1,449 research outputs found
Theorizing crises and charting the realm of the possible Claus Offe in conversation with Laszlo Bruszt
No full textIn this conversation with Laszlo Bruszt, sociologist Claus Offe discusses the key moments of his personal intellectual education and the main aspects of his scientific work. Starting from a peculiar interest in musicology, Offe reconverts to social sciences in the 1960s while getting involved in students activism with the German Socialist Students (SDS) and later becoming teaching assistant under the supervision of the young Habermas. Retracing his intellectual trajectory from the early works on education and democracy, it is possible to pinpoint the specific critical sociological route elaborated by Offe focussing on the macro-sociological analysis of systemic contradictions and crises reciprocally affecting contemporary capitalism and democracy. This perspective is then particularly suited to discuss one of the most salient political problems of our time like the crisis of the European political union and the possible reforms for its internal democratization, with an emphasis on its capability to attain integration through social justice. The interview concludes with a critical rediscovery of the arguments of the Ventotene Manifesto to overcome the key challenges hindering the realization of the European project
El pensamiento de Claus Offe
No full textDemocracia y capitalismo: una tensa relación. El pensamiento de Claus OffeClaus Offe, Contradicciones en el estado de Bienestar, Ed. Alianza, Madrid, 1990.Claus Offe, Partidos políticos y nuevos movimientos sociales, Ed.Sistema, Madrid, 1988
El pensamiento de Claus Offe
No full textDemocracia y capitalismo: una tensa relación. El pensamiento de Claus OffeClaus Offe, Contradicciones en el estado de Bienestar, Ed. Alianza, Madrid, 1990.Claus Offe, Partidos políticos y nuevos movimientos sociales, Ed.Sistema, Madrid, 1988
The Problem of Legitimacy in the European Polity. Is Democratization the Answer?
No full textThe authors discuss potential sources of legitimacy of the EU, i. e. of the normative bindingness of its decisions. After rejecting the views that such legitimacy is either not needed, not feasible, or provided for already, they focus upon the corrosive impact of the EU upon democratic legitimacy within member states. Brussels-based 'governance' is essentially uncontested and can hardly provide for the legitimacy that results from the interplay between government and opposition within nation states. The problem boils down to achieving legitimacy in the absence of the political community of a 'demos'. The paper outlines a solution to this problem that relies on the apparently oxymoronic model of a 'republican empire' - a political community, that is, which is held together not by the bonds of some presumed sameness, but, to the contrary, by the shared contractual recognition of the dissimilarity of its constituent parts from which legitimacy can flow.democracy; legitimacy; diversity/homogeneity; governance; democratization
Bemerkungen zur spieltheoretischen Neufassung des Klassenbegriffs bei Wright und Elster
No full textClaus Offe, Bemerkungen zur spieltheoretischen Neufassung des Klassenbegriffs bei Wright und Elste
Book review: Europe entrapped by Claus Offe
No full textIn this short book, Claus Offe aims to bring into sharp focus the central political problem that lies at the heart of the EU and shackles its ability to deal with the most serious crisis of its short history. Anamaria Dutceac Segesten applauds this provocative but much needed argument calling for more, not less, political debate in the EU today
El parany d’Europa
No full textEn el número 43 de la revista L'Espill trobaràs un dossier monogràfic sobre "Crisi i futur de la televisió", amb contribucions de Josep-Lluís Gómez Mompart, Rafael Xambó, Enric Marín i Otto, Enrique Bustamante, Lola Bañón Castellón i Emili Prado. A més, articles de Claus Offe, Ernest Garcia, Raimon Ribera, Francescesc J. Hernàndez i Alícia Villar, Ramon Lapiedra i Mercè Rius, així com documents de Franco Moretti, un full de dietari de Maria Josep Escrivà i notes de Joaquim Elcacho
The Democratic Welfare State: A European Regime Under the Strain of European Integration. IHS Political Science Series: 2000, No. 68
No full textStates are organizations of governance that apply to the people living in a defined territory. But in order to sustain such governance, the people must not just individually obey the law, but also colletively conceive of themselves as "We, the People..", with whom the law originates. For only if I, the individual citizen, have reasons to trust that, they, my fellow citizens, are actually willing to also obey the law, I’ll do so myself. This indispensible sense of belonging to a civic community can be based upon a variety of factors: ethno-cultural, linguistic, civic republican (as in "constitutional patriotism") or social justice. Applying this notion of an indispensible civic infrastructure to the case of European integration, the author discusses a number of potential sources from which the view might be derived that what happens in Europe is a matter of "us, the Europeans". In the absence of a democratic regime in Europe, as well as a European welfare state (to say nothing about a strictly "European culture"), it is not easy to find out possible foundations of European "identity"
Nouveaux mouvements sociaux et nouveau mouvement pour la paix
No full textDans cette partie d’entrevue, Claus Offe expose sa vision de l’avenir du socialisme vue sous l’angle des nouveaux mouvements sociaux porteurs de nouvelles aspirations et d’un nouveau paradigme politique plus ouvert. Les nouveaux mouvements sociaux, ne sont pas une vision prémoderne et obscure, mais plutôt une critique neuve de la modernisation, une résistance contre ses inconvénients et une tentative d’augmenter la capacité d’apprentissage du système social pris dans sa totalité. La théorie et les politiques socialistes devraient être actualisées en tenant compte réalistement des questions d’emploi et de chômage, de défense des droits démocratiques, de pollutions écologiques, et de paix, ce qui permettrait d’accélérer la transformation de la théorie du « socialisme démocratique » en « écosocialisme ».This excerpt of an interview with Claus Offe presents his views on the future of socialism. This future is profoundly affected by the presence of new social movements which have made possible a more flexible political paradigm. These new social movements provide a new critique of modernization which is not reactionary. On the contrary, they are a progressive form of resistance against shortcomings of modernization and tend to increase the capacity of positive adaptation of the social system as a whole. Socialist theory and policy should be brought up to date concerning such issues as employment/unemployment, democratic freedoms, pollution and world peace. These issues play a vital role in the transition from a theory of "democratic socialism" to a theory of "ecological socialism".En esta parte de una entrevista, Claus Offe presenta su visión del porvenir del socialismo, visto bajo el ángulo de los nuevos movimientos sociales que vehiculan nuevas aspiraciones y un nuevo paradigma político más abierto. Los nuevos movimientos sociales no representan una versión pre-moderna, oscurantista, sino más bien una nueva crítica de la modernización, una resistencia contra sus inconvenientes, y una tentativa de aumentar la capacidad de aprendizaje del sistema social como totalidad. Tanto las teorías como las políticas socialistas deberían ser actualizadas, para tener en cuenta de forma realista los problemas de empleo y de cesantía, de la defensa de los derechos democráticos, de la polución ecológica y de la paz, lo que permitiría acelerar la transformación de la teoría del "socialismo democrático" en un "ecosocialismo"
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