Racial Communitarianism
Anurag Gangal
December 14, 2008
Pejorative and positive are both its connotations. Racial Communitarianism is also an ages old phenomenon dating back to Plato´s and Aristotelian ideas where economic well being, opportunities, political power and justice (or rights) flow from virtue and philosophy. Though their concept slightly differs from what we have especially after the beginning of the disintegration of socialism in the last quarter of twentieth century.
In the present-day context, questions of ethnicity, identity and an individual´s rights vis-à-vis the institution of democratic State are the core issues of Communitarianism and Racial Communitarianism both.
This is a post-post-modernist development in the sense that it engulfs not only traditions of libertarianism, modernity of civil society and peculiar amalgamation of both these to bring forth something anew as good governance but also its quest for a balanced form of State and social ethos.
Racial Communitarianism thus reflects a search and global movement for equal respect and opportunities to people of all races in the pursuance of their duties as human beings and citizens of a global civil society. Rights will then be natural corollary of duties so performed professionally.
On the pejorative side, racial communitarianism depicts and highlights racial exploitation, alienation and impropriety of balance between rights and duties of citizens.
Communitarianism is also an attempt to work towards fighting various apparently fascist tendencies of libertarianism such as overarching power channels and structures like the Security Council of the United Nations and the all powerful stature of the President of United States despite inherent checks and balances in the political system.
Communitarianism is, indeed, an emerging movement to go beyond the shackles of a sovereign nation-state. It is moving ahead into the realms of a global civil society tackling a number of its issues and problems on its own without always looking up to the State for all its solution.
Standing on one´s own feet, preserving one´s self-respect, economic and multicultural empowerment alongwith individual based and logically viable social and strategic security network are major issues and challenges of communitarianism.
There are also anti-communitarians. For them communitarian movement is for further curtailing individual´s rights vis-à-vis community rights. This is not the reality of communitarianism because the main issue of communitarianism is to secure a balanced approach to rights, duties and justice (Raapana and Friedrich, 2008, see website).
"Communitarians take issue with the idea that the individual stands and should stand in direct unmediated relationship with the state and with society. This is an idea that flows through a great deal of contemporary legal and political thought in northern countries. Communitarians argue for the continuing significance of status and local networks, and the potential of other intermediate institutions" (Frazer, 1999, 21-22).
Communitarianism as such has several strands and directions. Only posterity will tell which way communitarianism goes!
References:
Frazer, E. (1999) The Problem of Communitarian Politics. Unity and conflict, Oxford: Oxford University Press.
http://nikiraapana.blogspot.com/2008/04/abstract-anti-communitarian-manifesto.html
In the present-day context, questions of ethnicity, identity and an individual´s rights vis-à-vis the institution of democratic State are the core issues of Communitarianism and Racial Communitarianism both.
This is a post-post-modernist development in the sense that it engulfs not only traditions of libertarianism, modernity of civil society and peculiar amalgamation of both these to bring forth something anew as good governance but also its quest for a balanced form of State and social ethos.
Racial Communitarianism thus reflects a search and global movement for equal respect and opportunities to people of all races in the pursuance of their duties as human beings and citizens of a global civil society. Rights will then be natural corollary of duties so performed professionally.
On the pejorative side, racial communitarianism depicts and highlights racial exploitation, alienation and impropriety of balance between rights and duties of citizens.
Communitarianism is also an attempt to work towards fighting various apparently fascist tendencies of libertarianism such as overarching power channels and structures like the Security Council of the United Nations and the all powerful stature of the President of United States despite inherent checks and balances in the political system.
Communitarianism is, indeed, an emerging movement to go beyond the shackles of a sovereign nation-state. It is moving ahead into the realms of a global civil society tackling a number of its issues and problems on its own without always looking up to the State for all its solution.
Standing on one´s own feet, preserving one´s self-respect, economic and multicultural empowerment alongwith individual based and logically viable social and strategic security network are major issues and challenges of communitarianism.
There are also anti-communitarians. For them communitarian movement is for further curtailing individual´s rights vis-à-vis community rights. This is not the reality of communitarianism because the main issue of communitarianism is to secure a balanced approach to rights, duties and justice (Raapana and Friedrich, 2008, see website).
"Communitarians take issue with the idea that the individual stands and should stand in direct unmediated relationship with the state and with society. This is an idea that flows through a great deal of contemporary legal and political thought in northern countries. Communitarians argue for the continuing significance of status and local networks, and the potential of other intermediate institutions" (Frazer, 1999, 21-22).
Communitarianism as such has several strands and directions. Only posterity will tell which way communitarianism goes!
References:
Frazer, E. (1999) The Problem of Communitarian Politics. Unity and conflict, Oxford: Oxford University Press.
http://nikiraapana.blogspot.com/2008/04/abstract-anti-communitarian-manifesto.html
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