Papers by Aleksandar Jokic
Socioloski pregled
Fi ic ct ti io on na al l D Di is sc co ou ur rs se e W Wi it th ho ou ut t B Bo or rd de er rs s... more Fi ic ct ti io on na al l D Di is sc co ou ur rs se e W Wi it th ho ou ut t B Bo or rd de er rs s ( (F Fo or r F Fu un n a an nd d P Pr ro of fi it t) )
Socioloski pregled
Antiratni pacifizam je specifična pozicija koja nastoji da uskladi intuitivnu ideju da je u nekim... more Antiratni pacifizam je specifična pozicija koja nastoji da uskladi intuitivnu ideju da je u nekim slučajevima ubistvo u samoodbrani opravdano sa sveobuhvatnim pacifističkim stavom suprotstavljanja ratu. Antiratni pacifisti insistiraju na postojanju moralne asimetrije između ubijanja pojedinačnog napadača u samoodbrani i ubijanja koje se odvija u ratovima. Upravo to otvara mogućnost da se prva vrsta ubijanja da moralno opravdati, dok to ne bi nikada bio slučaj s ovim drugim ubijanjem. U svim situacijama u kojima se nameće izbor jednog života u odnosu na neki drugi, u opravdanju se mora navesti nešto što bi igralo ulogu "kritične asimetrije" između života koji su dovedeni u pitanje. U odsustvu toga, oba života bi imala podjednaku vrednost, tako da se ubistvo ne bi moglo opravdati. U slučajevima samoodbrane napadač je taj koji je odgovoran za prouzrokovanje situacije u kojoj se nameće izbor između svog i tuđeg života i time se u korist svoje žrtve odriče prezumpcije da su životi, ovako dovedeni u pitanje, od podjednake vrednosti. To, u ovakvim slučajevima, uklanja zabranu protiv ubijanja. Nasuprot tome, svi borci bilo koje od suprotstavljenih armija su, po antiratnom pacifisti, "u istim sosu": podjednako su dehumanizovani, ratom transformisani od osoba u obične stvari -reifikovani. Ne pojavljuje se ništa što bi u ovom kontekstu odigralo ulogu kritične asimetrije, čak i kad uporedimo ratnike osvajačke vojske s braniocima otaxbine. Rezultat svega je, nasuprot prvom utisku, da se odluke, koje vode ubijanju u okviru rata, ne mogu uspesno prikaživati po modelu individualnih odluka koje donosi pojedinac u skladu s moralnim pricipom koji reguliše samoodbranu.
Journal of Value Inquiry, 2002
The Fletcher Forum of World Affairs, 2007
For the purpose of this lecture I draw from two sources. First, in preparing for this year’s ILEC... more For the purpose of this lecture I draw from two sources. First, in preparing for this year’s ILECS last spring term I taught a course on “Borders and Toleration,” at PSU’s Conflict Resolution Graduate Program when I came across Edward Langerak’s article “Disagreement: Appreciating the Dark Side of Tolerance.” In my mind Langerak develops a very useful conceptual framework for thinking about toleration, which I intend to put to use here applying it to the question regarding an ethics of international activism. The latter has interested me for some time and I will rely here on a recent article of mine “Activism, Language, and International Law” that appeared in the last issue of the International Journal for the Semiotics of Law, which will then be the second source for this talk. Consequently, I propose to structure this lecture in three parts: first, I’ll describe Langerak’s conceptual framework on toleration, secondly I’ll offer a brief sketch of what might be called a moral phenom...
Journal of Philosophical Research
The central question addressed in this essay is whether there might exist some justifiable limits... more The central question addressed in this essay is whether there might exist some justifiable limits to freedom in science and scholarship. The question is further specified to deal with social sciences (including humanities) in the so-called “transitional period”. Paying attention to the historical context and sociological facts on the ground, the essay considers an “ethics of research” as falling within a larger endeavor of developing first an “ethics of international activism” approached in the way that formulates a series of constraints on what would constitute morally permissible agency in the context that includes delivering services abroad, directly or indirectly. Relying on some of those constraints and a key conceptual distinction between “activism in scholarship” and “activism with scholarship” a proposal is made about a way to think about justifiable limits to freedom in scholarship, using as example the field of “transitional justice” studies.
The Journal of Ethics
This is an attempt to develop a more complete understanding of ``genocidalism of commission,'... more This is an attempt to develop a more complete understanding of ``genocidalism of commission,'' or the genocidal use of ``genocide,'' defined stipulatively as ``the energetic attributions of ``genocide'' in less than clear cases without considering available and convincing opposing evidence and argumentation.'' Genocidalism is a widespread phenomenon regarding the discourse on international affairs in the advanced, liberal societies of the West, embedding a ``normative divide'' between the ways of attending to domestic (national) concerns and ways of attending to international issues. I argue that genocidalism is morally wrong, explore its likely causes, and suggest possible ways of getting rid of this hateful practice.
The decision by Russian President Vladimir Putin to sign a bill that allows " authorities to... more The decision by Russian President Vladimir Putin to sign a bill that allows " authorities to prosecute foreign non-governmental organizations (NGOs) or firms designated as 'undesirable' on national security grounds " is bound to receive a hostile reception in the West. Already Amnesty International " declared that the new law will " snatch away the space for dissenting views and independent civil society activism, " while Human Rights Watch more hysterically stated that the law aims at " squeezing the very life out of Russian civil society, " and the State Department harshly characterized it in a characteristically over the top fashion " as a further example of the Russian government's growing crackdown on independent voices and intentional steps to isolate the Russian people from the world. " Dramatic statements aside, we may want to ask, quite separately from the case with this Russian law, what could be considered as proper...
While the U.S. instigated Western economic sanctions directed at Russia are in many ways peculiar... more While the U.S. instigated Western economic sanctions directed at Russia are in many ways peculiar the standard reasoning applies when we consider their normative status. In every case at the time of initial implementation of sanctions, whether they are unilateral or with U.N. blessing, strong moralistic language is employed to produce the semblance of justification. Clearly, sanctions can satisfy various political, economic, military and strategic goals, but could they ever be morally justified?
While ostensibly a response to a critique, the main goal of this Article is to demonstrate how ea... more While ostensibly a response to a critique, the main goal of this Article is to demonstrate how easily conventional wisdom, usually shaped by the media and politics, can corrupt scholarship when it is simply presupposed by those engaged in what should be an academic polemic, yet often also includes ‘activism in scholarship’. The examples of approved narratives in the West on Yugoslavia and Rwanda are used for the sake of this demonstration.
The Fletcher forum of world affairs
Sanctions such as those applied by the United Nations against Yugoslavia, or rather the actions o... more Sanctions such as those applied by the United Nations against Yugoslavia, or rather the actions of implementing and maintaining them, at the very least implicitly purport to have moral justification. While the rhetoric used to justify sanctions is clearly moralistic, even sanctions themselves, as worded, often include phrases indicating moral implication. On May 30, 1992, United Nation Security Council Resolution 757 imposed a universal, binding blockage on all trade and all scientific, cultural and sports exchanges with Serbia and Montenegro. In addition to expressing the usual "concern' and "dismay" regarding various events, the language of this Resolution also includes, on three occasions, unmistakably moral language "deploring" failures in meeting the demands of earlier resolutions.' There is no question that sanctions have political, economic, military and strategic consequences for the sanctioned state, perhaps exactly as desired by the sanctio...
In this essay we explore the relationship between globalization and genocidalism. “Globalization”... more In this essay we explore the relationship between globalization and genocidalism. “Globalization” is understood as “freedom and ability of individuals and firms to initiate voluntary economic transactions with residents of other countries,” while “genocidalism” is defined as “(i) the purposeful neglect to attribute responsibility for genocide in cases when overwhelming evidence exists, and as (ii) the energetic attributions of “genocide” in less then clear cases without considering available and convincing opposing evidence and argumentation.” The hypothesis that we defend here as explanatory of globalization’s “surprising” failure to live up to its often repeated theoretical promise that it is not a “zero-sum game,” is that this apparent failure is a result of the impact of the sole super-power’s global politics. These policies are manifested through an open onslaught on the notion of state sovereignty (impacting the sovereignty of virtually all countries except that of the U.S.), ...
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Papers by Aleksandar Jokic