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Radical Philosophy Review

Volume 21, Issue 1, 2018
21st-Century Socialism: Concepts and Visions

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Displaying: 1-15 of 15 documents


1. Radical Philosophy Review: Volume > 21 > Issue: 1
Harry van der Linden

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21st-century socialism: concepts and visions

2. Radical Philosophy Review: Volume > 21 > Issue: 1
Sebastian Purcell, Sarah E. Vitale

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section 1: diagnosing the present moment

3. Radical Philosophy Review: Volume > 21 > Issue: 1
David Schweickart Orcid-ID

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We are facing a terrifying moment in human history, but also a miraculous moment. At the very time when climate change threatens our species with extinction, we not only know that we face an existential threat, we have the means not only to avert catastrophe, but to provide virtually everybody on our planet with the material means for decent life. This paper asks, and attempts to answer, a series of questions: Why are we not doing what needs to be done? Is there a viable alternative to our current economic order? What then should I do?
4. Radical Philosophy Review: Volume > 21 > Issue: 1
Tony Smith

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Extreme monetary policies successfully prevented the “Great Recession” of 2007–2009 from turning into a global depression. However, they did not address the underlying problems in global capitalism. In recent years prominent “insiders” of global capitalism have proposed reforms designed to remedy these defects. I argue that these proposals are inadequate, due in great part to a failure to acknowledge a profound change in the “deep structure” of capitalism. Technological change, which in the past has contributed so much to the dynamism of capitalism development, no longer does so. The need for extreme monetary policies in the aftermath of the Great Recession of 2007–2009, the failure of these policies, and the lack of plausible alternatives to them, are all symptoms of an underlying disease beyond cure. A path towards a democratic form of socialism must be forged for the simple yet compelling reason Rosa Luxemburg articulated: it is a matter of socialism or barbarism.

section 2: visions of 21st-century socialism

5. Radical Philosophy Review: Volume > 21 > Issue: 1
Sebastian Purcell

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Liberation philosophy was born from radical, socialist roots. Yet recent developments by major figures in the tradition, including Enrique Dussel, would appear to position the movement unhelpfully closer to liberalism. The present article argues that this is a misconception, and that Liberation philosophy rather suggests a new ideal for conceptions of political justice, one that also helpfully avoids a number of common objections that dog traditional socialist proposals. The work of John Rawls is used as a dialogical counter point to suggest the relative merits for the new approach Liberation philosophy suggest for socialism.
6. Radical Philosophy Review: Volume > 21 > Issue: 1
Nancy Holmstrom

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Instead of understanding property and rationality individualistically as in capitalism, the ecological crisis makes it imperative that we change the priority to the social/collective point of view. Public goods/commonstock should be the default, and private property should have to be justified. Rationality should be understood not primarily from an individual perspective, but from a social/collective point of view. This does not entail the sacrifice of individual rights and freedom to the collective, but rather the synthesis of the two. Planning and freedom coincide if the planning is democratic, which can only happen in a more egalitarian society.

section 3: 21st-century socialist practices

7. Radical Philosophy Review: Volume > 21 > Issue: 1
Mladjo Ivanovic Orcid-ID

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This paper tackles an old, yet persisting philosophical and cultural imaginary that justifies the political subjugation, marginalization and exclusion of distant others through claims that such people are less advanced and cognitively inferior, and therefore remain at the periphery of moral and political considerations of Western political culture. My premise here is that all knowledge is historically conditioned, and as such serves as a discursive formation that mirrors and sustains specific historical forms of social organization and practices. Thus, by considering the interrelated themes of epistemic and social inclusion (and exclusion) of refugees and migrants from a range of critical philosophical perspectives, I argue that successfully managing the dire humanitarian circumstances involved in admitting and receiving displaced and migrant people requires the inclusion of both the bodies of knowledge and discursive interactions (i.e., epistemic inclusion) and also diverse social and cultural perspectives (i.e., social inclusion).
8. Radical Philosophy Review: Volume > 21 > Issue: 1
Richard Schmitt

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The paper reflects on the methods democratic systems use for arriving at decisions. The most popular ones are elections where the majority rules and deliberative democracy. I argue that both of these do not measure up to the demands of democracy. Whether we use voting with majority rule or deliberative methods, only a portion of the citizenry is allowed to rule itself; minorities are always excluded. Instead of voting with majority ruler or deliberative methods, I suggest that we employ mediation (ADR) to reach agreement in democratic publics.

section 4: the intersection between gender and class

9. Radical Philosophy Review: Volume > 21 > Issue: 1
Lillian Cicerchia

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In this paper I argue that Nancy Fraser’s theory of social reproduction is misleading and that the process of exploitation is more central to women’s oppression than Fraser’s theory suggests. I argue that Fraser’s theory of women’s oppression is continuous with her theory of capitalism and political agency. I critique Fraser’s theory of capitalism at a structural level to clarify some of the ambiguity in her position about the difference between production and reproduction. I then compare Fraser’s view with a structural view of class to make my critique and extend it to her theoretical distinction between status and class.
10. Radical Philosophy Review: Volume > 21 > Issue: 1
Ann Ferguson

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Socialism from a feminist perspective is not an all or nothing blueprint, but rather a vision of degrees of power/freedom that people in a particular society have in economic, political, social and personal relations. Examples are discussed of societies which are more or less socialist in their class, racial/ethnic, and gender equality, power and freedom. Historical changes in affective economic relations of care, love and affection inform such class, race/ethnic, gender and sexual differences. Three types of transitional strategies are relevant for social movements working toward socialism.

review essay

11. Radical Philosophy Review: Volume > 21 > Issue: 1
Richard Peterson

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book reviews

12. Radical Philosophy Review: Volume > 21 > Issue: 1
Kelin Emmett

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13. Radical Philosophy Review: Volume > 21 > Issue: 1
Thomas Klikauer

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14. Radical Philosophy Review: Volume > 21 > Issue: 1
Richard Schmitt

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15. Radical Philosophy Review: Volume > 21 > Issue: 1

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