Cosmopolitan nationalism and the cultural reach of the white British

ABSTRACT. In recent years, strong claims have been made for the breakdown of national boundaries and the reformation of national identities in an increasingly interconnected global world – driven in large part by the possibilities and limitations that emerge from an increasingly global media world. It has been argued that new postnational, cosmopolitan subjectivities accompany, enable and feed off globally oriented forms of cultural consumption. This article examines these claims in the light of unusually comprehensive data on the tastes of the white British population collected in a large national sample survey, in‐depth interviews and focus groups. By identifying and analysing the geographical spread of the cultural referents of the tastes of the white British we make an empirical assessment of the claims for cosmopolitan identities. We argue that if white British identities are being reformed by processes of globalisation it is, paradoxically, in an increasingly Anglophone direction.     

Hobbes,Liberalism, and Political Technique

Hobbes is commonly treated as a foundational figure for liberalism. This familiar view relies on emphasizing his account of the relationship between rights bearing individuals and state power. By contrast, this essay centers the practical question of how to govern, and develops this perspective to both question Hobbes's supposed liberalism and to demonstrate the utility of construing liberalism as more than a set of philosophical arguments regarding subject-state relations. In particular, understanding liberalism in terms of political technique offers a new perspective on the relationship between liberalism and republicanism.     

梁启超：自由主义的激进与保守

梁启超对中西文化调和的态度,使五四时期的梁启超似乎成了一个文化保守主义者。其实上世纪二十年代的梁启超与晚清民初时的梁启超无论是从思想的内容还是从思想的走向来说都是一致的,梁后期的文化保守主义与其最初的自由主义是一脉相承的,而且正是其最初对于自由主义的理解决定了其晚期文化保守主义的态度。本文是第一次从梁启超的自由主义思想方面来探讨梁的激进与保守与其自由主义思想的关系。     

Two Value-pluralist Arguments for Liberalism

John Gray has argued that Berlinian value pluralism undermines the traditional claims of liberalism to universal authority, rendering it at best no more than one legitimate political form among others. That view is mistaken; value pluralism implies a distinctive case for liberalism as a universal project by way of two principal lines of argument. First, pluralism implies the desirability within a given political arena of a diversity of goods and ways of life, a diversity best accommodated by liberalism. Second, the rational resolution of particular cases of value conflict under pluralism is possible (where it is possible) only by way of a particularist, Aristotelian form of practical reasoning, which requires the exercise of certain characteristically liberal virtues. Overall, pluralism not only supports liberalism, but supports liberalism in a strong, universalist and perfectionist form.     

Liberalism,sociability, and object relations theory

This article argues that the notions developed by post-Kleinian object relations psychoanalysis are continuous with a certain British political tradition. British object relations authors think that the healthy personality necessitates a social-democratic political environment. Their ideas follow both historically and logically upon a set of notions about human development that resemble those held by advanced liberals and social democrats since the nineteenth century. Social democracy and advanced liberalism perceive sociability and community as goods that complement traditional liberals’ respect for autonomy and individual difference. Much of this outlook evolved from an earlier preoccupation with the exclusive discretion of already-existing individuals over portions of their lives. This concern has been gradually transformed into an interest in enhancing the conditions under which the autonomous personality may form.     

对俄国自由主义的理论探讨

自由主义首先是一种政治思潮,其次是一种社会政治运动,再次是某种政治制度和管理原则的总和。自由主义是古代西欧明的创造,于近代形成为体系,并蔓延到东欧国家。俄国自由主义大体上是从外部引进的,并在发展过程中出现了许多的类型和派别,其中最重要的是立宪主义。俄国自由主义在实质方面与西方自由主义相同,但它的形成与发展过程困难重重,缺少相应的社会环境。俄国自由派脱离人民,成为一种“少数人的运动”,并且由于诸多原因最终走向失败。     

Netpeace and the Cosmopolitan Condition: Multifaith Movements and the Politics of Understanding

Abstract

The ultramodern era has been characterized paradoxically as one of great fear and great hope. Reactions to the tragic events of September 11, 2001 provide evidence of this ambivalence whereby a politics of fear and exclusion permeated Western societies, accompanied by a growing interest in collaborative cosmopolitan solutions addressing the most pressing global risks of our times. Culturally, religiously and linguistically diverse (CRALD) community experiences in the state of Victoria, Australia well illustrate this dichotomy. Drawing on this case study, I argue that the rise of multifaith and multi-actor peacebuilding networks in ultramodernity provide evidence that cosmopolitan solutions can effectively counter global risks, in this case particularly terrorism, and advance common security among diverse faith communities and across diverse sectors. In so doing I develop a new netpeace framework arguing that the politics of fear is best countered by a politics of understanding.     

H.G. Wells and the New Liberalism

This article offers a new interpretation of H.G. Wells's politicalthought in the Edwardian period and beyond. Scholars have emphasisedhis socialism at the expense of his commitment to liberalism,and have misread his novel The New Machiavelli as an anti-Liberaltract. Wells spent much effort in the pre-1914 period in thequest for a ‘new Liberalism’, and did not believethat socialists should compete directly with the Liberal Partyfor votes. It was this latter conviction that lay behind hismuch misunderstood dispute with the Fabian Society. His politicalsupport for Churchill was one sign of his belief in the compatibilityof liberalism and socialism, in which he was far from uniqueat the time. He also engaged, somewhat idiosyncratically, withthe ‘servile state’ concept of Hilaire Belloc. Althoughhe did not articulate his Liberal identity with complete consistency,he did so with increasing intensity as the First World War approached.This helps explain why key New Liberal politicians includingChurchill, Lloyd George and Masterman responded to his ideassympathetically. The extent of engagement between Wells andthe ‘New Liberalism’ was such that he deserves tobe considered alongside Green, Ritchie, Hobson and Hobhouseas one of its prophets.