Poland versus Russia: Competition in Ukraine

This study analyses relations in the triangle Poland–Russia–Ukraine since 2004, bringing an insightful perspective to the realist concept of competition in international relations. For the last sixteen years, despite their unequal power, Poland and Russia have competed in Ukraine. This competition involves not only a fight for influence (quite limited in the case of Poland), but also in respect of the political and economic model that is to be implemented in Ukraine and its international identity. Poland wants Ukraine to become “European”: stable, democratic, and with a free market economy, to secure the eastern border of Poland, and to limit Ukraine’s dependence on Russia. This policy is executed both through bilateral cooperation and the Euro-Atlantic institutions, especially the European Union (EU). Russia, on the other hand, wants Ukraine to keep its post-Soviet identity. An authoritarian and corrupted Ukraine, remaining culturally a part of the “Russian world,” is perceived as guaranteeing Russian interests there, in particular in the context of the expansion of the North Atlantic Alliance and EU towards the East. For this reason, Russia aims at impeding the development of Polish–Ukrainian cooperation. Until 2014 Russia was largely successful in realizing its agenda thanks to the multiple channels of dependence existing between it and Ukraine. However, since the Revolution of Dignity and the beginning of the Russian war against Ukraine, the latter has engaged in a clearly discernible, though uncertain, path to Europeanization, which may favor the implementation of the Polish scenario for Ukraine.

Friedrich Kittler’s Alphabetic Realism

Friedrich Kittler’s late studies on the Greek alphabet reveal a surprising fact about his work: Although he is commonly called the father of German media theory, Kittler actually advocated a realist concept of mediacy that privileges the representational qualities of media. Such a concept is fundamentally at odds with the basic assumption of all media theory—namely, the notion that media do not simply represent reality but shape or even constitute it in the process of mediation. The chapter traces the evolution of Kittler’s thinking of media to show how the Greek alphabet came to be the ‘perfect’ medium in Kittler’s historical and theoretical framework and how Pre-Socratic Greece serves as the imaginary setting for Kittler’s idea of immediate sensation and communication, a ‘direct’ contact with or access to reality.

Ways of pointing to artworks: a Wittgensteinian approach = Formas de apuntar a las obras de arte: un enfoque wittgensteiniano

The aim of P. Kivy’s recent De Gustibus: Arguing about Taste and Why We Do It (2015) is to answer to the very same question in terms of an emphasis on belief based on «phenomenological» (if not also ontological) «art-realism». Those who disagree on taste do so because they (explicitly or implicitly) see, in judgments relating to properties of artworks, the expression of beliefs, some of which are «true», and true in virtue of correctly reporting «facts» (non-aesthetic art-relevant facts, aesthetic art-relevant facts, or art value facts), and they try to convince others of what they think is «real» about art. Kivy follows the traces of this phenomenology of «beautiful» found in Hume’s work (and vs. Kant’s work). The main criticism is that it is actually possible to defend an alternative approach to understanding art in terms of «aspects» (an allegedly ‘anti-realist’ concept), so as to take account of rationality, disputes and the role of facts regarding judgments of taste. Kivy does not concede enough attention to the aesthetic experiences of seeing now what we were unable to see before (the «dawning» of an aspect), for example.Key words: Kivy, taste, phenomenology, belief, aesthetics, Wittgenstein.Resumen: El objetivo del reciente De Gustibus. Arguing about Taste and Why We Do It (2015), de P. Kivy es responder a la pregunta incluida en el título de su libro en términos de un énfasis en la creencia que se basa en un realismo en arte «fenomenológico» (si no también ontológico): quienes que disputan sobre «gusto» suelen hacerlo porque ellos (explícita o implícitamente) ven los juicios concernientes a las propiedades de las obras de arte como expresando creencias, algunas de las cuales son verdaderas, y verdaderas en virtud de reportar hechos correctamente (hechos no estéticos relevantes para el arte, hechos estéticos relevantes para el arte o hechos de valor artístico), y tratan de convencer a otros de lo que ellos piensan que es ‘real’ sobre el arte. Kivy sigue el rastro de esa fenomenología de ‘lo bello’ a partir de la obra de Hume (y contra la obra de Kant). Mi crítica principal es que es posible defender un enfoque alternativo de la comprensión del arte en términos de aspectos (un concepto supuestamente «antirrealista») a fin de tener en cuenta la racionalidad, las disputas y el papel de los hechos con respecto a los juicios de gusto. Kivy no presta suficiente atención a las experiencias estéticas de ver ahora lo que no podíamos ver antes (el «aparecer» de un aspecto), por ejemplo.Palabras claves: Kivy, gusto, fenomenología, creencia, estética, Wittgenstein.

Скриптор чи візіонер? (До питання філософії творчості О. Забужко)

The following article is on the Oxana Zabuzhko’s creative work philosophy analysis (based on the «The Alien Woman» story). Rejecting the socialist-realist concept the writer tends to romantic interpretation of the artist role and the sources of creative work. Explication of the postmodern philosophema «death of the author» in Zabuzhko’s works occurs at the level of poetics.

Hard and Soft Power and the Cultural Heritage Industry: an Australian example.

This paper will address the question: Does development-based archaeological work in the Pilbara lead to management outcomes that adequately protect Indigenous heritage values? This question will be addressed from three perspectives; firstly from that of the developers, secondly from the heritage community and thirdly from the position of Indigenous stakeholders. The overall scope of this argument will be based on recent archaeological consultancy work in the Pilbara, Western Australia.The key component of this discussion is the application of Nye’s neo-realist concept of power relationships, as normally applied to nation states, to the heritage industry in Australia, drawing upon heritage work in the Pilbara as an example. The application of this paradigm to the heritage industry will also be discussed in regards to positivist and negativist approaches to power.

Recasting Gramsci in international politics

Gramscian theory has had a profound influence on critical and Marxist thought within International Relations (IR), particularly in bringing an alternative understanding to the realist concept of hegemony. Despite these developments much Gramscian theory remains developed within the often narrow sub-discipline of International Political Economy (IPE), with Gramscian scholars such as Stuart Hall, Raymond Williams and Ernesto Laclau from diverse disciplines outside of IR largely ignored. This article argues that Gramscian theory needs to be re-thought so that it moves away from the Coxian dominated ontology that it is currently situated within, towards one which both provides a more open theory of global hegemony and engages more with civil societal areas that have often been ignored by those within IPE.

Making Hay with Actualism? The Need for a Realist Concept of Structure

This article criticises the ontological assumptions outlined in Colin Hay's recent book Political Analysis (2002). It takes issue with Hay's interpretation of critical realism, in particular his reading of the work of Margaret Archer. Furthermore, it is suggested that Hay's understanding of the structure-agency relationship contains weaknesses which have implications for both his theoretical and empirically-based work. It is argued that a more robust concept of social structure may be required to support the kind of critical political analysis Hay aspires to.