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This paper seeks to offer a critical assessment of Nick Land’s early writings in light of his views on “libidinal materialism”. Being a relatively niche figure in the 1990s and 2000s, Nick Land rose to prominence in the 2010s due to the publication of his collected writings as Fanged Noumena, in 2011, which revealed him as one of the forerunners of accelerationism, an ambivalent political theory which promoted the need to accelerate “through” (rather than “against”) the elements of capitalism in order to reach a “post-capitalist” future. The aim of this paper is to shed light on an earlier concept developed by Land in his first book, The Thirst for Annihilation, that of “libidinal materialism”. Although Land’s popularity, both in popular culture and in academic discussions, has slowly grown in the last decade, most of the analyses concerning his philosophy revolve around his specific form of Deleuzo-Guattarian-infused “accelerationism”, marginalizing his initial interest in Georges Bataille, the central figure of Thirst for Annihilation. Thus, the present paper attempts to analyze, through a close reading of Land’s first book, some of the author’s first philosophical explorations, such as his discontents with the style of academic philosophical writing, his rejection of Kantian transcendentalism in favor of Bataillean “expenditure” and his first original concept, “libidinal materialism”. Throughout this exploration, what stands out the most is Land’s relentless criticism of Kantian philosophy and his efforts to construct an alternative to the post-Kantian tradition in continental philosophy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article "The Caribbean Dossier: Shifting the Geographies of Reason" published in Krisis explores the rich intellectual tradition of Caribbean philosophy, focusing on colonization, decolonization, resistance, and identity. The authors delve into the works of Caribbean scholars such as Suzanne Césaire, Frantz Fanon, and Édouard Glissant, challenging Western dichotomous thought and offering new perspectives on identity, queerness, and nation-building. The dossier also includes contributions on Critical Theory, the Climate Crisis, and the importance of relationality in life, emphasizing the need for diverse perspectives in academia and justice. [Extracted from the article]

An introduction is presented in which the editor discusses articles in the issue on topics including discussions on freedom and truth in society, reflections on modern democracy crises and perspectives on same-sex marriage debates in African culture.

NL What I find in modernist writers like Conrad is indeed an ability to dramatize the two faces of mimesis. I find that this old idea of mimesis as representation needs to be supplemented by perspectives that are attentive to the equally old idea that humans are anthropologically fundamentally imitative, in the sense that we imitate each other, where humans imitate other human beings. I still remember, during the interview for the ERC Project, in order to illustrate the urgency of understanding mimesis, I gave the example of Donald Trump. The recent manifestations of pathological forms of mimesis on the political scene are one aspect of mimesis I found myself compelled to write about. [Extracted from the article]

Copyright of Alternative Politics / Alternatif Politika is the property of Alternatif Politika and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Estudios Politicos (01215167) is the property of Universidad de Antioquia and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This article reviews the articulation of traditional political values in the contemporary discourse of the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC). As an empirical basis, the article takes the ROC's official documents reflecting its position on social and political issues, the statements of various Synodal departments and Church hierarchs, as well as the statements of those representatives of the Orthodox intelligentsia, who promote an alternative agenda for Church-state dialogue. The author analyses the discursive forms deployed for the use of two key concepts, related to two markers of traditionalist worldview (opinions about liberalism, and positions taken with regard to the rights of sexual minorities), and studies the context in which these confessional ethical norms are politicized. This allows the author to move from interpreting Orthodox identity as merely a confessional/religious affiliation, expressing itself in a range of practices (attending services, etc), to an interpretation of Orthodox identity as traditionalist in the political sense of that word, involving the formation of a distinctive political theology and the politicization of confessional ideas of morality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Certain Western cosmological assumptions have led to differences between Western intellectual tradition and philosophy and thus political thought currents in the Chinese tradition. Ru xue or rujia sixiang, although translated as “Confucianism” in English, does not contain any sense of “-ism” and indicates doctrine, theory, and system of principles. Confucianism preceded by “neo-” or “post-” only causes confusion and miscomprehension for the usage's Western implications. The exact issue is indeed “Confucianism in the Postmodern Era”; that is, an extension of influence from China to the West, suggesting that Confucianism go global in the global age in order to make its perspectives accessible as an important part of global culture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Attempts by some contemporary realists to both claim that international politics are objectively predictable and at the same time prescribe particular foreign policies cannot hold together logically, because they are internally contradictory. The core argument of this article is that these attempts not only fail to fulfill their goal, but that the attempt to be scientific, to see the world as predictable, is ontologically incompatible with the core insight of classical realism, that we must see the world as it is, rather than as we want it to be. There are two ramifications of this observation for a realism that is not internally contradictory. The first is that a prescriptive realism must be a theory of foreign policy, not a theory of systems structure. And the second is that a realism that works as a theory of foreign policy prediction needs to be reflexive, needs to examine its own assumptions and biases as an integral part of the process of studying international politics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores how the metaphor of tradition can help educators foster specific public service attitudes in students of public administration, while simultaneously helping their students make sense of the diverse ideations presented in the field's theories. This is of particular value because public administration is experiencing an identity crisis related to competing interpretations of legitimacy and associated role conceptualizations. In fact, the explication of multiple traditions throughout the program of study could help educators better achieve forthcoming accreditation mandates to demonstrate firm emphasis on public values. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article attempts to measure and quantify the dramatic ideological, economic and value system changes in post-Soviet Uzbekistan, using data from the Asia Barometer survey. It offers a snapshot of the situation in Uzbekistan by describing the basic changes in people's everyday lives, the way they think and act, what they aspire to and how they relate with each other. Two traceable trends in respondents' answers are a certain distrust of each other and a desire to protect themselves through close kinship or residential ties. This results in a situation where people build 'barriers' along family or community lines while preserving close relations within these units. Maintaining a balance between traditionalism, conservatism and modernization, and establishing societal trust not only within limited social networks but also between them are of crucial importance for Uzbekistan as it strives to rebuild its economy and society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article discusses Indian gaming issues from the perspectives of ‘traditional’ Lakota and Dakota people through the lens of cultural sovereignty. The author reviews the sociopolitical background of gambling on Indian reservations, compares mainstream and Indian gaming, observes historical locations of tribal sovereignty, identifies traditional views through direct interviews, and illustrates economic development and social change issues, all considered through the lens of modernity. Findings include positive effects in each of these social realms, comparatively few and quite small negative results, and internal conflicts arising from fast-acting shifts in social location for many Indian nations and tribes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The dichotomy of individualism versus collectivism is one of the pivots around which political ideologies in postwar Japanese society can be broken down. Many people had thought that what postwar Japan needed was the development of modern individuals who represented a departure from feudalistic thinking. Against the backdrop of uncertainties related to employment and life in general engendered by a prolonged economic stagnation and globalism, Japanese society in the twenty-first century is being pounded by a tempest of neoliberalism and neoconservatism. In the midst of this storm, ideas advocating social policies that promote gender equality are being dismantled by both of these forces. This is because the power of traditionalism as a force for asserting a revisionist ideology in modern Japanese society primarily constitutes the power of neoconservatism, which embraces neoliberalism with a view to revitalizing the free economy through the elimination of social welfare and the intensification of free competition. In order to establish formidable economic competitiveness, neoliberalism and neoconservatism (neoliberalism = neoconservatism) reject domestic systems geared towards labor protection (deregulation) and extol familism and nationalism as means to bringing social unrest under control through the mobilization of the labor force (traditionalism). However, the habitual way of thinking that places traditionalism and liberalism in a dichotomous pivot remains ingrained within us even now. Because globalization reinforces social mobility, these two positions will continue to gain strength even as they conflict with each other. With feminism in the grips of a pincer attack, the movement will struggle to maintain its breath. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents information on the political doctrines in Nigeria. The practice of godfatherism is potent in taking participation in the country's politics which in many years had been traditionally applied in the nation. However, this political elitism has been slowly disposed by the people through better education that are obtained by their younger generation. In addition, the nation's traditional political practice has been identified by the citizens as money making business and customarily not executing for the benefit of the common people.

A literature has emerged in American voting studies noting a "marriage gap"—the propensity for married voters to support the Republican party. Using Canadian Election Study data, we establish the existence of a significant marriage gap in Canada. We also seek to determine if the marriage gap is driven by socio-demographic factors or attitudinal ones. We find that while socio-demographic factors contribute to the marriage gap, they explain relatively little variance. In probing the attitudinal basis of the marriage gap further, we find that married Canadians differ from the unwed very strongly on issues of moral traditionalism, but much less so on other issues that measure generalized conservatism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduces a series of articles on the politics of traditionalism.

The author describes the development of geopolitical studies in Russia after the Soviet breakup. He identifies two main schools of geopolitical analysis, Traditionalist and Revisionist. Traditionalism is inspired by old European and Russian geopolitical theories and views the world through the lenses of confrontation over power and resources. The revisionist school, on the other hand, adopts a considerably broader definition of what constitutes geopolitics by proposing to study various forms of organizing space on a global scale. According to the paper’s central argument, the Russian geopolitics, while having emerged as a vocation, it is yet to turn into a full-fledged academic discipline. It continues to lack coherent and scientifically testable theoretical propositions and needs a broad discussion of its issues with the participation of both traditionalists and revisionists. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Introduces articles on politics, tradition and modernity in rural France, published in the August 2003 issue of "Modern and Contemporary France".

According to Tocqueville, the most important determinant of the character of any society is its political culture (moeurs). A political culture is shaped not only by sociological conditions and laws, but also, in modem times, by ideas propounded by intellectuals. In Tocqueville's day, two dominant schools of thought were contending for influence over the public mind in Europe: philosophe rationalism and traditionalism. Neither one of these schools, Tocqueville argued, promoted a political culture that could reconcile liberty and democracy. Tocqueville conceived his "new political science" as an alternative to these schools that could meet this challenge. Unlike the opposing schools, the new political science could not be propagated directly as an ideology. Its implementation relied on an indirect strategy-using institutions to inculcate certain "mental habits" among the citizens. This in turn called for ways of limiting the role of intellectuals in influencing political culture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This demographic study focuses on cleavages which develop when southern Republicans campaign on a militantly conservative social agenda. Looking at three diverse North Carolina senatorial elections, it finds that dramatic right-wing Republican gains among whites living in counties with a high proportion of blacks are counteracted in part by losses in metropolitan areas. Despite seeming atrophy in the Democratic coalition, the analysis questions recent studies which suggest a continued drift to the GOP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents information on the relation between conservatism and traditionalism. One might suggest that conservatism is related to what is taken as an always present danger, that is, the traditionalism or tradition will be undermined. Conservatism is directed towards the preservation of that duality or towards the adjustment to it without going in the direction of amor fati. A sort of logic and legitimization has to be found for that duality. The duality is to be found in the German context as well, though here it is differently rendered not only because of the credo of the person pronouncing it but also because of the difference in terms of its polarity. Conservatism here means the attempt to conserve or preserve circumstances dominated by consideration for the interest of the state, while the ideology opposing it implies a preference for the ideology of right and justice. The circumstances differ because of the historical process, while the aspect of duality and the possible superiority accorded to the circumstances over the "abstract" principle appears to be a constant feature of conservatism.

In this article, the author compares his own surveys with social researcher C.P. Middendrop's findings in context of conservatism and progressiveness. In measuring conservatism, the author identifies two basic conservative attitudes, cultural and economic conservatism. In principle, these two forms of conservatism are independent of each other. The author also typologically distinguishes four groups. Full conservatives, who are conservative in both senses, and the non-conservatives, who are not conservative in either of the two. Then there are cultural conservatives, whose traditionalism mainly manifests itself in the social sector, and economic conservatives, whose traditional attitudes mainly pertain to economic matters. Cultural and economic conservatism appear to be two totally different forms of conservatism. Conservatism in the Netherlands could not be adequately described if we were to confine ourselves to the simple contradistinction between conservative and non-conservative. No account of conservatism in the Netherlands is complete without a clear description of this second contradistinction.

Comments on Andrew Lockyer's article ""Traditions" as Context in the History of Political Theory," which appeared in a 1979 issue of the periodical "Political Studies." Failure of distinguishing between the question as to how a treatise of political theory ought to be understood and the question which is concerned with the relevance of the text; Semantic changes in the method of the history of ideas.

Responds to comments on the article ""Traditions" as Context in the History of Political Theory," which appeared in a 1979 issue of the periodical "Political Studies." Conception of context for the proper understanding of the acitivity of past political theorists; Rejection on the approach to political theory adopted by author Quentin Skinner.