Robert Wuthnow
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- May 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199730872
- eISBN:
- 9780199777389
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199730872.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Society
Be Very Afraid examines the human response to existential threats; once a matter for theology, but now looming before us in multiple forms. Nuclear weapons, pandemics, global warming; ...
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Be Very Afraid examines the human response to existential threats; once a matter for theology, but now looming before us in multiple forms. Nuclear weapons, pandemics, global warming; each threatens to destroy the planet, or at least to annihilate our species. Freud, the author notes, famously taught that the standard psychological response to an overwhelming danger is denial. In fact, the author writes, the opposite is true: we seek ways of positively meeting the threat, of doing something — anything — even if it is wasteful and time-consuming. The atomic era that began with the bombing of Hiroshima sparked a flurry of activity, ranging from duck-and-cover drills, basement bomb shelters, and marches for a nuclear freeze. All were arguably ineffectual, yet each sprang from an innate desire to take action. It would be one thing if our responses were merely pointless, the book observes, but they can actually be harmful. Both the public and policymakers tend to model reactions to grave threats on how we met previous ones. The response to the terrorist attacks of 9/11, for example, echoed the Cold War: citizens went out to buy duct tape, mimicking 1950s-era civil defense measures, and the administration launched two costly conflicts overseas.Less
Be Very Afraid examines the human response to existential threats; once a matter for theology, but now looming before us in multiple forms. Nuclear weapons, pandemics, global warming; each threatens to destroy the planet, or at least to annihilate our species. Freud, the author notes, famously taught that the standard psychological response to an overwhelming danger is denial. In fact, the author writes, the opposite is true: we seek ways of positively meeting the threat, of doing something — anything — even if it is wasteful and time-consuming. The atomic era that began with the bombing of Hiroshima sparked a flurry of activity, ranging from duck-and-cover drills, basement bomb shelters, and marches for a nuclear freeze. All were arguably ineffectual, yet each sprang from an innate desire to take action. It would be one thing if our responses were merely pointless, the book observes, but they can actually be harmful. Both the public and policymakers tend to model reactions to grave threats on how we met previous ones. The response to the terrorist attacks of 9/11, for example, echoed the Cold War: citizens went out to buy duct tape, mimicking 1950s-era civil defense measures, and the administration launched two costly conflicts overseas.
Anne Hammerstad
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- April 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780199213085
- eISBN:
- 9780191746673
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199213085.003.0002
- Subject:
- Political Science, International Relations and Politics
This chapter describes the intense debate on the concept of security. The concept has been widened to include new types of threats, new referent objects and, in some cases, new rationales and ...
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This chapter describes the intense debate on the concept of security. The concept has been widened to include new types of threats, new referent objects and, in some cases, new rationales and normative content. Security studies have taken a constructivist turn. The chapter uses Michael Freeden’s framework for analysing political concepts. Political concepts are socially constructed, embedded in particular cultures and ideologies. As such, they change, but slowly. The chapter argues that the concept of security is not essentially contested, but its evolution is constrained by common usage. It has a minimal core on which all security schools of IR agree, explicitly or implicitly. From this minimal common ground different schools of thought have set about widening the meaning of the concept of security. The chapter argues that the concept of security retains in all its manifestations notions of existential threat, urgency and justification of exceptional measures.Less
This chapter describes the intense debate on the concept of security. The concept has been widened to include new types of threats, new referent objects and, in some cases, new rationales and normative content. Security studies have taken a constructivist turn. The chapter uses Michael Freeden’s framework for analysing political concepts. Political concepts are socially constructed, embedded in particular cultures and ideologies. As such, they change, but slowly. The chapter argues that the concept of security is not essentially contested, but its evolution is constrained by common usage. It has a minimal core on which all security schools of IR agree, explicitly or implicitly. From this minimal common ground different schools of thought have set about widening the meaning of the concept of security. The chapter argues that the concept of security retains in all its manifestations notions of existential threat, urgency and justification of exceptional measures.
Joshua Gans
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- September 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780262034487
- eISBN:
- 9780262333832
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- The MIT Press
- DOI:
- 10.7551/mitpress/9780262034487.001.0001
- Subject:
- Business and Management, Innovation
When successful and well-managed firms fail, we call this disruption. In the almost two decades since Clay Christensen’s famous treatise mapping this phenomenon, such failure has continued, with ...
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When successful and well-managed firms fail, we call this disruption. In the almost two decades since Clay Christensen’s famous treatise mapping this phenomenon, such failure has continued, with companies such as Encyclopedia Britannica, Blockbuster, Nokia, and RIM all falling hard from positions of seemingly unassailable dominance. In each case, they either did not or could not respond to disruptive events that allowed new entrants to capture their markets. At the same time, however, other major firms have had sustained success, shielded from what could have been dominance-ending disruptive events. This book takes the experience of both the fallen and the resilient and identifies Disruption’s Shield, the principles and actions that can ensure great firms’ continued success. The headline theory of disruption is now known to all, but that has not alleviated the risks faced by major firms nor the litany of failures. This is because a good defense has to guard against all disruptive events. Up until now, only one set of disruptive forces – those coming from the demand-side – have been fully understood and driven into manager’s mindsets. But this single-minded focus has led many firms to neglect equally important supply-side forces. This type of disruption can occur when firms, focussing on developing new products based on current technologies quickly, find themselves inflexible and unresponsive when their greatest competitive threats come not from seemingly niche entrants but from technologies that re-write organizational rulebooks. Only by understanding both types of disruptive risk can business leaders understand, evaluate and deploy the full range of options to avoid disruption and continue to thrive. The Disruption Dilemma is the first book that puts all of these elements together. It identifies the system of choices that have allowed great firms to balance competitiveness and resilience.Less
When successful and well-managed firms fail, we call this disruption. In the almost two decades since Clay Christensen’s famous treatise mapping this phenomenon, such failure has continued, with companies such as Encyclopedia Britannica, Blockbuster, Nokia, and RIM all falling hard from positions of seemingly unassailable dominance. In each case, they either did not or could not respond to disruptive events that allowed new entrants to capture their markets. At the same time, however, other major firms have had sustained success, shielded from what could have been dominance-ending disruptive events. This book takes the experience of both the fallen and the resilient and identifies Disruption’s Shield, the principles and actions that can ensure great firms’ continued success. The headline theory of disruption is now known to all, but that has not alleviated the risks faced by major firms nor the litany of failures. This is because a good defense has to guard against all disruptive events. Up until now, only one set of disruptive forces – those coming from the demand-side – have been fully understood and driven into manager’s mindsets. But this single-minded focus has led many firms to neglect equally important supply-side forces. This type of disruption can occur when firms, focussing on developing new products based on current technologies quickly, find themselves inflexible and unresponsive when their greatest competitive threats come not from seemingly niche entrants but from technologies that re-write organizational rulebooks. Only by understanding both types of disruptive risk can business leaders understand, evaluate and deploy the full range of options to avoid disruption and continue to thrive. The Disruption Dilemma is the first book that puts all of these elements together. It identifies the system of choices that have allowed great firms to balance competitiveness and resilience.
Richard Beardsworth
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- September 2018
- ISBN:
- 9780190905651
- eISBN:
- 9780190905682
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780190905651.003.0003
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Political Philosophy
With its moral commitment to the individual, cosmopolitanism has often downplayed the role of the state in cosmopolitan commitments and their practices. There is, however, emerging concern to put the ...
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With its moral commitment to the individual, cosmopolitanism has often downplayed the role of the state in cosmopolitan commitments and their practices. There is, however, emerging concern to put the state back into cosmopolitan concerns. This chapter argues that two outstanding reasons for this intellectual move are of an institutional and political nature. First, despite the recent pluralization of global actors, states remain the major agents of change within a (post-Western) system of states; both the moral and political purpose of the state should therefore be aligned with global imperatives. Second, a clearly formulated “marriage” between the global and the national is required to line up institutional motivation for enlightened global policy. This chapter argues, accordingly, for cosmopolitan state responsibilities toward the provision of global public goods (examples include nuclear disarmament, climate change mitigation and adaptation, and sustainable development).Less
With its moral commitment to the individual, cosmopolitanism has often downplayed the role of the state in cosmopolitan commitments and their practices. There is, however, emerging concern to put the state back into cosmopolitan concerns. This chapter argues that two outstanding reasons for this intellectual move are of an institutional and political nature. First, despite the recent pluralization of global actors, states remain the major agents of change within a (post-Western) system of states; both the moral and political purpose of the state should therefore be aligned with global imperatives. Second, a clearly formulated “marriage” between the global and the national is required to line up institutional motivation for enlightened global policy. This chapter argues, accordingly, for cosmopolitan state responsibilities toward the provision of global public goods (examples include nuclear disarmament, climate change mitigation and adaptation, and sustainable development).
Sophia Moskalenko and Clark McCauley
- Published in print:
- 2019
- Published Online:
- January 2019
- ISBN:
- 9780190689322
- eISBN:
- 9780190939526
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780190689322.003.0011
- Subject:
- Psychology, Social Psychology
This chapter evaluates the moral threat of suicide terrorism. Political and psychological resilience to the threat of suicide bombing requires understanding the difference between suicide bombers and ...
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This chapter evaluates the moral threat of suicide terrorism. Political and psychological resilience to the threat of suicide bombing requires understanding the difference between suicide bombers and true martyrs. A martyr’s political power comes from the indisputable evidence—the martyr’s own suffering at the hands of the powerful—that the powerful are corrupt and unjust. This evidence is tainted if the would-be martyr indulges in provocation, aggression, or retaliation. The authors offer three directions that can help boost Western political resilience in facing suicide bombers, emphasizing the importance of clearly understanding the definitions of martyr, victim, suicide bomber, and terrorist and how perceptions can be changed in the immediate aftermath of an attack or an uprising.Less
This chapter evaluates the moral threat of suicide terrorism. Political and psychological resilience to the threat of suicide bombing requires understanding the difference between suicide bombers and true martyrs. A martyr’s political power comes from the indisputable evidence—the martyr’s own suffering at the hands of the powerful—that the powerful are corrupt and unjust. This evidence is tainted if the would-be martyr indulges in provocation, aggression, or retaliation. The authors offer three directions that can help boost Western political resilience in facing suicide bombers, emphasizing the importance of clearly understanding the definitions of martyr, victim, suicide bomber, and terrorist and how perceptions can be changed in the immediate aftermath of an attack or an uprising.
Daniel H. Deudney
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- September 2018
- ISBN:
- 9780190905651
- eISBN:
- 9780190905682
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780190905651.003.0011
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Political Philosophy
Today, swollen numbers of humanity are now intensively interactive and interdependent through vast networks of complex machines and built infrastructures that span the planet, whose unintended ...
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Today, swollen numbers of humanity are now intensively interactive and interdependent through vast networks of complex machines and built infrastructures that span the planet, whose unintended consequences and spillovers have grown to species significance. The practical context for all human activities has become a densely occupied and tightly coupled neighborhood. While the content of cosmopolitanism, in its ancient, Enlightenment, and current phases, reflects shrinking geographical spaces, it presumes an Earth composed of different places, rather than a more accurate “terrapolitan” view of Earth as a single place. In the terrapolitan situation, the central problem is not that humans are insufficiently attentive to the needs of distant others. Rather, it is that they are insufficiently attentive to their collective self-interest in survival in the face of existential threats. In part, these limitations stem from the utter novelty of the threats to basic interests that have arisen with such historical rapidity.Less
Today, swollen numbers of humanity are now intensively interactive and interdependent through vast networks of complex machines and built infrastructures that span the planet, whose unintended consequences and spillovers have grown to species significance. The practical context for all human activities has become a densely occupied and tightly coupled neighborhood. While the content of cosmopolitanism, in its ancient, Enlightenment, and current phases, reflects shrinking geographical spaces, it presumes an Earth composed of different places, rather than a more accurate “terrapolitan” view of Earth as a single place. In the terrapolitan situation, the central problem is not that humans are insufficiently attentive to the needs of distant others. Rather, it is that they are insufficiently attentive to their collective self-interest in survival in the face of existential threats. In part, these limitations stem from the utter novelty of the threats to basic interests that have arisen with such historical rapidity.
