The Best PhD Thesis in the Faculties of Architecture, Arts, Business & Economics, Education, Law and Social Sciences (University of Hong Kong), Li Ka Shing Prize, 2009-2010. / published_or_final_version / Comparative Literature / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

Using a page by page analysis of Herbert Marcuse's One-Dimensional Man, the author finds insight and empathy with almost all of the ideas in this 1964 book, written at the apex of the Cold War and the Space Race. Marcuse wrote that contemporary industrial society dominates life and repulses all alternatives, its "project" is to convert nature and people into "stuff", and its absorbs criticism by co-opting it from within. Although Marcuse did not forsee the collapse of European Communism, his writings about the domination of the industrial world are more prescient: the author finds the progress of free market capitalism has actually speeded up, with diastrous consequences for both the world's poorest people and its physical ecology. Using contemporary historians, critics and writers that can support Marcuse's analysis, as well as personal experiences and observations, the author cites sources that show 40,000 people die of starvation every day, that 90 million people are born every year, and about 1/3 of the world lives in a realm of exploitation and suffering. In addition, the environment is irreparably damaged, and capitalism may consume itself with automation and electronic finacial speculation. The author proposes a reasonable standard of living for individuals to solve the problems of poverty and environmental chaos, just like teachers are paid to educate children. There must also be a more independent source of information about this crisis, and that information should be brought into classrooms, and the largest corporations must be convinced that rectifying the situation, and paying for it, is in their best interests. The entire project that Marcuse was critical of must change toward the idea of finding ourselves in the service of others. To that end, schools should de-emphasize job training and concentrate on current events and consumer education, there should be more resources for the development of the arts, students should spend more time in school, and post secondary students should spend one academic year working in poorer countries. The cost of these changes should not be argued: there is adequate technology, expertise and wealth in society, what is lacking is the will. / iv, 213 leaves ; 28 cm.

Following Nietzsche, Oswald Spengler posed the central problems of the cyclical history of civilization in the twentieth century. Subsequent world historical theorists have attempted to answer Spengler's nihilistic perspective on the destined rise and fall of all cultures by rescuing a progressive movement which transcended the downfall of civilizations. World history since Spengler has been written in pursuit of an answer to the crises of modernism: to the 'Death of God,' the problem of progress, the emergent technological order with its bureaucratic management of society, and the need sensed by the metahistorians for a new 'mythical' grounding to avert the fall of the West. The "Crisis of the West" dominates the perspectives of the world historians. Their goals for the solution of 'modernism,' through the religious transformation of society or political and cultural world unity, are central to their motivation as writers and to the formulation of their paradigms.

This work attempts to examine the relevance of the conceptual opposition between modernity and postmodernity on the basis of a typological analysis of the modes of subjectivity and intersubjectivity which are implicated in the integration and the reproduction of a given form of society. We first show that traditional societies rest on concrete and particular modes of personal identity and of mutual recognition, which are integrated together within a common culture, whereas modern societies rest on an abstraction and universalization of forms societally legitimized of subjective identity and of intersubjective recognition. These we propose to designate by the concept of individualism. After presenting the main stages in the construction of modern individualism, we attempt to illuminate some of the implications, but also some of the aporias, that the modern conception of subjectivity and intersubjectivity presents. In the final part of this work, we seek to establish the validity of the notion of postmodernity to define contemporary society. We try to show that the universalist type of individualism, which characterizes modern society and provides its identity, gradually gives way to a "singularist" type of individualism. This latter form of individualism attests to a crisis of personal identity and is associated with the progressive dissolution of any collective identity, that is, of any a a priori intersubjectivity.

No description available.

No description available.

Unsatisfied with critical responses to Huntington's "Clash of Civilizations?" this dissertation attempts to trace two central elements of his argument. First, "On Barbarians" traces the evolution of the civilized/ barbarian dichotomy from its origins in the nineteenth century to its recent incarnations in International Relations theory. The relevance of Europe's imperial heritage is emphasized, along with certain thematic threads in popular discourse: demography, surveillance, and the distinction between popular and elite culture. The ubiquitous self/other dichotomy, which is central to political identity, has been understood in European imperial discourse to mean European civilization and barbaric others. This rhetoric remains powerful, even in current IR discourse. By reinscribing this civilized/barbarian dichotomy, Huntington in effect uses International Relations theory as a form of identity politics. Second, this dissertation analyzes the presence of culture and identity in the discipline of International Relations theory. Despite specific empirical considerations, Huntington's underlying interest in culture and identity is well-founded, which this dissertation attempts to demonstrate using material from the history of International Relations, post-colonial, and critical theorists. In sum, "On Barbarians" illustrates the critical benefit of studying culture and identity to LR through a critical examination of the civilized/barbarian discourse.

Unsatisfied with critical responses to Huntington's "Clash of Civilizations?" this dissertation attempts to trace two central elements of his argument. First, "On Barbarians" traces the evolution of the civilized/ barbarian dichotomy from its origins in the nineteenth century to its recent incarnations in International Relations theory. The relevance of Europe's imperial heritage is emphasized, along with certain thematic threads in popular discourse: demography, surveillance, and the distinction between popular and elite culture. The ubiquitous self/other dichotomy, which is central to political identity, has been understood in European imperial discourse to mean European civilization and barbaric others. This rhetoric remains powerful, even in current IR discourse. By reinscribing this civilized/barbarian dichotomy, Huntington in effect uses International Relations theory as a form of identity politics. Second, this dissertation analyzes the presence of culture and identity in the discipline of International Relations theory. Despite specific empirical considerations, Huntington's underlying interest in culture and identity is well-founded, which this dissertation attempts to demonstrate using material from the history of International Relations, post-colonial, and critical theorists. In sum, "On Barbarians" illustrates the critical benefit of studying culture and identity to LR through a critical examination of the civilized/barbarian discourse. / Arts, Faculty of / Political Science, Department of / Graduate

Submitted by Filipe dos Santos (fsantos@pucsp.br) on 2018-03-16T12:13:34Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Augusto Miranda Lewin.pdf: 1045815 bytes, checksum: 0f5dd59b269caf6d3fc1212f91015f8a (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2018-03-16T12:13:34Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Augusto Miranda Lewin.pdf: 1045815 bytes, checksum: 0f5dd59b269caf6d3fc1212f91015f8a (MD5) Previous issue date: 2018-02-19 / It addresses the human behavior found in the Liquid Modernity of Zygmunt Bauman, focusing on the analysis of the individual consumer, the historicity of the dignity of the human person and the achievements of people through Law, while society does not stop going through several behavioral changes intimately linked to modern life. The theme of the humanization of consumer objects in the face of human reification is also present as a way of punctuating the social crisis of people's identity, but also through access to justice, the right means a way to rescue the dignity of the person In a consumer society / Aborda o comportamento humano encontrado na Modernidade Líquida de Zygmunt Bauman, com foco na análise do indivíduo consumidor, a historicidade da dignidade da pessoa humana e as conquistas obtidas pelas pessoas por meio do Direito, enquanto a sociedade não para de passar por diversas mudanças de comportamento intimamente ligadas à vida Moderna. A temática da humanização de objetos de consumo face à coisificação humana também se faz presentes como forma de bem pontuar a crise social de identidade das pessoas, como também o Direito se tornou, por meio do acesso à justiça, uma proposta para o resgate da dignidade da pessoa humana numa sociedade de consumo

Submitted by Filipe dos Santos (fsantos@pucsp.br) on 2018-12-04T11:48:16Z No. of bitstreams: 1 João Paulo Cardoso.pdf: 911847 bytes, checksum: fc606a4d430e6ee06ed627e9e27826bf (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2018-12-04T11:48:16Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 João Paulo Cardoso.pdf: 911847 bytes, checksum: fc606a4d430e6ee06ed627e9e27826bf (MD5) Previous issue date: 2018-10-11 / According to Sacrosanctum Concilium 13, pious exercises should be recommended, but with determination that there should be harmonization with the liturgy. The Popular Piety can not substitut, in any way, the official liturgical practices of the Church. In this study we make analysis of the current reality, which will be based on ‗Liquid Modernity‘, expression of the Polish Sociologist Zygmunt Bauman. With this expression, Bauman identify the moment we are living, in which everything is predicted to be fleeting, including the human relations. In this context, the harmonization between Liturgy and Popular Piety is impaired, causing a mismatch between liturgical practices, with their stable norms, and popular devotions, prone to change more easily. However, pious exercises should be encouraged, even with the variants of the present time. For this analysis, the theoretical foundations are sought in the Directory on Popular Piety and the Liturgy, documents of the Popes, in the set of works written by Bauman and many others that help in understanding of the relation between the Popular Piety and the Liturgy in this period of history which Bauman classifies as ‗Liquid Modernity / De acordo com a Sacrosanctum Concilium 13, os exercícios piedosos devem ser recomendados, porém com a determinação de que de haja harmonização com a Liturgia. A Piedade Popular não pode substituir, de forma alguma, as práticas litúrgicas oficiais da Igreja. Nesse estudo fazemos uma análise da realidade atual, que será pautada pela ‗Modernidade Líquida‘, expressão do sociólogo polonês Zygmunt Bauman. Com esta expressão, Bauman identifica o momento que estamos vivendo, em que tudo está previsto para ser passageiro e fugaz, inclusive as relações humanas. Neste contexto, a harmonização entre Liturgia e Piedade Popular fica prejudicada, causando um descompasso entre as práticas litúrgicas, com suas normas estáveis, e as devoções populares, propensas a se alterarem mais facilmente. Contudo, os piedosos exercícios devem ser incentivados, mesmo com as variantes do tempo atual. Para esta análise, os fundamentos teóricos são buscados no Diretório sobre a Piedade Popular e a Liturgia, documentos dos papas, no conjunto de obras escritas por Bauman e tantas outras que auxiliam na compreensão da relação entre a Piedade Popular e a Liturgia neste período da história que Bauman classifica como ‗Modernidade Líquida