Erkan's field diary

"Palarchy in Russia, Hereditocracy in France; 2 New Democracy Systems''

By Ozi

Ozcan TIKIT, Istanbul

Ever since Dimitry Medvedev elected as new President of Russia because of his best friend and former chief President Vladimir Putin and Jean Sarkozy has elected as Head of the UMP group for Hauts-de-Seine, I realized we are in a totally new political era. We have 2 new democratical systems; first one is 'Pal'archic Democracy, and the second one is the Hereditary Democracy.

Are soap operas a form of birth control?

By Preeti Aroon

In 1960, the average Brazilian woman had 6.3 children. By 2000, the fertility rate was down to 2.3. The decline was comparable to China's, but Brazil didn't have a one-child policy. In fact, for a while it was even illegal to advertise contraceptives.

Many factors account for the drop in Brazilian fertility, but one recent study identified a factor most people probably wouldn't consider: soap operas (novelas). Novelas are huge in Brazil, and the network Rede Globo effectively has a monopoly on their production. Here's a sample:

1968: the global legacy , Fred Halliday

"With the coming of the dawn, the promises of the night fade away". In politics, as in love, the old Spanish saying sounds a pertinent warning; not least in regard to the memorialisation and assessment which the events of 1968 (and particularly the Paris uprising of May of that year) are receiving on their fortieth anniversary.

Pascal Boniface: Sarkozy’s Secret Rupture

PARIS – A year ago, when Nicolas Sarkozy was campaigning for the French presidency, he promised a “rupture” with the past. So far, few French people can see the sort of rupture that Sarkozy promised. But they are wrong to think that nothing has changed in the first year of his presidency. Sarkozy has, in fact, brought about a rupture, albeit in an unexpected area: the foreign policy consensus that has prevailed since the days of Charles de Gaulle.

Political Philosophy, Revelation, and Modernity

By Reflection Cafe

There is a real need for a book on Roman Catholic political philosophy. The Catholic tradition has generally placed a great premium on philosophical study, including political philosophy. There are many Catholic political philosophers, some of whom are quite explicit in their efforts to integrate their understanding of Christian revelation into their work. However, it remains difficult to say just what "Roman Catholic political philosophy" is, or to identify the precise characteristics (other than perhaps authorship) which distinguish any particular political-philosophical thought as Roman Catholic.............

Growth and Inequality: Understanding Recent Trends

By Reflection Cafe

Thomas Pogge, Australian Nat'l Univ / Yale Univ.
DISSENT, Winter 2008

In current debates about the world economy, “growth is good” often appears as a truism. Growth leads to wealth, it is said, and greater wealth is surely desirable, especially for the poorer developing countries. Closer inspection, however, leads to a far more nuanced assessment.

The Prospects for Democracy in the Middle East

By Reflection Cafe

A Critic of Larry Diamond’s Spirit of Democracy in the context of the Middle East

M.Cuneyt Ozsahin
Cristopher Westergen
Faiza Rais


Simply, this critique attempts to assess the validity of Larry Diamond’s argumentation for the Middle East in his best-seller book. Of all the regions of the world, the Middle East stands as exceptionally inhospitable to democratic reforms. Larry Diamond’s analysis of this region in his book The Spirit of Democracy is incredibly pessimistic about the regions potential for change.[1] After decades of monarchical and strong presidential authoritarian rule many countries appeared to make limited reforms in the late 1990’s only to see them reversed at the turn of the millennium. Diamond’s analysis of the Middle East region and democracy touches upon a fundamental question: how should the question of democracy in the Middle East be analyzed? After a reading of Diamond’s writing this emerges as a question in itself. Diamond’s chapter begins from a moment in the Middle East where political change in the direction of democracy appears imminent but moves to a point where he concludes, “For the time being the moment of democratic reform in the Arab world has passed.”[2]

National populism versus democracy

By Antony Todorov

Populist movements are a threat not because they raise the issue of direct democracy, but because they advocate nationalist mobilization based on xenophobia. Is populism identical to the crisis of democracy or rather a symptom of it?

Questioning authority

By Alan D. Schrift

Nietzsche's deconstruction of authoritarian subjectivity shares much with Derrida's post-modern critique of the subject as a privileged centre of discourse, writes Alan D. Schrift.

Is modernism limited to change alone?

Since the architects of the change placed before us as "modernization" since the 19th century are Westerners, they have determined the criteria and models of this change.

Said on Foucault

By Jeremy

Said is invited to Paris in early 1979: When I arrived, I found a short, mysterious letter from Sartre and Beauvoir waiting for me at the hotel I had booked in the Latin Quarter. ‘For security reasons,’ the message ran, ‘the meetings will be held at the home of Michel Foucault.’ I was duly provided with

Introducing “Reading Orientalism”

By dvarisco on Orientalist Art

The Snake Charmer, Etienne Dinet, 1889

Last November I published Reading Orientalism: Said and the Unsaid with the University of Washington Press. The issues surrounding “Orientalism” and the legacy of Edward Said’s corpus are ongoing, but much of the debate still centers on personalities rather than pragmatic assessment of the complex intertwining of ethnocentrism, racism and sexism that extends far beyond anything imagined as an “Orient” or a “West.” Here is part of the introductory note to my book.