State terrorism: orientalism and the drone programme

This article builds on the recent and growing scholarship on the negative effects of the drone programme. Current literature has shown that the drone programme terrorises the civilian population that it keeps under surveillance. Furthermore, it has articulated the drone programme’s violence as biopolitical and its surveillance as a necropolitical technology of distinction. It is argued in this article that the Orientalist attitudes and logic necessary for drone targeting form the basis for the biopolitical and necropolitical component of the drone programme. This article explores the Orientalism that suffuses the US drone programme in order to juxtapose it with governmental discourses that characterise the drone programme and its surveillance as neutral and humane – demonstrating the gap between government discourses of modernity and the actual drone programme. The necropolitical logic of distinction used for targeting leads to the assimilation of those under the drone’s gaze to a population that can be put to death, leading the drone programme to operate indiscriminately. The biopolitical logic is visible in the US practices, which I argue constitutes terrorism with the corroboration of civilian testimonies.     

回归学术还是面向问题?——当代马克思主义伦理学的两种致思路向

回归学术与面向问题是马克思主义伦理学研究的两种致思路向,其根据在于马克思主义哲学的历史性和现实性这两种价值诉求。马克思主义伦理思想发生史、西方马克思主义伦理思想批评史和马克思主义伦理学问题史,构成了马克思主义伦理学的三种书写方式,其中前两种是朝向学术的,后一种是面向问题的。建构当代中国形态的马克思主义伦理学就是沿着回归学术和面向问题两种路径而展开,研读经典文本、领悟微言大义,旨在"返本开新",回到道德与伦理问题得以发生和演变的初始根据,感悟马克思恩格斯创立唯物史观的心路历程、领悟马克思恩格斯运用唯物史观批判资本主义和构想共产主义的原则与精神。在继承和发展马克思恩格斯伦理观的基础上,适度借鉴或吸收中外伦理思想资源,继续完善马克思主义伦理学的理论体系,在现代性场域下,研究继续深化和完善社会主义市场经济过程中的具有道德和伦理性质的理论问题和实践难题;在全球治理和国家治理实践中,探索和构建中国形态的德性论、规范论与实践论。一种日趋完善的社会主义道德和伦理体系,不仅具有中国价值,更有世界意义。     

Habermas and the Holy Grail of reason: The Philosophical Discourse of Modernity between theatre and theory

A critical discourse analysis of The Philosophical Discourse of Modernity demonstrates that Habermas's discourse on modernity is theoretische Fiktion (a term Freud used to describe a given theory for which no evidence can be found and no arguments validated). Theatrical narrative strategies from drama are identified that not only organise the logic of the text, but also position readers. The choice of mise en scene—the Oedipal cross‐roads where older and younger protagonists meet in conflict—is seen to position readers as mere spectators. The choice of the narrative trope of the romance of lost opportunity (the road open but not taken) is not merely illustrative, but necessary for the claim that Habermas has redeemed the enlightenment project.

The paper critiques Habermas's theorising on discourse ethics because it distinguishes categories of discourse into scientific/analytical, moral/interpretive and aesthetic/expressive, which operate in three different spheres of value. In particular, it challenges the notion of an “inner logics” for what, in Habermas's stable of discourses, he labels the scientific/analytical. Readers of The Philosophical Discourse of Modernity, the paper demonstrates, are not so much pulled along by the force of the better argument, but seduced by that unbridled beast: the aesthetic/expressive.     

From “sensed” to “complex”: some reflections on borders throughout history

The concept and definition of borders has evolved significantly over time. In Europe the twentieth century alone has seen remarkable changes. At the beginning of the century borders represented the clear end of the sovereignty of one state and the beginning of another while the second half of the same century brought revolutionary concepts of state borders. This article aims to contribute towards the conceptual discussion of borders, tracing some of the journey of this concept, from centuries ago when they were perceived as more ”sensed”, to more recent interpretations of ”solid” and “liquid” borders to today's “complex” borders.     

Antipodean Enlightenment

Abstract

In his monumental collection Culture, Science, Society: The Constitution of Cultural Modernity, György Markus lays down the conceptual framework for the theorisation of modern high culture across the cultural spheres and articulates an account of cultural pragmatics or cultural relations – author, text and public – in the domains of science, arts and the humanities. He explores in great detail the conceptual keystones in the evolution of the cultural self-understanding of modernity from the enlightenment until today. Markus’s work resonates with a deep understanding of the historico-cultural terrain being covered and the conceptual issues at play.     

现代性的选择与失落——对“十七年”现实主义文艺思潮的一种阐述

建国后“十七年”，文学创作被要求表达新中国的现代性诉求。为此“现实主义”被进一步规范为“社会主义现实主义”。在这过程中，“写灵魂”遭到否定，“典型”这一概念被改造。文学的内部因素在外力的作用下发生变异，现实主义作家对“人”的生存状态思考大大弱化，现代性所要求的“人的生成”被忽略了。     

现代性立场的困难--评加加林《早期希腊法律》

加加林坚持严格的法学立场,从现代的法律观念来看待古希腊早期法律,不承认西方法律源头处曾有过“不成文法”。这样一来,加加林就无法解释法律的渊源问题,对西方法律思想的认识也就有失偏颇。按照古希腊法律的最初面貌,而非今天的立场,来研究思想史,也许才是解决这种困难的最好办法。     

立足现代性 发展马克思主义

马克思主义的中国化为中国革命和中国社会主义建设的成功提供了光辉的指导。今天,如何发展马克思主义,成为众多学者深加探讨的一个热点。立足现代性是发展马克思主义的根本道路。     

全球化与现代性：一种考察中国共产党经济职能的视角

执政党的经济职能是执政党执政职能的重要组成部分,它在不同的时期有着不同的内容和侧重点,表现为不同的政策、方针和策略。而全球化和现代性是考察社会发展共性或普遍性的概念范畴,它对执政党的经济职能的研究提供了一种视角。     

现代性、后现代性与中国国际关系学派的诞生

大部分中国学者所考察的国际关系理论主要是具有现代性的国际关系理论,而西方国际关系理论在这一领域已经占据了难以撼动的霸权地位。自1960年代以来,以"多原"和"多元"为主要特征的后现代性已经逐渐确立,它对国际关系理论的创新具有十分积极的意义。在经过几十年努力仍无法创立中国国际关系学派的情况下,中国学者可以借助后现代性话语和思考方式探讨建立中国国际关系学派的可能路径。