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Discusses Jacques Derrida's Spectres of Marx. Responds warmly to Derrida's discussion of the debt owed to Karl Marx, while at the same time indicating that historical materialism and deconstruction retain different perspectives and allegiances. (Original abstract-amended)

Ghosts are never far from the surface in the work of Venezuelan poet Eugenio Montejo, concerned as it is with loss and its possible poetic restitution. Two of his poems are based around Hamlet and its spectral figure: "Hamlet Acto Primero" ["Hamlet Act One"] and "La hora de Hamlet" ["Hamlet's hour"]. They draw attention to fundamental hauntings in Montejo's writing and being. The Hamletian ghost at stake is initially that of a quasi-rural Golden Age, at times symbolised by Simón Bolívar, whose loss is linked to the emerging dominance of capitalism, against which the poet must fight. But the ghost is also that of the caudillo Juan Vicente Gómez, who haunts Venezuelan politics and society. The poet is, then, also called finally to finish off Gómez. In Hugo Chávez, the poet sees both the continuation of essentially capitalist policies and the embodiment of Gómez's ghost. But Montejo responds to the chance to exorcise this spectre with poetic silence. Is this a Derridean recognition that to speak is merely to respectralise the caudillo figure? Or does it suggest that opposition is not about expressing criticism or dissent, but about creating an alternative space: a poetic space?

The dawn of 21st century has witnessed some new features of democratic politics that seem to be shifting away from what we call democratic. The impact of globalisation has created such a nexus among elites of politics–corporates–media that has made political regimes to ignore the democratic norms and well-being of common masses and overemphasise economic growth and corporate-friendly policy priorities. Besides, the approach of the political actors (parties and politicians), in the process of power-seeking, has shown unconventional trends. These features do not resemble either dictatorship or totalitarianism; rather they depict trends of aristocratic mode of decision-making by using democratic framework and institutions. Such trends have been termed as 'post-democracy' by recent Western scholarship. Indian politics is not an exception. These trends have created an imbalance between interest of social classes and corporative interests which has prompted political regimes to take tough decisions, in despotic ways. Though the present article does not posit that Indian democracy is on the brink, it attempts to underline the post-democratic features visible in Indian politics through examination of (a) party politics in terms of democratic framework, ideology, policy initiations and reforms, electioneering, etc.; (b) politicians–corporates–media nexus; and (c) modes and trends of politicians in communicating and relating with the electorate.

The sexual construction of the subject in the route to modernity is discussed through a consideration of Michel Foucault's view that power in premodernity operated through the deployment of sexuality. Through a focus on the incest taboo, this now widely accepted periodization is found wanting. It is argued that the case of incest shows the concurrent deployment today of strategies of both alliances & sexuality, & that we should see the contemporary family in terms of such a concurrent deployment. The incest taboo is the principle of the premodern system of alliances, while the modern deployment of sexuality threatens this same system of alliances through the colonization of the family by sexual discourse. This is exemplified in Freudian sexual discourse, in which the family is threatened by child sexuality, the Oedipus complex, etc. However, even the Freudian discourse of sexuality is double-edged, allowing for the continued deployment of alliances, while saturating these same alliances with desire. 19 References. V. Rios

This article critically explores the idea that resolving ethnic conflicts requires some form of truth recovery mechanism to ensure accountability for past actions. While the truth recovery model suggests the need for a pluralistic, inclusive approach to peace building, I argue that its intersection with party and identity politics means that it has the potential to destabilise settlement processes. Using the Northern Ireland case as an example, I describe how the truth recovery model can trigger a contest over the past in which ethnicised understandings of the past and the present come to the fore. An essentially disruptive element in peace building, truth recovery conjures into existence alternative historical narratives, counterfactual historical scenarios and, in an ethnically divided society, may actually narrow the space for debating "peace" and thereby reproduce entrenched and polarised identities. Adapted from the source document.

This article critically explores the idea that resolving ethnic conflicts requires some form of truth recovery mechanism to ensure accountability for past actions. While the truth recovery model suggests the need for a pluralistic, inclusive approach to peace building, I argue that its intersection with party and identity politics means that it has the potential to destabilise settlement processes. Using the Northern Ireland case as an example, I describe how the truth recovery model can trigger a contest over the past in which ethnicised understandings of the past and the present come to the fore. An essentially disruptive element in peace building, truth recovery conjures into existence alternative historical narratives, counterfactual historical scenarios and, in an ethnically divided society, may actually narrow the space for debating 'peace' and thereby reproduce entrenched and polarised identities.