Blätter
Eurozine
Blätter
2009-07-28
Summary for Blätter 8/2009
Nancy Fraser
Feminism, capitalism and the cunning of history
Was it a mere coincidence that neo-liberalism and the new women's movement emerged and thrived simultaneously? Nancy Fraser, Professor of Political and Social Sciences at the New School for Social Research in New York, shows how neo-liberalism incorporated elements of feminism's critique into its own project of capitalist modernization. Her conclusion: Only the return to its own radical roots can free the new women's movement from this dangerous liaison.
Dick Howard
Revolution and anti-politics. Reflexions on 1989
What is the legacy of the Eastern European revolutions of the year 1989? Dick Howard, Professor for Political Philosophy at the State University of New York (SUNY), compares the Eastern European to the American and French revolutions. He interprets the former as a victory over the "anti-politics² of the 20th century, which had systematically prevented democratic deliberation. But why then, asks Howard, has the West, instead of learning from 1989 reanimated "anti-politics² in the form of neo liberalism?
Iran without choice
Essays by Katajun Amirpur, Behrooz Abdolvand/Heinrich Schulz, and Said Hosseini
The massive demonstrations in the aftermath of the Iranian presidential election from June 12th have for the most part been suppressed by the massive deployment of state violence. Does this signify a return to the status quo ante? Or is the Islamic regime continually loosing its legitimacy? Katajun Amirpur examines the political impact of the massive protests. Behrooz Abdolvand and Heinrich Schulz argue that the "reformers² led by Mir Hossein Moussavi do not aim at dismantling the Islamic state, but that they are rather part of the system themselves. Finally, Said Hosseini examines the militant bastion of the theocratic regime, the Iranian Revolutionary Guards.
Wolfgang Zellner
Disarmament reloaded? The State of the European security policy
At their Moscow summit in July, US-President Barack Obama and his Russian colleague Dmitri Medvedev agreed on certain steps towards disarmament. What are the consequences for European security policy? Wolfgang Zellner, Assistant Director of the Institute for Peace Research and Security Policy (IFSH) at the University of Hamburg, discusses the different security perceptions of the OSCE countries and develops proposals for further disarmament.
Heribert Prantl
Newspapers -- systemically relevant?
Are the days of good journalism over? Have economic interests finally succeeded in overcoming high-quality reporting? Heribert Prantl, editorial journalist at Germany's leading newspaper "Süddeutsche Zeitung², analyses the systemic relevance of newspapers for democracy and freedom of opinion -- from Germany's first democratic protest at Hambacher Schloss in 1832 to the contemporary age of the Internet.
Squaring the circle
Interview with Ralf Dahrendorf
On June 17, Ralf Dahrendorf, the great liberal European, died at the age of 80. To remind of Dahrendorf's farsightedness, Blätter reprint excerpts from an interview we conducted with him in 1996. In this interview, many of the issues relevant today are anticipated by Dahrendorf -- from the excluding tendencies of globalisation to the "autoritarian temptation² of politics.