Although Karl Mannheim and Ernst Bloch provide two contrasting analyses of the relationship between ideology and utopia, they hold in common the belief that the two concepts need to be examined together as a pair of closely related concepts. Mannheim argues that the ideological and the utopian are both forms of ‘reality‐transcendence’, and constructs an historical account of their role in the emergence of modernity. Bloch posits a ‘utopian surplus’ in ideology which carries the ‘not‐yet’ of human potential. The recent ‘post‐secular’ turn in contemporary political philosophy provides an excellent focus for considering the utility of the two approaches, and a discussion of the relationship of the two thinkers to the work of Karl Marx can help clarify the nature of their differences.

Ideology and utopia

This paper explores the increasing experience of discomfort amongst migrant Australians and their children, drawing on two sets of empirical data—one about a sense of home amongst migrants and the other about incidents of racism towards Arabs and Muslims since 2001. The idea of comfort captures what Giddens calls ontological security, or the trust we have in our surroundings, both human and non-human. This sense of security, built on mutual recognition, is fundamental to our capacity for social agency. Migrant home-building constantly negotiates the displacement thrown up by the act of migration as migrants attempt to settle in a new country. Experiences of racism, especially since 2001, however, undermine the ability of migrants to feel ‘at home’, and hence their capacity to exist as citizens.

The Discomfort of Strangers: Racism, Incivility and Ontological Security in a Relaxed and Comfortable Nation

Foreword: The Liberation of Politics: Alterity, Solidarity, Liberation / Eduardo Mendieta vii Preliminary Words xv Introduction 1 Thesis 1. Corruption and the Political Field: The Public and the Private 3 Part One: The Prevailing Political Order Thesis 2. The Political Power of the Community as Potentia 13 Thesis 3. Institutional Power as Potestas 18 Thesis 4. Obediential Power 24 Thesis 5. The Fetishization of Power: Power as Domination 30 Thesis 6. Strategic Political Action 36 Thesis 7. The Need for Political Institutions: The Material Sphere (Ecological, Economic, Cultural): Fraternity 43 Thesis 8. Institutions in the Spheres of Democratic Legitimacy and Feasibility: Equality and Liberty: Governability 50 Thesis 9. Ethics and the Implicit Normative Principles of Politics: The Material Principle 56 Thesis 10. The Formal-Democratic and Feasibility Principles of Politics 62 Part Two: The Critical Transformation of the Political: Toward the New Political Order Thesis 11. The People: The Popular Sector and "Populism" 71 Thesis 12. Liberatory Power as Hyperpotentia and the "State of Rebellion" 78 Thesis 13. The Political Principles of Liberation: The Critical Material Principle 83 Thesis 14. The Critical-Democratic and Strategic Transformation Principles 88 Thesis 15. Liberation Praxis of Social and Political Movements 94 Thesis 16. Anti-Hegemonic Praxis and the Construction of a New Hegemony 103 Thesis 17. Transformation of Political Institutions: Reform, Transformation, Revolution: Political Postulates 108 Thesis 18. Transformation of Institutions in the Material Sphere: "Perpetual Life" and Solidarity 114 Thesis 19. Transformation of Institutions in the Sphere of Democratic Legitimacy: Irruption of New Rights: "Perpetual Peace" and Alterity 122 Thesis 20. Transformation of Institutions in the Sphere of Feasibility: The "Dissolution of the State"? Liberation 131 Notes 139 Bibliography 151 Index 155

Twenty Theses on Politics

The feminist notion of an ethic of care provides a powerful alternative to justice as a central orienting value for the development of moral theory, but it has been largely overlooked in the literature on care in organizations. We explore how an ethic of care could be enacted in organizations, arguing that it would involve narrative practices embedded in enduring relationships, such as work teams. We articulate three domains of discursive practice—how members construct their experiences, how they construct their struggles, and how they construct future-oriented stories—and from them identify three specific caring narrative practices: constructing histories of sparkling moments, contextualizing struggles, and constructing polyphonic future-oriented stories. We argue that, together, these practices foster an ontology of possibility—a belief system that emphasizes the socially constructed nature of both past and present and, thus, facilitates action and an appreciation of its limits. We conclude by consideri...

http://www.thecompassionlab.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/Lawrence-and-Mailtils-2012-Care-and-Possibility.pdf

Care and Possibility: Enacting an Ethic of Care Through Narrative Practice

This work was funded by the Scottish Alliance for Geoscience, Environment and Society with assistance from the Centre for Environmental Change and Human Resilience at the University of Dundee. Katherine N Irvine’s involvement was supported by the Scottish Government’s Rural and Environmental Science and Analytical Services Division (RESAS) and ClimateXChange – Scotland’s Centre for Expertise on Climate Change.

/pdf/transformation-in-a-changing-climate-a-research-agenda-7ee796zsj1.pdf

Transformation in a changing climate: a research agenda

Der unheilbare Kranke, der zu uns in die Klinik kommt, erwartet von uns Trost. Wie aber k6nnen wir einem unheilbar Kraken einen wahren Trost geben, wenn er doch weig, dab sein Leben durch seine Krankheit begrenzt ist? Eine Antwort darauf w/ire zun/ichst eine Forderung: Wer tr6sten will, mug mitffhlen und mitempfinden k6nnen, ja mug auch mitleiden k6nnen. Wer also einen Kranken tr6sten will, mug den anderen in seinem Leid ernst nehmen und darf nichts bagatellisieren. In unseren Seminaren zur Begleitung von Krebskranken und deren Angeh6rigen bitten wir die Teilnehmer, zum Thema: ,,Wie erlebe ich Krankheit" etwas in Farbe zu malen. Es ist erschreckend, wie negativ gerade Medizinstudenten sich hierbei ausdrficken. Krankheit scheint ffr sie eine niederdrfickende Erfahrung zu sein. Der Kranke wird eingeschlossen und kann sich nicht mehr wehren. So die Krankheit erfahren, kann mich nicht mitempfinden lassen, was im Kranken abl/iuft und verhindert, wahren Trost zu spenden, denn Trost, einem Patienten und seinen Angeh6rigen gegeben, ist auf Hoffnung bezogen. Tr6sten kann nur, wer Hoffnung hat und den Grund der Hoffnung kennt. Wenn ich davon ausgehe, dab filir mich Gott Inbegriff und Ziel der Hoffnung ist, dann ist der Gott der Hoffnung deshalb auch immer der Gott des Trostes. Vielleicht kommen wir heute beim Wort Trost und Hoffnung in Verlegenheit, weil wir bei unserem Trost den Trost Gottes vergessen und weil unsere eigene Hoffnung nicht grog und lebendig genug ist. Sicher dfirfen wir es uns nicht allzu einfach machen und glauben, Worte vom Trost Gottes k6nnen als Patentrezepte dienen. Es gentigt auch nicht, einfach Gott, Jesus Christus, Kreuz und Auferstehung nebeneinander zu stellen und in Anspruch zu nehmen, um den Patienten auf irgendeine fibernatfirliche Kraft zu verweisen. Das w/ire ein VertrSsten und unbarmherzig gegenfiber dem Patienten und seinen Angeh6rigen. Vielleicht lehren uns unsere Patienten am besten, wenn wir genau zuh6ren, was ihnen hilft, Hoffnung in der Krankheit zu behalten. In den Bildern, die unsere Patienten malen, kommt diese Hoffnung, dieser Trost, den sie empfangen haben, immer wieder zum Ausdruck. Die Diagnose Krebs ist f f r viele Patienten gleichsam ein furchtbares schwarzes Tier, das den ganzen Menschen zu ergreifen droht. Aber dann kommen Menschen, die den Kranken Hoffnung geben, die ihm zeigen, dab er nicht alleine den Kampf gegen die Krankheit f~hren mug. Es kommen Arzte, die den Kranken mit allen seinen Angsten und N6ten ernst nehmen, die ihm verdeutlichen, dab er die Krankheit nicht als Todesurteil erleben mug, dab er vielmehr hoffen darf, selbst bei einer unheilbaren Krankheit, das ihm verbliebene Leben als noch wertvoll erleben zu k6nnen.

H. R. Zielinski

Papers

The principle of hope