Suchergebnisse

The neorealist-neoliberal debate about the possibilities for collective action in international relations has been based on a shared commitment to Mancur Olson's rationalist definition of the problem as one of getting exogenously given egoists to cooperate. Treating this assumption as a de facto hypothesis about world politics, I articulate the rival claim that interaction at the systemic level changes state identities and interests. The causes of state egoism do not justify always treating it as given. Insights from critical international relations and integration theories suggest how collective identity among states could emerge endogenously at the systemic level. Such a process would generate cooperation that neither neorealists nor neoliberals expect and help transform systemic anarchy into an "international state"—a transnational structure of political authority that might undermine territorial democracy. I show how broadening systemic theory beyond rationalist concerns can help it to explain structural change in world politics.

The dissolution & prospective of rebuilding of strong individual, group, & national identities & the reinstitution democracy in Eastern Europe are examined. The political transformations in Eastern Europe have resulted in not only institutional breakdown but also fragmented & degraded individual & group political identities. Both must be reconstituted for democratic values to emerge. However, cooperative coexistence is hampered by ethnic diversity, complex psychocultural processes, & the history of Marxist-Leninist international ideology, which froze ethnic tensions & stifled development of institutions to deal with them. Hope for democracy lies in empowering Eastern Europe's democratic elites, & in developing tolerance, empathy, & integration. D. Generoli

Religious attractions in the form of museums, theme parks, and guided tours allow visitors to interact directly with specific narratives about the past, present, and future. As such, they are often viewed as providing historical and doctrinal education, wholesome entertainment, or sacred space for participants. Christian Tourism, Myth-Making and Identity instead shows the extent and the strategies through which the narratives are constructed, by analyzing religious tourist attractions that locate visitors within tradition- specific historical narratives. Case studies considered include Ark Encounter and the Creation Museum in Kentucky, the Bible Walk Museum in Ohio, Christian Zionist Tours in Israel and the Feast of Tabernacles in Jerusalem. 0This book approaches these tourist attractions as active sites of myth-making that construct the past in particular ways that serve present and future interests related to identity. In this way, the sites are shown to be functionally equivalent to non-religious tourist attractions that also utilize these strategies. By examining the "religious" sites in terms of the common social practice known as myth-making, the book contributes to recent efforts within the academic study of religion to explain religious practice in recognizable, human terms

Um die gegenwärtigen Entwicklungen der Staaten und des internationalen Systems zu begreifen, muß man über die herkömmliche Debatte der neorealistischen mit der neoliberalen Schule hinausgehen und darf auch bei den wichtigen Einsichten über die Logik kollektiven Handelns, wie den rationalistischen Konzeptionen Mancur Olsons nicht stehen bleiben. Wichtig ist es vielmehr zu erkennen, daß eine transnationale Struktur politischer Autorität die systemische Anarchie internationaler Politik überwinden kann und über eine Eigendynamik verfügt. In diesem Sinne gilt es, methodologisch-theoretisch von den einzelnen Schulen Abschied zu nehmen und deren Einsichten zu komponieren, um die Dynamik des gegenwärtigen Weltsystems herauszufinden. Schon heute läßt sich erkennen, daß sich eine neue Form des Staates herausbildet. Indem der Staat ein Stück Souveränität "nach oben" zu internationalen, ja transnationalen Organisationen abgibt, schwächt er nicht seine eigene Autorität, sondern erhält und stärkt sie, indem er sie umlagert. Das neu sich herausbildende, nach dem Muster des Westfälischen Friedens nicht mehr erfaßbare Staatensystem, die Bedeutung der Einzelstaaten, ihrer Konkurrenz und ihre internationale, ja transnationale Zusammenarbeit und deren Dynamik, erfordert nicht nur eine Revision des herkömmlichen Souveränitätsbegriffs, läßt sich nicht nur im Sinne allein hierarchischer Vorstellungen nicht mehr begreifen, es stellt auch die allzu einzelstaatlich fixierte Demokratietheorie und demokratische Praxis vor neue Probleme. Was bedeutet es, wenn Autorität transnational entrückt und der herkömmlichen demokratischen Kontrolle damit entzogen wird? Dieses Problem läßt sich am Beispiel der Europäischen Union und ihres "Demokratiedefizits" einschlägig illustrieren. (AuD-Nar)

This article is an attempt to explore the role, if any, that transnational deaf identity politics plays within the lives of members of the Delhi Foundation of Deaf Women (DFDW). Taking a two-pronged ethnographic and historical approach, I will examine how the DFDW came to exist, situating it within the field of organisations serving the deaf in Delhi, as well as providing an overview of its structure and client profile. I will also examine the terrain of identity politics within the deaf community of the DFDW, and ask questions about what identity, deafness and kinship mean to its members. Most theory coming out of Deaf studies has ignored, until relatively recently, the category of gender. This article seeks to explore how culture and gender modify the constructions and experiences of Deaf identity.