Universalist, relativist, and constructivist approaches to intercultural ethics

Evanoff, Richard

doi:10.1016/j.ijintrel.2004.08.002

Cited by 34 publications

(22 citation statements)

References 4 publications

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“…Differences can be brought to the surface and critically examined. There is a possibility of arriving at a common form of rationality crossideologically, as rationality itself is something that must be negotiated (Evanoff, 2004). Transversalism in both practice and cognition may still seem a 'weak force' or a 'dark matter' of solidarity, but as we have learned from chaos and cybernetic theories, small causes can create significant effects if they are systemically supported (Hodge, 2013).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Transversality in Diversity: Experiencing Networks of Confusion and Convergence in the World Social Forum

Hosseini

2015

RIMCIS

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Drawing on the World Social Forum as an exemplary case study, this article shows how an emerging mode of cosmopolitanist vision (‘transversalism’) can be explained in terms of activists’ experiences of both complexity and contradiction in their networks. The paper questions the idea that the transnationalization of networks of solidarity and interconnection can uncomplicatedly encourage the growth of cosmopolitanism among global justice activists. Activists’ experiences of dissonances between their ideals, the complexity of power relations and the structural uncertainties in their global justice networks can provide them with a base for self-reflexive ideation and deliberation, and thereby encourage agendas for accommodating differences. Underpinning the accommodating measures which arise for dealing with such a cognitive-practical dissonance is a new mode of cosmopolitanism, coined here as ‘transversalism’. The article proposes a new conceptual framework and an analytical model to investigate the complexity of this process more inclusively and systematically.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Transversality in Diversity: Experiencing Networks of Confusion and Convergence in the World Social Forum

Hosseini

2015

RIMCIS

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“…Echoing Erskine's emphasis on latency, Adler writes that 'constructivism adopts the notion that pragmatic and contingent knowledge is achievable and desirable and that, in association with conditions that can be clearly specified and understood, the communities within which knowledge develops may become transnational even global.' 27 24 See Price 2008d, 287, 303;Evanoff 2004;Widmaier 2004;Hoffmann 2009;Ralston 2013;Weber 2013. Bray 2009Brown 1999;Cochran 1999, Cochran 2002b apply classical pragmatism to the cosmopolitancommunitarian problem without linking it to a constructivist ethic.…”

Section: A Constructivist Ethic?mentioning

confidence: 99%

What Should Be Done? Pragmatic Constructivist Ethics and the Responsibility to Protect

Ralph¹

2017

Int Org

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In this paper I examine what constructivist approaches to IR tell us about how states should act when confronted by atrocity crimes in the context of a politically pluralist international society. Building on the work of theorists who responded to Richard Price and Christian Reus-Smit's call to substantiate the constructivist's claim to explain “moral progress,” and to better inform normative assessments, I claim that the constructivist emphasis on historical and social contingency does not rule out ethical standpoints, suggesting instead a “pragmatic” ethic. Norms are hypotheses rather than absolute values. The task of the pragmatic constructivist is not to establish beyond doubt the normativity of a norm—the task is to test the norm for how well its “meaning-in-use” supports action that ameliorates lived social problems. Pragmatic constructivists can commit to the Responsibility to Protect (R2P) as an idea that might reconcile various communities of normative practice and ameliorate vulnerability without upsetting international order. To the extent particular practices (e.g., prevention) have proven (and continue to prove) useful in doing this, pragmatic constructivists can equate the institutionalization of those practices with normative progress. However, R2P is a “complex” norm. It recognizes that knowledge of how to respond to ongoing atrocity is context specific and cannot therefore be fixed. The task of the pragmatic constructivist here is to assess the practical judgment of those that claim to speak for the norm by weighing the consequences of acting out their prescription in the specific context of a particular crisis. I test the meanings of R2P in use during the Syria crisis from 2011 to 2012. R2P was problematic to the extent certain meanings reinforced policy ends (e.g., protection through political/criminal accountability) that were impractical and pursued at the expense of non-ideal but realizable goals (e.g., protection through peace/aid).

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“…FGC has attracted great interest in fields as diverse as public health, ethics, anthropology and development economics, as well as the social sciences more broadly, for two main reasons. First, FGC is often seen as a challenge to moral relativism -the claim that cultures have different, but equally worthy, moralities 2,3 . Second, it highlights the difficulty of changing deeply ingrained cultural practices, even when they seem manifestly unjust, dangerous or cruel 4,5 .…”

Section: N I C H O L a S A C H R I Sta K I Smentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The process of star formation is extremely short relative to the lifetime of a star. Young stellar objects called protostars are created from the fragmentation of gas and dust in molecular clouds, and start burning hydrogen in their cores a few million years later 3 . Multi plicity is common at these early stages -an outcome of the star-formation process 4 .…”

Section: A D E L E P Lu N K E T T Wmentioning

confidence: 99%

Female genital cutting under the spotlight

Christakis

2016

Nature

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Universalist, relativist, and constructivist approaches to intercultural ethics

Cited by 34 publications

References 4 publications

Transversality in Diversity: Experiencing Networks of Confusion and Convergence in the World Social Forum

Transversality in Diversity: Experiencing Networks of Confusion and Convergence in the World Social Forum

What Should Be Done? Pragmatic Constructivist Ethics and the Responsibility to Protect

Female genital cutting under the spotlight

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