A 'Radical Humanist' Approach to the Concept of Solidarity

'Solidarity' conjures up positive images of the strength of togetherness and community, but in practice it is experienced by groups when confronted by a real or perceived threat from other groups. The ideal of a universal human solidarity appears tenuous and flimsy. However, Richard Rorty and Axel Honneth have attempted, in different ways, to bring this ideal under philosophical consideration. Their treatment of human solidarity is flawed by their a priori rejection of the normative idea of a common human nature. Such an idea, termed 'radical humanism', is reconstructed from the work of Erich Fromm, and one of its chief implications – the rejection of liberal nationalism – is proposed as part of a radical challenge to contemporary social and political theory.     

THE ELUSIVE PURSUIT OF SOLOMON: FALTERING STEPS TOWARD THE RIGHTS OF THE CHILD

This article provides a brief critique of presumptions about parenting and children seen through the lens of family law. It argues that, historically, decisions largely followed gender‐based and/or moral presumptions of the day and that sometimes these were in tension with each other. Sometimes, too, as in the biblical story of Solomon's judgment, biological parenthood was contested and/or gender did not provide a ready answer. The article argues that, as children's rights and the best interests of the child increasingly came to dominate the decision‐making rhetoric, a Solomon‐like belief has nonetheless persisted, that judicial ingenuity and sophisticated investigative resources can determine the underlying truth of a dispute and lead to the correct outcome. The evidence, however, points in the direction of significant predictive limitations to the legal, social, and psychological knowledge bases supporting most postseparation parenting decisions. It is argued that what is needed is a formal shift in emphasis from a somewhat idealized commitment to discovering the truth in most contested cases to a focus on good decision‐making processes. It is suggested that most transitional families are best served by an emphasis on good, respectful processes associated with good‐enough decisions that formally acknowledge the limitations of our capacity to predict. Good processes and good‐enough decisions are in turn best supported by a clear emphasis on children as individual agents, who, though dependent on adults, are entitled to the full panoply of human rights.     

Beyond the problem projects paradigm: Defining and revitalizing “severely distressed” public housing

Abstract

This article challenges the utility of the concept of “severely distressed” public housing, arguing instead that the program has systemic problems and that the 6 percent of developments recently identified as severely distressed by the National Commission on Severely Distressed Public Housing are merely those furthest along a continuum. Applying the commission's own criteria to nationwide program data that reveal dramatically increased resident impoverishment during the past decade, the article reveals the need for a more inclusive definition of severe distress.

While acknowledging the moral and political imperative to ameliorate conditions in the worst‐off places first, the article cautions against overreliance on a problem projects paradigm that could obstruct calls for systemwide reforms. The article advocates an action‐oriented research agenda, emphasizing data collection on a variety of ill‐understood socioeconomic aspects of public housing conditions and enabling policy analysts to set clearer goals about what sustainable revitalization of public housing should entail.