2015. vol. 14. No. 2

Hannah Arendt’s concept of freedom is exceptional in contemporary political theory. First, it is positive, which puts it into opposition to the both current versions of its negative counterpart, the liberal (Isaiah Berlin), and the republican (Quentin Skinner, Philip Pettit) concepts of freedom. In particular, a comparison between Arendt’s and Pettit’s ap-proaches allows establishing some striking points of antagonistic logical mirroring. Based on this, the notion of “schools of thought” is introduced, which plays an essential role in the subsequent discussion of Arendtian realism. Second, although Arendt’s theory of freedom shares features that are common to the major continental thinkers, like Martin Heidegger, Gilles Deleuze, or Alain Badiou, her solution to the problem of freedom aligns her closer to the liberals. Third, I argue that one should consider this logical irregularity as evidence in favor of her political realism, rather than a trivial inconsistency. This realism is the genuinely exceptional part of her legacy, which may guide us eventually, with modifications applied, to a paradigm shift in the current political philosophy. Finally, I present an evaluation of her solution to the problem of freedom, and a brief follow-up to some seemingly-out-of-place Arendtian notions, such as “excellence” and “elite.” Although in the final analysis, her solution seems to be artificial, it opens up a new promising area of research related to the notion of “benevolent excellence.”

In the article the basic provisions of the first of ten “Lectures on Political Right” read in Ateneo of Madrid by outstanding Spanish conservative political philosopher of the 19th century Juan Donoso Cortés in 1836–1837s is conceptualized. In this “Lecture” Donoso formulates his own, as he calls it, “the general theory of government” and focuses on “the mission of the representative government,” defending the young Spanish constitutional monarchy, which turned in a vice between two extremes: the liberal bourgeois revolutionary movement (the party of progressists) on the left and clerical absolutist movement (“Carlists”) on the right. In his “Lecture” Donoso opposes two laws: “law of the individual” and “association law,” which in the future should be synthesizes, like Hegel’s opposites, in the “prolific unity.” The “Lecture” contains broad historical generalizations which are an integral feature of Donoso’s philosophical style and can be defined as a philosophy of history. The paper also considers two classic interpretation of the “Lectures” and its arguments proposed by the Spanish political philosophers of the 19–20th centuries, thus solving one of the key question concerning Donoso’s general ideological and value evolution: what type of conservatism he belongs to on the stage of 1836–1837: liberal conservatism or traditionalism?

In the first “Lecture on Political Right,” which was delivered in Ateneo of Madrid in November 22, 1836, Juan Donoso Cortés formulates “general theory of government” and “special mission of representative government.” Defining government as “social action,” Donoso inextricably binds “the idea of society” and “the idea of government.” Considering society as a collection of individuals linked by certain relationships, Donoso formulates two opposite in its effect laws: “the law of the individual,” which determines the independence and freedom of the person, and “the law of association,” associated with subordination and aimed at achieving social harmony. Person’s ability to associate with other people makes him intellectual and free. An intellect as the harmonious principle creates a society; a freedom as the anti-social principle breaks down the society; hence, the government arises by the need to resist the freedom. And the most important idea of the lecture: “For the government to act means to resist”; to resist “the invasion of the human personality,” but, following ethics and “the rule of justice,” in any case not to suppress it completely. Demonstrating the liberal-conservative character of his political ideas, views and values, Donoso encourages young Spanish constitutional monarchy, which just begins to create the foundations of representative democracy, to conserve society and human freedom, to provide their “fruitful unity.”

The article examines the “utopian reception,” that is, occurrence and reproduction of the common understanding of the utopian. Attention is paid primarily to the visual experience, that is, the “utopian vision,” which means here a special social skill of the perception and interpretation of space as having being assigned the status of 'utopian'. Thus, a certain inertia of vision encourages the observer to link visual materials produced in the Soviet period to the media construct of “Soviet utopia”. Here, two patterns of spatial description are especially popular, those of “totalitarian place,” and “queer place.” The article focuses on both patterns of “utopian vision” in detail. The first implies intensive rationalization and semiotization of space, while the second implies semantic crash and affectivity. The space is characterized within the former pattern by the metaphor of text, while within the latter by metaphors of night dreams or memory. The author refers to the semiotic, and, at the same time, the spatial analysis of the classic utopia within the framework offered by Louis Marin in 1973, and demonstrates that space perceived by the “utopian view” ceases being social. The reverse side of the imaginary construction of a perfect society is, paradoxically, the blocking of any intersubjective relationships.

In this article, I examine the specifics of a workspace in one of the Christian Orthodox organizations in Russia. The sisterhood which I analyze represents the interlacement of religious and economic discourses in the workplace. I discuss the “commodification” of piety which is seen as a professional competency in the labour relations among Orthodox Christians. It is true about the sisterhood, where being“inchurched” is one of the main filters for potential employees.I examine the “politics of labour” in the sisterhood through the analysis of its heterogeneous spatial composition and point at the differences between its spaces in their work tempo, prestige, and working conditions. Alongside economic goals, the sisterhood is aimed at missionary and educational work; however, commercial relations are often described using religious terminology. I discussthe conflict between religious and economic aims of work. Particular attention is given to the analysis of techniques that help to maintain discipline in the sisterhood. It is achieved through rational organization of labour, observability of the workplace, hierarchy in employer-employee relationships, and the disciplining of body and emotions. The analysis is based on the materials of participant observation and field materials collected during my four months as a staff member of the sisterhood.

“The Book of the Genesis of the Ukrainian People” is one of the key documents of modern Ukrainian nationalism. It is the most prominent document of the Cyril and Methodius Brotherhood (1846–1847). After N. I. Kostomarov had been arrested at the end of March 1846, he claimed that the seized document was based on “The Books of the Polish People and of the Polish Pilgrimage” by Adam Mickiewicz (1832). This paper compares these two documents and shows the continuity of the Kostomarov work in relation to the writing of Mickiewicz. It also shows the differences which are relevant for the internal logic of the “messianic” philosophy of history and political philosophy. First, in contrast to “The Books of the Polish People and the Polish Pilgrimage,” the main ideas of Pax Christiana are rejected, and the Middle Ages are reconsidered in “The Book of the Genesis” as an age of Christianity’s distortion. Second, in “The Book of the Genesis” there is a purpose to provide a messianic understanding of the Ukraine. Thus, the historical framework is narrowed, and the document provides a universal framework appealing to Slavic nations. It is the Ukraine which can awaken these nations since it latently keeps the principle of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth (“Respublica” or “Rzeczpospolita”), and is able to revive the Commonwealths of Poland and Great Russia. Therefore, “The Book of the Genesis” shows the aspiration for building a national image in terms of Romantic ideas of “historical peculiarity,” and at the same time, clearly indicates the controversies that emerge as a result of following the existing model.

The article addresses the issue of empirical investigation of individualization in life-course. The theory of individualization implies that the significance of social structure in individual life-course diminishes, giving way to the agency of personal preferences and skills. Thus, the theory raises an issue of structure-agency dynamics in life-course, and poses a methodological challenge for research design to take both social structualization and individual action into account. Empirical research on individualization varies in how it meets this challenge. The review streamlines the main topics, the analytical tools, and the empirical evidence from this research. We identify three main currents in empirical research on individualization. Firstly, the research is concerned with the changing role of agency in life-course, raising a question of its significance vis-à-vis structure. Secondly, individualization is approached through the lens of a social inequality critique; this type of research investigates socio-economic- and gender-patterning in individualization. Finally, individualization is understood as a leading principle of modern labor markets, and social welfare institutions. The article highlights the inconsistencies and tensions in the empirical evidence. On the micro-level, individualization manifests itself as a change in biographical orientations, that is, the increasing value of independence, ambition, and flexibility encouraged by modern labor markets and social safety-net design. On the macro-level, it is embodied in the increasing differentiation and destandardization in life-course. Yet, an ability to make biographical plans a reality continues to depend on social conditions. The article discusses the analytical categories which help comprehend these tensions; structured individualization, default/passive and developing/active individualization, and biographical surfing. The scope of the review goes beyond youth studies where the issue of individualization is the most commonly discussed, and spans empirical evidence on individualization found in the sociology of adulthood and older age, and social research on the welfare state, education, and labor markets.

Review: Sport i social'naja mobil'nost': peresekaja granicy [Sport and Social Mobility: Crossing Boundaries] by Ramón Spaaij (Moscow: Nacional'noe obrazovanie, 2014) (in Russian).

Review: Puteshestvie iz Peterburga v Moskvu: 222 goda spustja. Kn. 1: Dva stoletija rossijskoj istorii mezhdu Moskvoj i Sankt-Peterburgom [Journey from St. Petersburg to Moscow: 222 years Later, Book 1: Two Centuries of Russian History between Moscow and Saint-Petersburg] (Moscow: Lenand, 2015) edited by Tatiana Nefiodova and Andrey Treivish (in Russian); Puteshestvie iz Peterburga v Moskvu: 222 goda spustja. Kn. 2: Puteshestvie iz Peterburga v Moskvu v XX veke (po itogam jekspedicii 2013 goda) [Journey from St. Petersburg to Moscow: 222 years Later, Book 2: Journey from St. Petersburg to Moscow in the 20th Century (Following the Results of 2013 Expedition)] (Moscow: Lenand, 2015) edited by Tatiana Nefiodova and Kseniya Averkieva (in Russian)

Review: Poslednij iz “otcov”: biografija Ivana Aksakova [The Last of “Fathers”: A Biography of Ivan Aksakov] (Saint-Petersburg: Vladimir Dal', 2015) by Andrey Teslya (in Russian)

Review: The Age of Ecology: A Global History (Cambridge: Polity Press, 2014) by Joachim Radkau.