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Václav Havel: a biographer’s account
Václav Havel has died aged 75. A poet and playwright, a political writer, dissident and a politician, Havel was the tenth and last President of Czechoslovakia, and the first President of the Czech Republic founded in 1993. The Conversation spoke with Sydney University Professor of Politics John Keane, author of Václav Havel: A Political Tragedy [...]
Otra tesis acerca de la filosofia de la historia
This essay in Spanish appeared in the Revista Encuentros Uruguayos Año II, Número 2, Noviembre 2009, pp. 208-220 In English the text was published in James Tully (ed.), 1988, Meaning and Context: Quentin Skinner and His Critics, Princeton University Press. Chapter 12, pp. 204-17 Revista Encuentros Uruguayos Año II, Número 2, Noviembre 2009 Otras tesis [...]
Democracy – A Short History
Origins Democracy commonly refers to a type of political system in which the people or their representatives lawfully govern themselves, rather than being governed, say, by a military dictatorship, totalitarian party or monarch. In recent decades, democracy in this sense has enjoyed unprecedented popularity. Democracy has become one of those English words – along with [...]
Contention and Democracy in Europe , 1650-2000 By Charles Tilly
The Times Higher Education Supplement, 4/11/2005 Cambridge University, Press, 305pp, £45.00 and £16.99. Systematic reflection on the transition to democracy – on the problem of how democratic institutions can be built and sustained – came relatively late in the history of democracy. Beginning with Plato, Thucydides and others, intellectual energy was mostly invested in attacking [...]
Against Servitude, CSD Interview with Quentin Skinner
Quentin Skinner talks to John Keane about Machiavelli, Hobbes, and the neo-Roman theory of liberty. This is an edited extract from a long interview conducted with him in May 2000 by John Keane and Milton Tosto. This text was published in the CSD Bulletin, Summer 2000, Vol. 7. N. 2: 10-13. Quentin Skinner is Regius Professor of [...]
More Theses on the Philosophy of History
By John Keane From James Tully (ed.), 1988, Meaning and Context: Quentin Skinner and His Critics, Princeton University Press. Chapter 12, pp. 204-17. 1. Political argument, it is often observed, comes into its own only during crisis conditions, when conventional beliefs and unargued assumptions begin to disintegrate and to be questioned. It is recognized less often [...]