Public Intellectuals 2.1

Despite renewed interest in public intellectuals, the consensus view is that they are in a state of decline. Furthermore, the Internet is viewed as one of the factors accelerating their decline. This essay takes the contrary position: the growth of online venues has stimulated rather than retarded the quality and diversity of public intellectuals. The criticisms levied against these new forms of publishing seem to mirror the flaws that plague the more general critique of current public intellectuals: hindsight bias and conceptual fuzziness. Rather, the growth of blogs and other forms of online writing have partially reversed a trend that many have lamented what Russell Jacoby labeled “professionalization and academization” in The Last Intellectuals. In particular, the growth of the blogosphere breaks down or at least lowers the barriers erected by a professionalized academy. They also provide a vetting mechanism through which public intellectuals can receive feedback and therefore fulfill their roles more effectively.

European Professors as Public Intellectuals

Historically, European economists, compared to their American counterpart, were more involved in public discussions of policy. In this paper it is argued that this has likely changed. The chief reasons seem to involve the European imitation of the academic ethos that is more prevalent in America. Features of this academic ethos include a more formalist orientation in graduate programs and an academic incentive system wherein professional journal publication is paramount and public discourse is relatively devalued. I suggest there is an inescapable ideological dilemma in addressing the costs and benefits of professors’ neglect of public discourse. The ideological character of academics compared with our own political sensibilities affect whether we want academics to influence public discourse or not. I use the history of academics as public intellectuals in Sweden to substantiate the change, and I use new data on Swedish social science academics to see whether those who participate in public discourse tend to have certain political and social views.

Deliberation and Forgiveness in the Public Sphere

A common objection to the argument for deliberative democracy is that it cannot provide mechanisms for achieving its ideal of all-inclusiveness. This does, however, not in itself refute the deliberative ideal. In a reading of Hannah Arendt and Jacques Derrida’s writings on forgiveness, we argue that forgiving involves a renegotiation of our enemies and of ourselves. Hereby a renegotiation of the seemingly unbridgeable understandings of who our enemies are can be achieved. Forgiving involves a realisation that we have something in common with our foes. This opens the question: Why did our paths separate? We become puzzled and start to search for reasons. This does not mean that we have to accept ways of life that we detest. But it does mean that we need to be able to articulate counter arguments. Hereby limitations of prevailing understandings of who to include in deliberative processes can be overcome.     

科学技术、公共领域与和谐社会

就科学技术发展来说,“和谐社会”这一概念不仅直接强化了科技对经济社会发展的积极推动作用,而且在其涉及新型工业化道路、环境保护、安全生产、网络伦理等问题方面又显现出了对科技发展的公共价值的相应反思。这意味着可以通过公共领域来把握科技与社会的协调关系问题。科技进步无疑推动了公共领域的兴起和发展,但科技发展及其生态和社会效应本身也可以作为公共问题在公共领域层面获得政治伦理考量。也就是说,在公共领域中通过建构科技公共交往机制,确保公众最大程度地参与科技发展的公共决策,进而推动权力、资本和知识精英围绕着科技与人、自然和社会之间的持续协调发展问题,提出适合公共利益的解决方案,从而促进和谐社会的逐步生成。     

On mediators: Intellectuals and the ideas trade in the knowledge society

This paper aims to provide some broad outlines of a model of intellectual practice that is arguably gaining increasing salience today: the model of the intellectual as mediator. The paper begins by drawing briefly upon some empirical data from a recent study in order to suggest that, although institutions such as universities and think tanks do seem to be embracing practices of intellectual production that are at some remove from ‘traditional’ models of knowledge, the shift is not absolute – not least because the idea of the ‘traditional’ intellectual as a basic norm is itself no doubt somewhat problematic. In seeking to address precisely this question as to how to think about norms of intellectual practice, the main body of the paper is more theoretical in its orientation. It seeks to adapt and extend some features of the work of Michel Foucault and Zygmunt Bauman in attempting to theorize a fourfold typology of intellectual style on the basis of the concepts of legislation, expertise, interpretation and finally mediation itself. Lastly, the paper considers the status of the intellectual as mediator in today's ‘knowledge society’, considering whether the so-called ‘end of ideology’ has led to the demise of the intellectual who generates ‘big ideas’.     

公共管理与公众舆论

自18世纪开始兴起的公众舆论推动了近代西方民主思想的形成,而20世纪公共管理的勃兴正是这种民主思想体制化的必然结果。对于公众舆论的理性与非理性认识分野,受制于背后复杂的权力博弈。在近代公众舆论观向现代公众舆论观转型的过程中,公众权力论逐渐让位于管理控制论。由于国家-市场-市民社会的关系失衡,当代公众舆论面临着环境危机。在目前善治的要求下,公共管理从公共利益出发,必须以保护公众舆论的自由和多元为己任,确立自身被监督者、反馈者和配给者的多重角色,做到有所为和有所不为。     

代际和公私观念对公共参与的影响——基于“80后”与“80前”的比较

本文以北京奥运会为问卷调查背景,考察了80后和80前在先公后私和公共参与的差异以及代际对先公后私和公共参与关系的影响。研究发现,80后在公私观念、公共参与方面具有自己独特的特点;代际在公私观念对公共参与的影响中起着调节作用。     

Public Action for Public Science: Re-imagining the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture

ABSTRACT

In Iowa, the heart of the United States Corn Belt, a small, publicly funded research center has championed alternative agricultural practices and fostered the creation of a sustainable agricultural community over the past 30 years, but its future is now uncertain due to funding cuts and increased corporatization of the university. We share our engagement in a grassroots campaign to restore and, ultimately, to re-imagine the future for the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture as an act of ecofeminist praxis. This process documents the beginnings of a transformative moment. We find opportunities to begin a new dialogue about the place of a sustainable agricultural center, the role of science created by and for the public, and a new relationality among scientists, farmers, animals, and the Earth.     

Collective Action for Smallholder Market Access: Evidence and Implications for Africa

It is widely acknowledged that the involvement of small farmers into markets can contribute to higher productivity and income growth, which in turn can enhance food security, poverty reduction efforts, and overall economic growth. In Africa, as in other parts of the developing world, agricultural production systems and their participants face significant challenges as a result of changing economic, environmental, and sociopolitical context. New dynamics in the global agricultural economy, such as the growth of supermarkets, are providing smallholders with both the new opportunities and new constraints to participate in and benefit from market exchanges. Collective action in the form of producer groups can enable African smallholders to take advantage of the new value chains and deal with existing market imperfections. However, certain conditions must be in place to create and sustain incentives for farmers to organize around marketing. Experiences from collective action in natural resource management (NRM) have shown that the types of markets and products, characteristics of user groups, institutional arrangements, and external environment need to be considered in order to determine the effectiveness and sustainability of collective marketing for smallholders. This paper applies the lessons from collective action in NRM to marketing, using existing case studies of producer groups in Africa, and offers policy recommendations on the factors that contribute to the success of collective marketing efforts.     

Overlapping publics and the negotiation of legitimacy in South African and Namibian sexual politics

ABSTRACT

This article explores how and why social movement organizations negotiate their presence in, and demands on, multiple public spheres. We analyse the strategies of two social movement organizations, Free Gender in Cape Town, South Africa, and Sister Namibia in Windhoek, Namibia. Free Gender elected to withdraw participation from a governmental task team convened to address the issue of homophobic violence, despite the opportunity this offered the organization to participate in national politics. Sister Namibia, by contrast, decided to maintain its public presence despite experiencing political homophobia from the ruling party, the South West African People’s Organisation. We contribute to the literature on public spheres and social movements by demonstrating the need to consider the overlapping nature of public spheres in South Africa and Namibia at the local, national, and transnational levels to account for activists’ strategic decisions.     

公共管理学：定位与使命

公共管理学由行政学、公共行政学发展而来,其最初源头在政治学。所以,政治学对于公共行政学的意义,犹如经济学对工商管理学的意义。但是,公共管理学有自己特定的研究对象、学科体系和指导原则,因为,公共管理是一项独立的管理活动,其对象就是公共资源,其主体就是以政府为核心所形成的政府、市场、社会多元统一的公共治理体系;而其原则就是公共性、公正性和效益性的有机统一。在中国,公共管理学要走向成熟,实现科学化,关键是要关注中国公共管理的实践,创造中国公共管理理论。为此,中国公共管理学应该在3个方面作出努力:一是确立公共管理学特有的问题意识;二是确立中国公共管理的规范性价值体系;三是形成理论与实践能够相互转化的研究能力。     

论公共利益及其本质属性

学术界关于公共利益是否存在的分歧,其关键在于对公共利益界定的方式不同。从亚里士多德到卢梭再到当代的社会科学家,从他们的理论中都可以找到有关公共利益理念的影子。对公共利益的理解,经历了一个从抽象的道德原则向具体个体的共同福利转变的过程。公共利益与共同利益是两个容易混淆的概念,弄清它们之间的联系有助于理解公共利益的本质。公共利益的本质属性不仅仅体现在其抽象的客观性和社会共享性方面,而且还要具体体现在具有物质形态的公共产品的非排它性上。不论从管理者的立场看还是从公众的立场看,公共利益都是公共管理的核心。     

从社会转型看政府在公私领域价值取向的重心偏移

在我国社会转型过程中,政府在公私领域价值取向重心对社会将产生重大影响。转型初期的政府采取效率优先、兼顾公平的理念,价值取向重心向私域偏移。在经济高速发展的同时,社会矛盾逐渐凸显。在和谐社会构建过程中,政府价值取向重心应逐步向公域偏移,做到效率与公平并重。     

微博设置大众议程及对公共领域建构的研究

主要立足于新的媒介生态环境,从微博在设置大众之议程方面所表现出的强大影响力这一事实出发,探讨微博对公共领域建构的可能性。由于传统媒体受制于单向传播的局限性,其议程设置功能相对于新媒体在逐渐减弱,而微博在设置大众议程上的功效则日益突出。议程设置作为舆论导向的第一个阶段,最终造就了公众舆论,而公共领域就是独立于政治权利之外的公共交往和公共舆论。所以说,微博所表现出的社会公器职能和权力制衡作用使得其具有重新建构哈贝马斯所言之公共领域的可能性。     

Symposium: Part I: Public Intellectuals Then and Now

The French political thinker Raymond Aron (1905–1983) provides the imitable model of the political philosopher as civic educator. Writing in an age of extreme ideological polarization, he aimed at a truly balanced approach to historical and political understanding. In a series of writings from the late 1930’s onward, Aron defended a principled middle way between Machiavellian cynicism and the “abstract moralism” so evident in the public engagement of modern intellectuals. Aron argued for the renewal of liberalism on the foundation of a broad-based “democratic conservatism” and displayed remarkable lucidity regarding the totalitarian temptation. This paper explores this distinctive notion of “democratic conservatism”—equally distant from revolutionary romanticism and reactionary nostalgia—that guided Aron’s public engagement over a fifty-year period and that was central to his idea of the political responsibility of intellectuals.

当代公共管理研究之法律维度

当代公共管理的根本诉求在于实现公共利益的最大化。维护和增进社会的公共利益,不应为了实现效率和生产率价值而过多地或仅仅追寻管理趋向的公共管理模式;可以寻求另外一种公共管理模式,即法律趋向的公共管理模式,以开辟一条新的现实研究法。历史地看,管理趋向的公共管理,由于其行政权有不断扩张的倾向,容易造成公民权利受损和公共利益被政府的自我利益所侵占等不良后果。因而,从法律维度考量当代公共管理现象及其本质规律不但具有必然性而且具有可行性。需要从法律维度考察的公共管理的主要问题是:公共管理的宪法渊源问题、公共管理的程序性正当和法律程序问题、公共管理的司法审查问题以及公共管理的行政法治化问题。     

论公共知识分子精神与均衡阶层话语权

公共知识分子精神对于社会分层的合理化以及阶层话语权的均衡极为关键,公共知识分子精神的消失则意味着阶层话语权的失衡难以避免。正处于转型期的当代中国社会,阶层话语权出现了严重的失衡。因此,就实现阶层话语权的均衡、促进社会和谐与社会公平正义来说,大力倡导公共知识分子精神无疑是其中至关重要的一环。     

当代西方公共管理前沿理论述评

公共管理作为一门综合性的学科,其前沿理论五花八门,但其中比较宏观和有持续影响力的当属20世纪年70代末和80年代初兴起、到现在还在继续的长达二十多年的政府改革思潮.这一思潮的主要理论基础是20世纪60年代出现的公共选择学派.新公共管理、新公共行政/服务以及治理等前沿理论都与公共选择理论有着密切的关系,是公共选择理论的发展或是在批判公共选择学派的过程中形成的理论.这几个理论相关又不尽相同,与西方思想界都有着十分深厚的渊源,反映着不同思想阵营和不同理论之间的博弈,并没有达到能够相互替代的程度.它们的风行在中国的公共管理学界也引起了层层涟漪和概念上的混淆.从西方公共管理改革实践的历史背景出发,重点就这四大理论的特点、渊源和理论效度进行综述和评论,并讨论了它们对中国公共管理发展的启示.     

The Embedded Market and Ideology Critique

Abstract

When the Global Financial Crisis hit, major political economists were able to boast that they had long warned that "crazy times" were coming. By contrast, leading sociologists seem to have been wrong footed. Totalizing narratives of a new "risk society", "second modernity" and the like appeared to have sacrificed the grounds for weighing up the costs and damages of contemporary capitalism. Made famous by Karl Polanyi, the concept of the embedded market suggests a differentiated diagnosis of our times that should allow sociology to re-enter the discussion as a critic of an ideological attempt to block public discussions about losses and dam ages of contemporary capitalism. The following paper will explore several readings of this concept and will evaluate their capacity to revive sociology's critical powers.     

公共管理的旧貌新颜和发展趋势——公共管理面面观

祝贺《公共管理学报》创刊。对公共管理的过去、现在和未来作一些概括性的介绍,将有助于公共管理在我国的研究和发展。试从关于公共管理的内容和历史、地位和作用、体制和方法、人员和经费、领导和决策、改革和发展、现状和前景、理论和实践等八个方面,进行简要考察,并注意在坚持中国特色的同时,保持与国际接轨。旨在使公共管理在促进中国特色社会主义小康社会的建设过程中,发挥其应有的积极作用。