Political Theory Commons^™

Notes From The Editor: Volume 13, Rory J. Conces Prof.

International Dialogue

No abstract provided.

Review Essay: Enjoyment And Ideology Surplus-Enjoyment: A Guide For The Non-Perplexed Slavoj Žižek. London: Bloomsbury Academic. 2022. Pp. 400., Edward Sankowski, Betty J. Harris

International Dialogue

Slavoj Žižek’s Surplus-Enjoyment-A Guide for the Non-Perplexed is a difficult book. Reading it requires a different approach from what is usual with what seems to us more standardized philosophical or social scientific prose. Our approach initially at least no doubt assumes as our starting point a deploying of our shared norms, shaped by our backgrounds as U.S. based scholars aiming to advance dialogue with Žižek and some of the wide variety of authors with whom Žižek himself engages.

Kosovo-Serbia Dialogue: Development Fund For Municipalities In The North Of Kosovo, Seb Bytyci

International Dialogue

This article deals with the Development Fund for the northern municipalities, as a product of the Kosovo-Serbia dialogue. The existence of the Fund is largely ignored both by the parties and by the mediators, and there is little knowledge of it even by the citizens, although it is one of the pillars of the autonomy arrangements of the Kosovo Serbs.

Review: European Sources Of Human Dignity: A Commented Anthology Mette Lebech. Oxford: Peter Lang, 2019. Pp. 345. On The Problem Of Human Dignity: A Hermeneutical And Phenomenological Investigation Mette Lebech., Robert Mcnamara

International Dialogue

A coordinating feature of much contemporary discourse—philosophical and theological, social and cultural, political and legal—is the idea of human dignity. The sense of its necessity as an idea grounding and organizing thought, feeling, and action about the human being is shared across different and often otherwise contrary worldviews. But to what does the expression “human dignity” refer? What is human dignity? And why is it important? Anyone who has looked at the problem with anything more than a cursory glance knows that these are not easy questions, and Mette Lebech sets herself the task of attaining an answer in two …

Objects Supporting/Resisting A Democracy And Resisting An Occupation: Two Sides Of The Same Coin—Kosovo And The Occupied Territories, Rory J. Conces Prof.

International Dialogue

I thought I knew all there was to know about evocative objects, at least as much as I needed to know to talk about ordinary (political) ontology. But I was very wrong, as wrong as I could ever be. I didn’t know much about those objects. And maybe I still don’t, even after spending a chunk of my life in Bosnia and Kosovo and immersed in their ethnic divisions and enclaves. What I concluded from my Balkan experience was that since peace and democracy building were the ultimate goals for the region, the divisiveness of ethnic enclaves and the objects …

The Marginalised Nativism Strikes Back: Critical Discourse Analysis Of The Afd Party’S Anti-Refugee Campaign In Germany, Raihanna Athaayaa Ari Sudjono, Aditya Batara Gunawan

Jurnal Politik

Born as a Eurosceptic party in 2013, the Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) Party shifted its agenda to anti-refugee and anti-Islamic issues after the 2015 refugee crisis in Europe. This shift is evident in the discourse of traditional campaign posters distributed during the 2017 federal election in Germany. This article aims to map and conduct a critical discourse analysis of the refugee crisis issues constructed by the AfD Party through traditional campaign posters. The author argues that the AfD Party's anti-refugee and anti-Islam discourse is significantly influenced by factors such as interests, ideology, and social, economic, and political conditions. This research …

Liquid Border, Yingfan Jia

Masters Theses

A River is a mighty and constantly-evolving force, leaving behind an intricately designed and constantly changing system. Not just a river, the Rio Grande stretches all the way from Colorado before intersecting with the US-Mexico Border in southern Texas - a point where the powerful forces of nature now merge with a clearly-defined political boundary. The outcome of this is a unique ecological niche, which may often go unnoticed despite its distinctiveness.

Texas is famous for its farms and ranches, and the Rio Grande Valley of South Texas was once an agricultural hub. However, urbanization and the depletion of water …

The Politics Of Expertise And The Articulation Of Authority In Democracy: Cognitive Style And Intelligibility In The Education Of Problem-Solving And Professional Decision-Making In The Domain Of Law, Michael W. Raphael

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Computational complexity refers to the representational aspect of problem-solving. This representational aspect is commonly understood to describe the regularities that organize the definition of the problem-situation, the qualities that designate its difficulty, either in terms of the process of arriving at a definition of the problem or in the process of arriving at a solution. It is for this reason, that it is commonly said that “representational design precedes computational efficacy.” The point of this maxim is to serve as a reminder that an efficient use of resources begins with the design of near decomposability, the specification of the properties …

A New World Order?: Considering Slaughter’S Notion Of The Disaggregated And Networked State, Darlene N. Moorman

The Downtown Review: An Interdisciplinary Journal Written and Peer-Reviewed by Mandel Honors College Students at Cleveland State University

This paper briefly explains Slaughter's (2004) argument for the emergence of a new world order defined by a disaggregated and networked state where the relevance of soft power has become all the more critical in conversations of politics and corresponding theory. This transformation (arising in the face of the so-called 'globalization paradox') is considered, exploring (a) what this means for the world system and (b) what concerns it may consequently bring.

The Age-Less Citizen: Cultivating A Civically Engaged K-12 Community Through The Use Of Service Learning, Chelsia I. Douglas Mpa

National Youth Advocacy & Resilience Conference

The Age-less Citizen will analyze evidence-based civic education studies and explore proactive student engagement strategies to build an individualized nonpartisan action plan for each school represented. From sending election reminders home by a kindergartener, to including local school board meetings on school newsletter and calendars, attendees will take away practical tips and tools to restore faith in the younger generation's ability to improve our democracy.

Theory-Building And Tool-Building For A Science Of Dysfunctional Political Discourse, Eric Hamilton, Marguerite Williamson, Andrew Hurford

Education Division Scholarship

This paper extends a developing analytic framework for political discourse that takes place over digital social media. Earlier presentations of the framework have furnished a rationale for applying the conceptual framework of epistemic frame theory and the tools of quantitative ethnography for political discourse analysis. They have provided early existence proofs of the viability of epistemic network analysis (ENA) for rudimentary models of social media threads that involve political content. The current theoretical paper moves significantly beyond this foundation. It summarizes and deepens the explanation of the constructs of discursive transactions, response grammars, and epistemic frames in political discourse. It …

An Event-Without-Witness: A Nietzschean Theory Of The Digital Will To Power As The Will To Temporalize, Talha Issevenler

Publications and Research

This article offers a Nietzschean theory of digital will to power to conceptualize the temporality of social media feeds run by algorithms. Stylistic and methodological temporalities of Nietzsche are discussed as well as their influence in subsequent social theory of political technologies. The paradox of heavy investment in both subjective expression and nonhuman temporalization in social media milieus is addressed with the concept of an event-without-witness drawn from Nietzsche’s account of himself as the solitary thinker of catastrophe of nihilism and psychoanalytical and deconstructive literatures on the catastrophes of the 20th century. Nietzsche’s fundamental resistance to and fascination with the …

Abduction Threat Surviving Skills In Basic School Education Curriculum In Nigeria: Teachers' Views, Eke Ogbu Eke, Ibebuike Ursla Obiageri, Ngozi Enwereuzoh, Ijeoma Ubochi

Young African Leaders Journal of Development

This descriptive survey was on abduction threat surviving skills in basic school education curriculum in Nigeria: teachers' views. The purpose of the descriptive survey was to determine Lower and Middle Basic School teachers' views on infusing abduction threat surviving skills in Basic school curriculum for schoolchildren safety in school environment. The population comprises 209 public school primary teachers in Umuahia North L.G.A. of Abia State. The simple random sampling technique with non-replacement technique was used to select the sample of 143 primary school teachers (41 male and 102 female teachers). Researchers' made attitude questionnaire titled” Basic School Teachers Questionnaire on …

Impact Of The Russo-Ukraine War African Students And Families: Community-Based Approach To Humanitarian Mutual Aid, Macire Aribot, Nassim Ashford

Young African Leaders Journal of Development

Africans and African-descent refugees from Ukraine have faced racism and discrimination since the onset of the Russian-Ukraine war. When seeking refuge in neighboring countries, African people experienced differences in treatment when crossing the borders of European countries. Historically, European countries have enforced strict anti-immigration policies to deter Black and Brown people of color from migrating to their countries. This paper explores racism and discrimination experienced by African and African-descent refugees fleeing Ukraine and the inequity in the global humanitarian response for Africans and other people of color affected by the Russia-Ukraine war. As a result, this paper will highlight community-based, …

Front Matter, Yaljod 4.1, Sombo Muzata

Young African Leaders Journal of Development

Includes: Forewords from Amb. Dr. Salah Siddig Hammad (Head, African Governance Architecture, African Union Commission), Vasu Gounden (Executive Director, ACCORD South Africa), and Asha T. Rodney (Board Vice Chair, Walter Rodney Foundation);Preface from Prince Ifoh (Founder, YALF); and Acknowledgements.

Harnessing The Youth Bulge For Transformative Leadership, Transparency And Accountability In Africa: The Case Of Mozambique And Zimbabwe, Tendaishe Tlou

Young African Leaders Journal of Development

In every part of the globe, the 21st century has seen an increase in the youth bulge accompanied by a surge in youths' involvement in various issues. Youth alone now constitute more than 65% (both male and female) of Africa's population becoming impossible to leave youths behind in any processes. Perhaps in the new millennium, the Arab Springs in North Africa and the #feesmustfall South African protests changed the course of history and discourse around leadership issues in Africa. Historically, challenges and opportunities confronting youths in Africa are traditional. Hierarchy (both political and social) always defines the leadership criteria. Historically, …

Natural Disasters In Africa; Impacts On Sustainable Development, Shawgei Salah Ahmed Ismaeil

Young African Leaders Journal of Development

Environmental disasters in the world are among the leading causes of death in the recent past, and the African continent is no exception: drought, desertification, floods, landslides, hurricanes and earthquakes are prevalent. This paper draws attention to the deadly effects of natural disasters on Africa’s development, using the Star Analysis System in terms of presenting the overall situation in the five regions of the African continent, and identifying the significant threatening and constraining cost of development by showing that the large amounts lost could have been used to achieve sustainable development compared with the areas of sustainable development goals effected …

Information And Communication Technologies And Employment In The Services Sector: The Case Of The Economic Community Of West African States, Kossi Naita Edem, Kokou Dzifa

Young African Leaders Journal of Development

The rise of information and communication technologies is a channel for job creation in the ECOWAS services sector because they make work more efficient and are a source of innovation. In this article, we analyse the impact of information and communication technologies on employment in the services sector in ECOWAS. In contrast to their ambiguous impact on employment in countries with a fairly high ICT penetration rate, we rather expect the internet to have a potentially positive impact on employment in the service sub-sectors of education, health, distribution, transport & communication and finance & insurance. Furthermore, most of the control …

Yaljod Full Issue 4.1, Sombo Muzata

Young African Leaders Journal of Development

The Young African Leaders Journal of Development (YALJOD) is a biennial journal and an official publication of the Young African Leaders Forum (YALF). It was established in 2015 to host scholarly analysis and competing viewpoints about the development of Africa; and it’s multidisciplinary approach makes it more formidable. YALJOD accepts papers from varied disciplinary areas — including Social Sciences, Physical Sciences and Humanities — that show direct relevance to the development of Africa. It publishes researches understood as the social, economic, political, cultural and technological processes of change in Africa. The intended audience of the journal remains the entire African …

Global Adverse Effects Of Scientific Prescribed Medications: Covid-19 Vaccines, Albert Mcbell Ninepence

Young African Leaders Journal of Development

The impact of scientific prescribed medications are tremendous and cannot be overemphasized. Irrespective of scientific prescribed medications impacts, in recent epoch it has attracted some criticisms on its efficacy. Prescribed medications are medications from scientific treatments or cure which is the widely accepted approach to curing or treating illnesses and diseases. On the other hand, traditional prescribed medications which are non-scientific tend to be less utilized, ignored and extremely criticized by pure scientists. The criticisms surrounding scientific prescribed medications escalated during the era of COVID-19. While some people resorted to the use of scientific prescribed medications of COVID-19 vaccines to …

The Implication Of Corruption On Sustainable Development In Africa: (Using Nigeria As A Case Study), Ezeifekwuaba Tochukwu Benedict

Young African Leaders Journal of Development

The scenario of the rise of corruption in Africa particularly in Nigeria is so much a problem. It cuts across the various Private Sectors including different tiers of government. This research paper applied collected secondary data from library materials, government publications, journals, the internet and daily newspapers. The kernel of the research paper is on the facts that corrupt practices among the class of political leadership have led to the undermining of the stability and growth of the country's economy. Also, it is discovered that corruption maximizes the poverty level that triggers criminal exercises in the Nation. The paper suggests …

Nation-Building And Africa's Development: A Historical And Philosophical Analysis, Adewale Onagbesan

Young African Leaders Journal of Development

From the 1960s onwards until recent time, a number of African States across the various regions have been faced with differing challenges that confront either stability, sovereignty, and in some cases, their permanent existence as evident during the period 1960-70 which was widely referred to as the decade of optimism, and the period 1970-80 which was clearly referred to as the decade of pessimism due to the number of events that manifested. Clearly in the light of this, Nation-Building in Africa has experienced chequered fortune in the past half a century of independence, up to present times, and the challenge …

Teachers Productivity In Nigerian Primary Schools: A Critical Analysis In The 21st Century, Ugochukwu Mercy Prince-Ifoh

Young African Leaders Journal of Development

Teacher productivity is a nagging issue in education. The teacher – as the most important factor in the business of teaching and learning – shapes the direction and influences, to a great extent, other educational inputs to achieve the stated goals of the education industry. All over the globe today, we have continued to see National Development being intricately tied to educational development – and the teacher is the critical element. Many countries of the world have realised this critical role of teachers in the educational process, and have started investing hugely on the teacher and fine-tuning his/her skills and …

Black Minds Matter: Exploring The Double Trauma Of Anti-Blackness And War On The Psycho-Political Well-Being Of African And African-Descent Refugees From Ukraine, Macire Aribot, Nassim Ashford, Korea S. Badio

Young African Leaders Journal of Development

Amid the horror of the Russia-Ukraine war, Black refugees from Ukraine have suffered multiple traumas: The trauma of war and the trauma of anti-blackness. The world caught a glimpse of this via social media and news reports that African people were physically blocked from boarding trains and buses by Ukrainian officials, as well as neighboring countries denied entry to people who were not “Ukrainian.” These double traumas have undoubtedly placed Black refugees in Ukraine among the most vulnerable group of people in this humanitarian crisis. However, despite the psycho-political suffering Black refugees have experienced during the Russia-Ukraine war, their voices, …

The "Roaring Flame": Pursuing Thymos In Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart, Samrand Avestan, Owen G. Mordaunt

International Dialogue

Drawing principally from Francis Fukuyama’s (1952–) conception of thymos, this article focuses on exploring Okonkwo’s desire and his rigid personality in Chinua Achebe’s (1930–2013) magnum opus titled Things Fall Apart (1958). This paper hopes to prove how Achebe’s most famous character, Okonkwo, attempts to gratify his thymos which is described as a ‘desire for recognition’. Consistent with Fukuyama’s notion, this research examines how Okonkwo struggles to gain his thymos in confrontation with Ibo people and how his thymos-driven emotions incite him to reject the white colonists’ dominance in the fictional clan of Umuofia in Iboland. Therefore, we argue why Okonkwo’s …

Notes From The Editor: Volume 12, Rory J. Conces Prof.

International Dialogue

No abstract provided.

Divided Memories About Building Peace In Chechnya (1995-2004), Cécile Druey

International Dialogue

The conflicts in and around Chechnya are intractable, with a perceived impossibility to find a negotiated solution. This paper focuses on the hostage crises of Budennovsk (1995) and Beslan (2004) which are episodes from the two Chechnya Wars and had an important impact on their further course. Based on the memories of key actors representing specific sides of the conflict, the paper identifies and contextualizes diverging approaches to negotiations and conflict settlement. Conceptual support for this analysis of open-source materials is provided by the theoretical literature on “ripeness” and “readiness” as conditions for the initiation and successful conduction of negotiations. …

Table Of Contents, Rory J. Conces Prof.

International Dialogue

No abstract provided.

Disorder In Heaven And On Earth: Heaven In Disorder Slavoj Žižek. Or Books, New York And London, 2021. Pp. 240., Edward Sankowski, Betty J. Harris

International Dialogue

This essay examines three main aspects of Slavoj Žižek’s book. Beyond interpretation, we also aim for a constructive account of what novel insights might emerge from critically examining Žižek’s efforts in this book. (1) One aspect of his text is his continuing insistence on the goal of a newly re-conceived Communism, so named, e.g., in remarks about ecological threats (65) and in the concluding section, “Why I Am Still A Communist” (212; 218). Žižek’s goal is Communism, but supposedly not the authoritarian variety of communism that emerged in the twentieth century (213). In Žižek’s view, Communism must be invented to …

Levinas, Adorno, And The Ethics Of The Material Other By Eric Nelson, Suny Press, 2020 Pp. 480, Emilia Angelova, Curtis Hutt, Leah Klmanson, Eric Nelson

International Dialogue

This is a number of reviews and responses to Eric S. Nelson's Levinas, Adorno, and the Ethics of Materials Other (2020) SUNY Press. This includes:

The Relation of the Ethics of the Material Other to the Rights of the Stranger by Emilia Angelova

Nelson's Defense of Asymmetrical Ethics: On Religion and Human Rights by Curtis Hutt

On Nelson and East Asian Philosophies by Leah Kalmanson

Author Response: The Ethics of the Material Other and the Right of the Other by Eric S. Nelson