based on the ideology of a self-education via the web\u201d. Little is left, in the current academic system and in the daily practice of those dealing with research, of that \u201cceterorum hominum caritas\u201d, which, according to Petrarch and early humanists, strengthened and made the studia humanitatis necessary. However, it does not seem possible - or desirable - to eradicate humanities research from the civil and pragmatic dimension of the origins. Therefore, the conference also involved scholars active in the \u201cthird mission\u201d of the research: scholars who also were columnists or maybe curators, directors of cultural magazines or collective blogs, or engaged in social. 80 If it seems important to try to reduce the distance between scientific institutions and the world \u201cout there\u201d, it is however necessary to do so in specific and well-balanced ways. And so, how do the philological toolbox and the critical theory cooperate, if they do? How important can we consider, in modern society, the observance of good argumentative practices, the education to a public use of emotions, and a constant, appropriate stimulation of written language

La parola, le pratiche, la cittadinanza

La giornata di studi \ue8 dedicata a una riflessione sui rapporti tra ricerca umanistica e pratiche pubbliche. In che modo (e se) la critica artistica o letteraria pu\uf2 ancora incrociare le forme della critica culturale? O congiungersi, come modo specifico di un attivo esercizio della cittadinanza, a questa o quell\u2019iniziativa di mobilitazione? La domanda da cui ci si propone di partire \ue8: esiste o meno condivisione di modelli, obiettivi e strumenti tra scrittura e \u201cazione\u201d, e se s\uec, a quali condizioni e nel rispetto di quali differenze? Sembra importante che chi fa ricerca in ambiti accademici possa contribuire alla manutenzione di un\u2019opinione pubblica riflessiva e indipendente. \u201cIl rischio\u201d, osserva Giovanni Solimine in Senza sapere (2014), \u201c\ue8 che si apra un solco sempre pi\uf9 ampio e profondo fra i luoghi della formazione, che spesso i giovani continuano a frequentare svogliatamente ma senza riconoscere ad essi pi\uf9 alcuna funzione, e un \u2018curriculum implicito\u2019, basato sull\u2019ideologia dell\u2019autoformazione in rete. In questa prospettiva le due esperienze del giornalismo culturale e dell\u2019\u201dimpegno\u201d concreto e quotidiano rivestono un ruolo primario. All\u2019incontro sono perci\uf2 invitati ricercatori attivi nella \u201cterza missione\u201d del giornalismo culturale su testate generaliste, riviste culturali o blog collettivi; e ricercatori attivi in ambiti sociali. Come cooperano, qualora lo facciano, la cassetta degli attrezzi filologici e la teoria critica? Quanto possiamo considerare importanti, nelle societ\ue0 attuali, l\u2019osservanza di buone pratiche argomentative, l\u2019educazione a un uso pubblico delle emozioni e una costante, appropriata sollecitazione della lingua scritta? Queste alcune tra le domande cui i relatori potranno rispondere riflettendo sulla propria stessa esperienza

Unveiling the Headscarf Debate

In March 2004 the French parliament controversially adopted legislation regulating the wearing of symbols indicating religious affiliation in public educational establishments. This note discusses several features of the new law indicating its origins, its rationale and its position within French constitutional discourse on religious freedom and secularity. It is based on a panel discussion held in April 2004 within the Gender Studies Programme at the Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies, European University Institute, Florence. Placing the French legislative initiative in the context of recent developments in national and European case law (suggesting clear limitations to freedom of religion), the note explores the complexity of issues of gender, identity and difference in the present debate, especially when considered in the light of reactions to the law in Islamic countries