Montaigne,Tocqueville, and the Politics of Skepticism

Abstract

Shakespeare shows how enforceable contract not only undergirds the city of Venice, which makes a multicultural society possible, but its corrosive effects on non-contractual relationships like friendship, love, and marriage. This is evident in the decisions, actions, and relationships of Antonio, Bassanio, Portia, and Jessica. Although Shakespeare concludes the play on a happy note, the conclusion one can reach is that, despite its advantages, regimes based on commerce and contract fail to create the conditions for friendship, love, and marriage to flourish.     

英国对欧洲大陆怀疑主义根源剖析

欧盟对于英国来说始终是一个困惑。为长远的政治、经济利益计 ,英国必须并且确实加入了欧盟。但加入以后 ,英国却又与欧盟在政治、经济上保持一种若即若离的关系。英国对欧盟持怀疑主义态度 ,并不表明它在根本上反对欧盟 ,而是因为它有着自己的理由和根据。剖析英国对欧怀疑主义的根源 ,有助于加深理解英国与欧盟的关系。     

Nation versus class in Ukraine

This article evaluates the long‐standing but rarely‐tested proposition that nationalism and nationhood mask the extent of class divisions in a society. Specifically, it examines three possible routes by which state‐nationhood might subjectively mitigate the importance of class. Nationhood may shape people's perception of the magnitude of economic inequalities, their perception of the magnitude of class conflict or their assessment of their own class position. An analysis of a mass public opinion survey from Ukraine in 2011 demonstrates that contrary to theoretical arguments advanced by a wide variety of scholars, national identity and national sentiments have very little or no impact on the perceived salience of class divisions in Ukraine. Contradictory forces within the national idea itself are identified to explain this outcome.     

Nationalism versus constitutionalism in Fiji*

Abstract. Since Fiji became an independent state in 1970 it has experienced three coups against elected governments. On each occasion, intervention has been justified on the grounds that the rights and interests of indigenous Fijians have been under threat from a government controlled by Indo‐Fijians, the country's second largest ethnic group. This is despite the fact that the constitutions under which these governments were elected contained extensive provisions for the protection of indigenous rights and interests precisely to meet such concerns. Since the coup of May 2000, the 1997 constitution has been resurrected through the legal process and fresh elections held. Although this represented a formal victory for the forces of constitutionalism, the election itself resulted in the return to office of the post‐coup interim administration that had been appointed by the military and which had pledged to uphold the primacy of Fijian interests against other claims. The story of nationalism versus constitutionalism in Fiji is one in which all the efforts of institutional designers seem to have been consistently trumped by the successful manipulation of ethnic identity, especially (although not exclusively) by Fijian nationalists. But it also suggests that there is more to the problems of stability in Fiji than the fact of ethnic difference. In addition, the article critically assesses arguments which favour the development of a new form of constitutionalism which dispenses with the liberal ‘rule of uniformity’ in favour of principles and practices that give explicit recognition to cultural difference.