"Hearts and Minds": Bringing Symbolic Politics Back In

Representing Mountains: From Local and National to Global Common Good

“…It consists of associations, or networks of associations, of mountain people who want to be part of the process but as autonomous counterparts. The rise and the role of such complementary stakeholders, partly critical of intergovernmental initiatives, have been analysed for other global issues 70 . For mountains, the most revealing initiative is the World Mountain People Association (WMPA).…”

Realism, Narrative, and Happenstance: Thucydides' Tale of Brasidas

“…As constructivists move from analysis to prescription, one may expect problems of narrative to press on them more explicitly. A renewed appreciation for narrative as a political phenomenon worthy of attention is apparent in the political studies of protest movements and other domestic phenomena, but that work is tangential to my concerns here (see Brysk 1995).possession of practical moral knowledge concerning the relationship between a concrete particular and a possibly knowable whole, (neo-)realist moral skepticism seems to exclude such wisdom as a possible human virtue. Yet realists such as Machiavelli, Thucydides, and Hobbes-none of them "Platonists"-explicitly sought to teach us a kind of practical wisdom or prudence concerning practical matters.…”

“…Compare Thucydides (1919, VI.54, VI.14). 24 Examples include the many instances in the summary article by Brysk (1995), Frei 1974, andRicoeur 1991. The reasons for underestimating the role of narrative are neither obscure nor mendacious. Both political science and political philosophy are largely analytical activities.…”

Persuasion, Frames and Norm Construction

“…Frames help name, interpret and dramatize issues, allowing advocates to create or explain broader social meanings (Brysk, 1995). As noted in the introduction, many empirical accounts of successful international norm development reveal that frames are employed by willful agents to situate issues within a broader social and historical setting (see, for example, Price, 1998).…”