bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Inside communities, outside conventions: What is at stake in doing theology?
Authors: Legge Marilyn J.
Published: January 2010

When the way to proceed is uncertain and vision is hampered, we need to make a new compass to provide orientation and direction for assessment and renewal of theological enterprise. After sketching key challenges of the postmodern global terrain for theological work and community, I offer four "points" (practices) that have power to locate and guide Christian theologies and ethics toward 21st-century negotiations of "a new global commons," shared public spaces dedicated to a less violent and more mutual common life. I contend that what is at stake for those doing theology and ethics is relating to the crises of postmodern context in ways that express and practice the bearing of God's love in the world by shaping justice in communities where domination is resisted and religious practice can be both positive and subversive.
Picturing the prophet: Focalization in the book of Jonah
Authors: Lyle Berger Benjamin
Published: January 2010

This article approaches the book of Jonah from a narratological perspective in an effort to understand the way in which the story is presented to a reading audience. This emphasis on the presentation of the text combined with an affirmation of the inadequacy of the concept of "point of view" leads to a consideration of focalization theory and focalization in the book of Jonah. The theoretical positions of Genette, Rimmon-Kenan and Sanders are applied to the book of Jonah with a resulting consideration of instances of perceptual, psychological, ideological, and embedded focalization. The author concludes that the book of Jonah is focalized in a bifurcated manner with an omniscient but ideologically uncommitted external focalizer, allowing for a free manipulation of time and space as well as a panoramic presentation of the psychological aspects of the narrative, and instances of embedded focalization, which provide a number of ideological perspectives. Ultimately, the reader is left to construct an interpretation of the text using these multiple ideological perspectives set in the context of the larger picture provided by the external focalizer.
Enticements to community: Formal, agonistic and destablizing rhetoric in the Sermon on the Mount
Authors: Wudel B. Diane
Published: January 2010

Kenneth Burke's writings on rhetoric may guide an exploration of how the Sermon on the Mount in the Gospel of Matthew functions as a persuasive act, inviting hearers to identify with the community being formed around a promised kingdom of heaven. Burke's approach provides, first, a way to evaluate how other interpreters have described formal features of the Sermon's rhetoric. Second, Burke's insights help elucidate the Sermon's agonistic elements—its enticements to social identification and detachment. Finally, a reading à la Burke points to the paradoxically destabilizing effects of the Sermon on the Mount's perfectionistic demands.
The "assumption" of the righteous dead in the Wisdom of Solomon and the Sayings Gospel Q
Authors: Smith Daniel A.
Published: January 2010

The Wisdom of Solomon applies language from the Genesis reference to Enoch's assumption (Gen. 5:24 LXX) to the dead "righteous one" (Wis. 4:7-17). This unusual use of the motif of assumption, normally thought of as an escape from death, is facilitated by topoi drawn from Hellenistic consolation materials; however, the typical corollary of assumption in the Jewish tradition—heavenly or eschatological exaltation—is also applied to the righteous one in Wis. 5:1-5. This innovation is particularly instructive for Q, which may understand Jesus' post-mortem vindication and exaltation in terms of assumption (Q 13:35).
Conception and intrauterine life in the Pāli Canon
Authors: Boisvert Mathieu
Published: January 2010

This article is part of a major research effort to investigate childhood in Theravāda Buddhism. Because the Buddhist tradition understands birth to be the emergence of the first consciousness in the mother's womb, birth takes place at the time of conception. Thus, age is calculated from the moment of conception. Research on childhood cannot neglect intrauterine life. This article analyzes various canonical passages that refer to conception and life in the womb. The article will look at the "three prerequisites" for conception, analyze various stories that do not adhere to these set criteria and clarify various Pāli terms with reference to embryology. This study permits us to map out four different usages of the imagery associated with conception and intrauterine life.
Freedom within the Ordnung: Liberal grounds for toleration of Amish culture
Authors: Peddle David
Published: January 2010

It is remarkable that Will Kymlicka, whose works Liberalism, Community and Culture and Multicultural Citizenship have mounted, on liberal grounds, a vigorous defense of the rights of minority cultures, nevertheless fails to extend principled toleration to Amish culture. The present argument is concerned to indicate that Amish culture is not as restrictive as suggested in Kymlicka's portrayal, to examine the conception of culture which leads him to this unfortunate exclusion and to indicate that the situation of the Amish provides an archetype of the appropriate relationship between liberal democracies and non-liberal minority cultures.
Be kind to the Antichrist: Millenarianism and religious tolerance in the Edict of Pskov
Authors: Ostling Michael
Published: January 2010

Scholarship often draws an equation between millenarian religious belief and violent intolerance. This article attempts to partially reformulate our ideas of both millenarianism and tolerance through the contextualized exegesis of a single line from an early modern royal proclamation on tolerance. Millenarian themes are crucial to the understanding of toleration promulgated in the Edict of Pskov—proclaimed by Stefan Batory, elected monarch of the multi-religious Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Batory's association of "other-believers" with the Antichrist paradoxically leads him to a theory of religious pluralism.
The Nü-hsiao Ching: A handbook on self-cultivation for women
Authors: Woo Terry
Published: January 2010

The Nü-hsiao Ching (The Classic on Filial Piety for Women) has been influential in the lives of many Chinese women in late dynastic China. This paper analyses it by beginning with an examination of the indeterminacy of its origins and a description of its presumed historical context. The woman's classic is then compared, in structure and content, with the Han treatise on filial piety, the Hsiao Ching (The Classic on Filial Piety). Finally, the paper considers the importance of class in the formulation of the specific obligations and responsibilities implicit within the objectives of self-cultivation.
Speech representation and religious rhetorics in Philostratus' Vita Apollonii
Authors: Henderson Ian H.
Published: January 2010

Philostratus' Vita Apollonii is structured by the stylistic distinction, older than Aristotle, between composed and improvisational rhetorics. Philostratus extends this bipolar theory of rhetorical styles to define for Apollonius a religious discourse beyond sophistic rhetoric, marked by silence and oracular speech. The Vita represents and evaluates speech in a variety of rhetorical modes and voices, especially those of Apollonius and the narrator. The whole continuum from vulgar lies, through sophistic rhetoric to Pythagorean or Delphic oracle is exemplified inside the range of Apollonius' own speech habits as Philostratus represents them. Whatever its merits as historical biography, Philostratus' narrative methodically interprets key possibilities of eccentric religious and political speech in the Roman Empire.
The ecological violence of apocalyptic eschatology
Authors: Dunham Scott A.
Published: January 2010

This paper considers the ecological status of Christianity's eschatological worldview. Using the apocalyptic view of history in Revelation, the nature of God's sovereignty is explored as an eschatological category, particularly the relationship between God's judgment of humanity and nature. Then, the goal of God's sovereign purpose is explored using two themes: the transforming of the creation linked to the New Testament theology of transfiguration, and the healing character of God's dominion. The implications for moral action are then considered.
Peut-on lire Romains 9 à la suite de Calvin et Barth? Réflexions herméneutiques à partir du thème de la prédestination
Authors: Gignac Alain
Published: January 2010

L'auteur revisite dans un premier temps la théologie de la prédestination de Jean Calvin, telle qu'elle apparaît dans l'Institution de la religion chrétienne de 1541 et son Commentaire de Romains de 1539. Sont soulignés la méthode et les présupposés mis en œuvre dans l'interprétation de Romains 9, dans une perspective individuelle et théocentrique, en termes de double prédestination. Dans un deuxième temps, il présente deux autres lectures de Romains 9 comme élargissement du thème de la prédestination dans une perspective plus collective, en termes d'élection: la lecture christocentrique et de salut universel de Barth, et sa propre lecture identitaire et éthique, dans le contexte de l'après-Shoah. Cette trajectoire de Wirkungsgeschichte, outre son intérêt œcuménique, réhabilite et nuance le binôme « prédestination / élection », et plaide pour une prise en compte plus systématique, par tout exégète, des influences, préoccupations et convictions qui l'habitent comme lecteur ou lectrice.
Transformative suffering, destructive suffering and the question of abandoning theodicy
Authors: Stoeber Michael
Published: January 2010

This paper defends the striving for a theoretical theodicy against the call of some contemporary theologians to abandon the practice altogether. Essential to the defense is a distinction I propose between the themes of "transformative suffering" and "destructive suffering." I respond especially to the views of Grace Jantzen and Kenneth Surin, suggesting how, in Christian theism, effective themes of theodicy would ground the hope for the healing and redemption of the victims of destructive suffering. In abandoning theodicy in principle, it remains unclear what would support this compassionate hope for the victims. Moreover, by maintaining the category of "destructive suffering," one secures against the danger in theodicy of demeaning or repudiating the traumatic experiences of the victims of radical evil. I go on to explore the implications of these points in seeking for effective themes of theodicy.
Laïcisation au Canada et au Québec : un processus tranquille
Authors: Milot Micheline
Published: January 2010

La laïcité est généralement perçue comme une singularité française, non sans liens avec l'anticléricalisme. De ce fait, l'idéal normatif qu'elle désigne semble difficilement transposable dans d'autres cultures politiques. Cependant, partout en Occident, la diversité ethno-culturelle, la diffusion du libéralisme, l'avancée des droits, l'avènement de la démocratie et l'économie de marché sont autant de facteurs qui ont suscité une inévitable laïcisation du politique. Le processus est particulièrement remarquable dans le Nouveau Monde où diverses formes de laïcité se sont mises en place comme mode de régulation des relations Églises-État. Après avoir extrait le concept de « laïcité » de son ancrage historique idéologique, cet article s'attache à mettre au jour un processus de laïcisation « québécoise » qui a été marginalisé dans l'ensemble des représentations collectives de cette société.
North American Islamic feminist interpretation: The case of sūrah 4:34, with a comparison to Christian feminist interpretation
Authors: Greifenhagen F.V.
Published: January 2010

Traditionally, Muslim men interpreted the Qur'anic verses describing gender relations and the rights of women. Now Muslim women themselves are arguing for new evaluations of these older interpretations and supporting their arguments with evidence from the sacred text. In this article, the hermeneutic approaches of Islamic feminists to the Qur'an are explored via an investigation of the interpretation of Qur'an 4:34, a verse that is notorious for seeming to legitimate male superiority and wife beating. Discussion focusses on interpretations available in English, thus highlighting the development of various interpretive approaches in the North American Muslim diaspora. Islamic feminist approaches are compared to Christian feminist interpretations of the role of women in the household codes of the New Testament (e.g. Ephesians 5:22-24) in order to understand how the struggle for gender justice is articulated from within various religious identities and in relationship to various sacred texts.
Naming Christians in antiquity
Authors: Hegedus Tim
Published: January 2010

This paper examines the development of the name "Christian" in ancient Greco-Roman literature. Some early usages derive from outside the early church and often reflect hostility to Jesus and his followers. Other references found in texts written by church members suggest that the term most likely derived from those outside the church. Eventually the term came to be used by the church as a self-designation. In light of the evolving distinction between "orthodoxy" and "heresy," the lack of uniformity among groups claiming the title "Christian" is significant. In addition to its look at the literary evidence, this paper also briefly examines the use of the term "Christian" found in inscriptions from the 3rd and 4th centuries. The paper concludes that the term "Christian" originated among outsiders to the faith and only came to be adopted later as a self-designation by the followers of Jesus themselves.
Étude et connaissance des religions autochtones au Québec : un bilan historique
Authors: Gélinas Claude , Teasdale Guillaume
Published: January 2010

Si l'univers religieux autochtone connaît un regain de visibilité significatif en Amérique du Nord, celui-ci n'est pas forcément proportionnel à la connaissance empirique que les non Autochtones peuvent avoir du sujet, malgré la multiplication des études spécialisées au cours des dernières décennies. L'analyse d'un échantillon de cinq cents études sur les systèmes religieux des populations Autochtones du Québec, produites entre 1850 et 2003, permet non seulement d'esquisser un premier portait de la nature et de l'évolution des études réalisées sur le sujet depuis plus d'un siècle et demi, mais aussi d'avancer certaines hypothèses pour rendre compte du déséquilibre apparent entre les données empiriques et analytiques qui s'accumulent et l'état pour le moins stagnant de la connaissance populaire.
Du projet à la promesse. Analyse syntaxique et critique de la forme de Genèse 12,1-3 et 12,7
Authors: Dion Marie-France
Published: January 2010

Cet article vise à démontrer que la péricope de Gn 12,1-3 est non pas une promesse, comme il est généralement admis, mais un projet dont la réalisation implique la participation de Dieu, d'Abraham et des familles de la terre. Une analyse syntaxique et une critique de la forme montre que la promesse divine n'apparait que dans le verset 7. Les w.1-3 présentent plutôt un projet à deux volets dont chacun est introduit par un impératif. Les formes verbales et la construction grammaticale qui suit chacune des injonctions expriment la volonté divine. Ayant obéi au premier impératif, Abraham recoit alors la promesse (v. 7) qui assure la réalisation du premier volet du projet. Il demeure aux descendants d'Abraham d'obéir au deuxieme impératif pour que s'accomplisse l'ensemble du projet divin.
A critical theory of religious insight
Authors: Lalonde Marc P.
Published: January 2010

This essay begins and ends with the question: what is the meaning and purpose of religious thought today? In response to this query, the paper outlines the critical significance of the socio-cultural fragmentation of contemporary religious thought by: first, reclaiming an ethical moment within the critical theory of Max Horkheimer; second, justifying the significance of that moment by expanding our understanding of morality as explained by Charles Taylor; and third, cultivating its religio-ethical content in relation to Emmanuel Levinas' understanding of God as an ethical force that interrupts, subverts and throws into question. It is this juxtaposition of themes that points toward a critical theory necessarily informed by religious insights. What it represents is an untried form of critical theory whose religio-ethical cast and substance contributes to the venture of contemporary thinking by working with the fragility of religious thought today.
Théologies pragmatiques et dialogue interreligieux : une pratique et une discipline de la parole plurielle
Authors: Chrabieh Pamela , Roussel Jean-François
Published: January 2010

Cet article examine et critique l'apport des théologiens contemporains Michael Barnes et Joseph DiNoia à la question du dialogue interreligieux. La théologie du dialogue que ces derniers proposent s'appuient sur une analyse pragmatique des caractéristiques discursives et cognitives de la discussion entre représentants de diverses religions. L'article porte sur les cadres épistémologiques de ces théologies et sur leur portée pour penser la rencontre des religions dans l'espace public des sociétés modernes, plurielles et démocratiques.
Ironie dramatique dans la mise en intrigue de l'empire en Romains 13, 1-7
Authors: Hurley Robert
Published: January 2010

Most attempts to explain Romans 13:1-7 proceed from the premise that Paul is speaking plainly and directly as he recommends that Christians adopt a respectful and obedient attitude towards those servants of god, the Roman authorities. Historically, Christians have read the passage as an endorsement of all governmental authority, a conclusion which appears repugnant to most exegetes in the wake of the Shoah and similar government-sponsored atrocities. While some authors explain the passage away by supposing it to be an interpolation, others maintain that it becomes understandable only if one takes into account a very particular set of historical circumstances. Given that elsewhere Paul clearly condemns the lords of the age and their magistrates—most notably for the crucifixion of Jesus and their corrupt practises—a reading of his recommendation in Romans 13 at face value produces insurmountable internal contradictions in the Pauline corpus. When this passage is approached with literary sensibilities, another interpretive option presents itself. The following article proposes an ironic reading of Romans 13:1-7 based on an analysis of a set of internal textual clues (suggested by the theoretical work of Wayne Booth) and supported by recent research into the relations between the nascent church and the oppressive Roman Principate.
Coins out of fishes: Money, magic, and miracle in the Gospel of Matthew
Authors: Tuzlak Ayse
Published: January 2010

The story of the coin in the fish's mouth in Matthew 17:27 has usually been interpreted as an artificial, folkloric interpolation into a straightforward pericope about providence. This article argues that the miracle is in fact an essential element of the pericope, and that it illuminates Matthew's understanding of Jewish-Roman relations. The concept of "occult economies," as developed by the anthropologists John and Jean Comaroff, illustrates how certain cultures see supernatural events as having a direct impact on economic systems. The miracle in this story can therefore be seen as a statement about supernatural power in an enchanted world.
Sacralization, secularization and religious fundamentalism
Authors: Dadosky John
Published: January 2010

This paper seeks to understand religious fundamentalism and extremism by viewing it in a broader context in terms of a provocative fourfold distinction made by Canadian philosopher and theologian Bernard Lonergan: a sacralization to be dropped, a secularization to be welcomed, a secularization to be resisted and a sacralization to be fostered. Such distinctions shed light on the concerns of religious fundamentalisms and the dangers that the extreme aspects of these pose. Moreover, such distinctions reveal hope in the long-term from the ongoing inter-religious engagement leading to a context beyond religious fundamentalism and extremism.
From Cybele to Christ: Christianity and the transformation of late Roman religious culture
Authors: Pettipiece Timothy
Published: January 2010

In light of the current appetite for early Christianity in popular discourse, this paper examines the rise of Christianity within the transformative context of late-Roman religious culture. Rather than viewing Christianity as an isolated and unique catalyst for religious change, this paper reminds readers that early Christianity was in fact part of a much broader process that saw a steady increase in the influence of eastern religious cultures throughout the later Empire.
Two approaches to the love of God in medieval Jewish thought: The concept of devequt in the works of Ibn Ezra and Judah Halevi
Authors: Hughes Aaron
Published: January 2010

Both Abraham Ibn Ezra and Judah Halevi claim that the ideal relationship between the individual and God is founded on love and culminates in the individual cleaving ( devequt) to God. Although they use the same term to describe this telos, they envisage the means to it in different ways. A closer analysis of this term reveals that this difference is rooted in their respective ideas concerning the role of philosophy in Judaism. Ibn Ezra, a rationalist, claims that the individual loves God through the observation of natural phenomena. Halevi, however, claims that the love of God is grounded in the historical experience of the Jewish people.
La Bonne Nouvelle d'Ésaïe au service de l'Évangile de Paul. Rm 10,14-17 comme relecture de Es 52,6-53,1
Authors: Gignac Alain
Published: January 2010

L'article fait l'analyse structurelle et intertextuelle de Rm 10,14-17, après l'avoir situé dans l'ensemble de Rm 9-11. Rm 10, 14-17 décrit le dynamisme de la parole évangélique et son corollaire paradoxal: le refus de l'Évangile par certains. La structure, qui s'appuie sur des mots-crochets, trois récurrences thématiques et un chiasme, révèle l'autonomie et la densité théologique du texte. L'hypothèse intertextuelle consiste à voir dans les deux citations d'Ésaïe (Es 52,7 et 53,1) les deux bornes d'un passage prophétique à partir duquel Paul réfléchit sa situation. La Bonne Nouvelle d'Ésaïe se transforme en Évangile paulinien. Le lecteur se trouve désorienté par la tension entre le sens originel qu'il connaît (les païens seront témoins du salut d'Israël) et le sens que Paul lui donne (Israël est témoin du salut des païens). Au-delà des analyses techniques, Rm 10,14-17 devient donc l'occasion d'un dialogue critique entre Juifs et chrétiens, en tant que commentaire d'un texte prophétique et effort d'auto-compréhension de l'expérience chrétienne à la lumière de l'Écriture (juive).
If you build a remedial voice mechanism, will they come? Determinants of voicing interpersonal mistreatment at work
Authors: Harlos Karen
Published: January 2010

This study examined person-centered (gender, work self-esteem) and situational (hierarchical power relations, mistreatment severity, intentionality) variables that determine employee voice to remedy interpersonal mistreatment. Data were collected from graduate business students who responded to a scenario describing exposure to mistreatment by a work colleague. Results suggested that gender, work self-esteem, and relative hierarchical power were most predictive of remedial voice to an internal mediator. Power relations played an important moderating role such that lower power positions seemed to inhibit voice. That is, women would be more likely than men to voice but only when a co-worker (versus supervisor) was the offender. Individuals with low work self-esteem would be less likely to voice than individuals with high work self-esteem when mistreated by a supervisor (versus co-worker). The results support using a social-psychological perspective for identifying determinants of remedial voicing (or hesitation to voice) related to persons, situations, and their interactions.
Simulation of Photovoltaic Array-driven Electric Machines with Power Electronic Interfaces
Authors: Arul Daniel S. , Ammasai Gounden N.
Published: January 2010

Power electronic interfaces between photovoltaic (PV) arrays and electric machines are necessary in order to match the drive characteristics with the characteristics of the array for efficient utilization of the resource. This paper proposes a model for the simulation of a complete solar PV power electronic conversion system in circuit simulation software, where a model of a PV array is not readily available in their libraries. The proposed circuit-based PV model is employed to simulate the waveforms of a direct current (DC) motor and induction motor drive system fed by a chopper and inverter, respectively. Close resemblance between experimental and simulated waveforms is established to validate the simulation. A quasi-stationary approach for simulating the dynamics of a PV-fed drive with temperature and irradiation variation has also been implemented in the simulation model. The details of the design of a fuzzy controller based on the simulation and its validation are also presented in this paper.
Simulation to Analyze the Impact of a Schedule-aware Workflow Management System
Authors: Mans Ronny S. , Russell Nick C. , van der Aalst Wil , Bakker Piet J. M. , Moleman Arnold J.
Published: January 2010

Today’s workflow management systems (WfMSs) offer workitems to users through specific work-lists. Users select the workitems they will perform without having a schedule in mind. However, in many environments work needs to be scheduled and performed at particular times. For example, in hospitals many workitems are linked to appointments, e.g., a doctor cannot perform surgery without reserving an operating theater and making sure that the patient is present and ready. One of the problems when applying workflow technology in such domains is the lack of calendar-based scheduling support. In collaboration with the Academic Medical Center (AMC), a large hospital in the Netherlands, we developed a schedule-aware WfMS that supports the seamless integration of unscheduled (flow) and scheduled (schedule) tasks. However, before deployment of the resultant system in the hospital, a seamless integration with AMC’s running healthcare processes needs to be guaranteed. Therefore, for a large and complex healthcare process, we apply computer simulation to validate and to investigate, for different configurations of the system, the operational performance for a selected healthcare process when supported by the schedule-aware workflow management system. One of the important characteristics of our approach is the tight coupling between the simulation model and the actual implemented system. While performing simulation experiments, parts of the system may be simulated using CPN Tools while connected to the actual system components. Our simulation experiments demonstrate that the developed schedule-aware WfMS can be safely applied in the AMC hospital.
Debating the state of the unions today: a comment on McIlroy
Authors: Gall Gregor
Published: January 2010

McIlroy (2000) makes a welcome contribution to the debate on the prospects for unions and the left in Britain. It is significant because it deals with the situation since the election of Labour in 1997 and how the current period can be situated in a longer historical perspective. His analysis also guides his thought on ‘what needs to be done’. In this comment, I shall develop my earlier line of argument (Gall 1998), an analysis which McIlroy effectively dismisses, as well as debate with McIlroy on his arguments and position. This comment is made in the spirit of a brief contribution that will hopefully be part of a wider debate within and without academia. Each point is not intended as a complete refutation of McIlroy, but rather a basis from which to credibly and constructively question the wisdom of his analysis.
Fighting to win: the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty
Authors: Shantz Jeff
Published: January 2010

The Ontario Coalition Against Poverty (OCAP) is a direct action anti-poverty organization which, since 1989, has fought governments of all stripes in Ontario, left (so-called), right and centre to defend the needs of poor people and to work for a future where people are able to live decently. In doing so ocap has become the focal point of resistance to neo-liberal capitalism in Canada's largest province.
Marxian economic theory and an ontology of socialism: a Japanese intervention
Authors: Westra Richard
Published: January 2010

The most enduring aspect of the economic studies of Marx is the exposition in Capital of the inner anatomy of capitalism as the limit form of what a human society should not be—that is a commodified society which abdicates the responsibility for the reproduction of human material existence to something that transcends human force. Deriving from this perspective on Capital is the position that socialism, at least in its most fundamental incarnation, should not be considered as being institutionally prefigured by capitalism, but as the antithesis of capitalism in that regard. Given such an understanding of socialism, I derive three core principles of what I call an ontology of socialism from Marx's work in Capital. I then briefly outline what adherence to the principles implies for the issues of calculation, motivation and discovery in the construction of a genuine socialism.
The new world order of things
Authors: Coulter Colin
Published: January 2010

These are truly fearful times that we are living through. In the United Nations, attempts to arrive at a diplomatic resolution of the crisis continue apace. The choreography of process serves little though to conceal the absolute certainty of outcome. The script of this war was crafted in Washington many months ago. In the next few days, the full military might of the world's sole remaining superpower will be unleashed on the beleaguered peoples of Iraq. As the regime of the erstwhile western client Saddam Hussein falls, the dawning of a new era of democracy will be hailed. With a compliant regime headed by the US military safely installed the cavalcade of American state terror will move on to bring untold horror on the benighted residents of some other misbegotten state. New world order, same old slaughter.
Fear and loathing at the multiplex: everyday anxiety in the post-industrial city
Authors: Hubbard Phil
Published: January 2010

The adoption of risk as a common part of contemporary societal construction has been tied to an environment of proliferation, multiplication, specialism, counterfactual guess-work, and, above all, anxiety. Deliberations on the growth of anxiety and fear have concentrated largely upon the impact of globalisation and the advent of new technological regimes. However, as discussed here ‘ambient fears' and anxieties can saturate the social spaces of everyday life. Hence, this paper examines a mundane and routine social activity—cinema-going—to demonstrate that fear, risk and anxiety are deeply embedded in the fabric of contemporary capitalist cities, shaping all manner of social practices. A central argument within this paper is that fear is inescapably caught up in the fabrication of social difference, with the strategies of risk avoidance that people practice in their everyday lives reinforcing boundaries between Self and Other.
Like summer and good sex?
Authors: Shorthose Jim
Published: January 2010

With reference to aspects of Herbert Marcuse, this article explores the limitations of the work-life balance campaign. It argues that it is in essence ‘one dimensional’, and that its underlying trajectory is one of the ‘containment’ of work-life balance readjustments to within the pre-established limits of managerial rationality and capitalist organisation. It contrasts this limited campaign with theories of working-time reduction that offer the potential for an expanded realm of autonomy and a more thorough-going liberation of time from work.
Localism and its neoliberal application: A case study of West Gate New Deal for Communities in Newcastle upon Tyne, UK
Authors: McCulloch Andrew
Published: January 2010

The New Labour Government's New Deal for Communities attempts to stitch neoliberal urban policy onto Area Based Initiatives that involve the local community. In Newcastle upon Tyne, this combination resulted in several fault-lines and considerable local conflict. The local community was not adequately represented, because there was not one. The locus of power was not in the community but in the partner agencies. Thus the most obvious community was that of community regeneration professionals in these partner agencies, who have an ideological and material interest in representing the fact that there is a community for which they act.
Culture, labour and subjectivity: For a political economy from below
Authors: Wittel Andreas
Published: January 2010

The central theme of this article is the relationship between political economy and culture. This raises related questions of the place and valuation of subjectivity, and of immaterial cultural labour within the cultural economy. These relationships and questions have been articulated in a relatively narrow way, if at all, by contemporary debates, which have not sufficiently taken into account recent social and cultural transformations. So this article attempts to discuss how a political economy of culture might develop a broader approach towards labour, culture, and subjectivity. The objective is to identify some of the problematic, under-researched and under-illuminated issues and areas. It culminates in the speculative discussion of a ‘political economy from below’, inherently geared to understanding the micro-productive activities of cultural producers themselves.
Talking Turkey for democracy: Fundamentalism, fascism and the EU
Authors: Cam Surhan
Published: January 2010

The rise of pro-Islamic politics, the eastward expansion of the EU and the invasion of Iraq have increased the Western media's interest in the only Muslim member of Nato: Turkey. Popular discussion, however, has overshadowed a lack of systematic analyses for a proper understanding of major political developments in Turkey. This paper aims to debate Turkey's state of affairs from the perspective of political economy. It will be argued that Turkey's already troubled democracy is under the threat of absolute collapse, triggered by fundamentalist and fascistic tendencies, and that the current policies of the EU nurture such processes despite the EU's pro-democratic claims.
The crisis of Foxism: The political economy of fiscal reform in Mexico
Authors: Charnock Greig
Published: January 2010

The election of Vicente Fox in 2000 represented an important moment for architects of global neoliberalism, in that it heralded new potentialities for advancing a ‘second generation’ reform agenda in Mexico. This report examines the first half of Fox's term, and his government's efforts to implement critical economic reforms within this agenda. It goes on to explain why the Fox government had failed, by mid-2004, to implement its priority fiscal reforms, in the context of social mobilisation against the state's neoliberal project and a stagnating economy.
The ethnic factor in state-labour relations: The case of Malaysia
Authors: Rowley Chris , Bhopal Mhinder
Published: January 2010

Given the ethnic dimension of much conflict, it is time to acknowledge the ethnic factor in the field of employment, and the manner in which material conflicts can be articulated in identity terms. Identifications that transcend class, for example, in emphasising the commonality of ethnic identity, can serve not only to obscure intra-group class divisions under the veil of cultural closure, but also to foreclose the potential for inter-group class identification. Indeed, studies of employee relations in Europe often make little mention of ethnic diversity, despite the ethnic diversity within various countries. Studies of Asia, on the other hand, mainly focus on the relatively culturally homogeneous societies of South Korea and Japan. In most of these studies, the state (and capital) has often been seen as overly uniform and monolithic, rather than as shifting, transient and fragmented. Furthermore, the establishment and growth of first-and subsequent-generation citizens implies that a more nuanced analysis will be required of not only labour, but of the state (and capital) as well.
Hegemony, class struggle and the radical historiography of global monetary standards
Authors: Hampton Matt
Published: January 2010

This article suggests that the radical historiography of global monetary standards has failed to provide a class-based interpretation, instead offering a radicalised power politics that seeks to explain their rise and fall as being a by-product of the competitive struggle for hegemony by capitalist states. The author proposes an alternative reading, which locates the contradictory and antagonistic class relation between capital and labour as the central dynamic force accounting for the rise and fall of global monetary standards, from the classical gold standard to the collapse of Bretton Woods.
Business union vs. business union? Understanding the split in the US labour movement
Authors: Greer Ian
Published: January 2010

In summer 2005, the US trade union movement formalised its split into two rival confederations. The split was precipitated by the 2001 disaffiliation of the carpenters' union, the Republican electoral victory of 2004, and the decline in union membership. Seven unions, accounting for forty per cent of the membership of the Afl—CIO, formed Change to Win as a response to that federation's ineffectiveness. This article concludes that the split may lead to new techniques for campaigning, but that it will not affect the fortunes or the social vision of the trade union movement.
Formal and real subordination and the contemporary proletariat: Re-coupling Marxist class theory and labour-process analysis
Authors: Neilson David
Published: January 2010

Having seemed to offer so much in the 1970s, neo-Marxist class theory went into significant decline in the decades that followed. This paper begins with a critique of E. O. Wright's 1980s detour via a reworking of central aspects of Marx's class theory. Specifically, Marx's concepts of formal and real subordination provide the basis for a re-coupling of labour-process themes with a class analysis of contemporary capitalism.
The European social model: Between competitive modernisation and neoliberal resistance
Authors: Hermann Christoph , Hofbauer Ines
Published: January 2010

The ‘European social model’ is a phrase often heard in European discourse. This article describes the remarkable shift in meaning that the term has experienced in the last two decades. While it was first invented to symbolise Delors's vision of a social-democratic Europe, it was then increasingly used to legitimise a predominately neoliberal integration process, before becoming a justification for the cutting back of existing welfare systems. The popularity of the European social model, however, still stems from the fact that it articulates an alternative to US-style free-market capitalism. The concept is therefore also used by left forces in order to formulate their vision of an alternative Europe.
EU expansion and the political economy of former communist states' accession: The case of Hungary's ‘convergence’
Authors: Barnes Ian , Randerson Claire
Published: January 2010

This article examines attempts by the European Union to promote the convergence of the central and eastern European states, and looks at two instruments used in its pursuit: the conditionality requirements for membership of the EU, and the convergence criteria for membership of economic and monetary union. Using Hungary as an example, it demonstrates that there are times at which these instruments are effective; but at other times, they are undermined by the more pressing need to address domestic political priorities. It concludes that in the longer term, the need to comply with the convergence agenda is likely to take precedence.
Pivotal powers: The British Labour Party and European unity since 1945
Authors: Callaghan John
Published: January 2010

This article examines the roots of European unity and Britain's relationship to it, primarily in terms of foreign policy and the failed alternative political economy of the empire/Commonwealth. Continuity of policy emerges as the dominant theme. The strong Atlanticist orientation of the state and its attempts to maintain a special relationship with the USA were objects of a bipartisan approach, as was the commitment to Britain's world role. Membership of the ‘European’ club in the 1970s did not constitute a break with this tradition so much as an adaptation in circumstances of prolonged relative decline. The article shows how the British left attempted to comprehend European unity in terms of the prospects for socialism and left reform in Britain itself.
From ‘embedded liberalism’ to ‘negotiated openness’: British trade unions and the European Union from the 1960s—A world-order approach
Authors: Strange Gerard
Published: January 2010

This article1 is primarily concerned with the political economy of British trade union policy towards the European Community (EC) in the 1960s and 1970s. Its aim is to reassess union engagement with the EC in this period from a viewpoint informed by the now established perspective of world-order analysis in international political economy (Cox, 1981; Lipietz, 1992; Gamble & Payne, 1996; Payne, 2005). The article is specifically concerned with the re-evaluation in this light of two notable but contrasting and substantially contradictory perspectives on British unions and Europe: Dorfman (1977) and Teague (1985, 1989, later incorporated into Teague & Grahl, 1992). In its concluding section, the article briefly considers the implications of this reassessment for British union policy in relation to the contemporary EU.
Degrading the labourer: The reform of local government manual work
Authors: Gill-McLure Whyeda , Seifert Roger
Published: January 2010

Market mechanisms in the local-government sector have transformed service delivery and the management of manual municipal labour. Low pay has traditionally been tolerated in these services in exchange for job security; and the relative autonomy entailed by non-profit production methods had permitted the continuation of a public-service ethos. But in a labour-intensive sector, the move from democratically determined to market-led production within ever-decreasing levels of central funding is only possible through job loss, work intensification and insecurity. Case study findings show how these pressures were played out in school cleaning and grounds maintenance in a Labour local authority.
The logic of a justified hope: The dialectic of police reform in Northern Ireland
Authors: Ryan Barry J.
Published: January 2010

This article examines proposals for the reform of the relationship between internal security and state-society relations in Northern Ireland and finds a divergence from the usual liberal package of police reforms. These proposals embraced the political nature of security provision and aimed to create authentically democratic institutions endowed with sufficient power to contest the state's control over the monopoly of force. Through a Habermassian lens, the research analyses the emancipatory potential of these proposals, and examines the reasons why they were rejected in favour of a state-centric, liberal model that did not deliver the structural transformation of police— society relations sought by the people of Northern Ireland.
The neoliberal transnational university: The case of UBC Okanagan
Authors: Whiteley Robert , Aguiar Luis L. M. , Marten Tina
Published: January 2010

This paper describes and explains the takeover of a regional post-secondary institution in British Columbia, Canada by one of the world's ‘top forty’ universities: the transnational University of British Columbia (UBC). By mapping connections between the University of British Columbia and the provincial and national political and economic elite and bourgeoisie, the authors establish the takeover of UBC Okanagan as a classic example of neoliberalism that firmly places UBC within the corporate power structure of the ‘Silicone Vineyard’ region of British Columbia.

2-4-6-8 UBC is really great! U-B U-B-C U-B-C-Oh! Clap-clap clap-clap-clap clap-clap-clap-clap (UBC Okanagan cheer)
Knowledge-based society, peer production and the common good
Authors: Orsi Cosma
Published: January 2010

This article investigates the societal conditions that might help the establishment of peer-to-peer modes of production. First, the context within which such a new model is emerging — the neoliberal knowledge-based-societies — is described, and its shortcomings unveiled; and second, a robust argument is provided for the moral legitimation of an alternative societal vision, including two structural policies that are likely to facilitate the establishment and further development of peer-to-peer practices.
Cyberconflict at the edge of chaos: Cryptohierarchies and self-organisation in the open-source movement
Authors: Karatzogianni Athina , Michaelides George
Published: January 2010

This paper differentiates between different levels of conflict in the open-source movement and discusses the role conflict and self-organisation play in the emergence of structures of leadership emergence and the bifurcation into core and peripheral groups and soft control by cryptohierarchies; in the different levels of group polarisation and conflict between communities negotiating their identity, strategy, coordination and complexity; and lastly, in the dynamic relationships between hierarchies and networks. These dynamics are forcing open-source communities to exist at the edge of chaos, and to constantly engage in lines of flight and resistance from the system of global control, while ignoring current capitalist practices and ‘growing their own’ models of self-organising knowledge creation and exchange.
The Economic Policy of the New Chinese Leadership in 1977 and 1978
Authors: Tissier Patrick
Published: January 2010

Written in January 1978 for Communisme the bulk of this article analyses the theoretical foundations of the economic policy of the new leadership of the Chinese Communist Party, following the upheavals which marked the end of 1976. In unraveling the apologetic and mystificatory discourse of the new rulers, this text shows that the line adopted is resolutely productivist and marks a deep break with maoist politics. Following the great debate excited by the cultural revolution, we witness in China the rehabilitation of a certain “official marxism”, which has more than a little in common with the soviet ideological system.

The economic and political event of 1978, briefly analysed in the post-script, have fully confirmed the substance of the analysis in spite of considerable resistance, the present direction clearly commits China to a path of development closely related to that of state capitalism.
Divisions over the international division of labour
Authors: Jenkins Rhys
Published: January 2010

Interpretations of the new international division of labour can be divided between those which emphasise the sphere of exchange, those which focus on the sphere of production, and those which are based on an analysis of the circuits of capital in the internationalization of capital. This article reviews these different approaches to the NIDL and discusses their implications for socialist strategies
The future of British coal
Authors: Fine Ben
Published: January 2010

This article demolishes some of the widely perpetuated myths on the energy supply industries, and points to the coal industry's potentially bright future. It looks at the background to the recent conflict, and concludes that the realisation of these prospects for the industry and the miners lies in the hands of the labour movement.