Steven Vanderputten
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- August 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780801451713
- eISBN:
- 9780801468117
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Cornell University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7591/cornell/9780801451713.003.0008
- Subject:
- History, European Medieval History
This chapter discusses the challenges facing the reformed communities in the latter decades of the eleventh century. Partly as a result of its own success, and partly because of shifting patronage, ...
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This chapter discusses the challenges facing the reformed communities in the latter decades of the eleventh century. Partly as a result of its own success, and partly because of shifting patronage, increased competition with other religious institutions, “old-style” reformist government struggled to sustain itself. By the late eleventh century, however, abbots, especially those inspired by the Gregorian reform movement, were actively pursuing policies of restoration that have been largely overlooked by scholars focusing on the Cluniac reforms of the early twelfth century. On that note, the successes of the “forgotten reformers” of the later eleventh century actually paved the way for the ambitious projects of the next generation.Less
This chapter discusses the challenges facing the reformed communities in the latter decades of the eleventh century. Partly as a result of its own success, and partly because of shifting patronage, increased competition with other religious institutions, “old-style” reformist government struggled to sustain itself. By the late eleventh century, however, abbots, especially those inspired by the Gregorian reform movement, were actively pursuing policies of restoration that have been largely overlooked by scholars focusing on the Cluniac reforms of the early twelfth century. On that note, the successes of the “forgotten reformers” of the later eleventh century actually paved the way for the ambitious projects of the next generation.
Gianni Vattimo and Santiago Zabala
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- November 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780231158039
- eISBN:
- 9780231528078
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Columbia University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7312/columbia/9780231158039.001.0001
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Political Philosophy
Having lost much of its political clout and theoretical power, communism no longer represents an appealing alternative to capitalism. In its original Marxist formulation, communism promised an ideal ...
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Having lost much of its political clout and theoretical power, communism no longer represents an appealing alternative to capitalism. In its original Marxist formulation, communism promised an ideal of development, but only through a logic of war, and while a number of reformist governments still promote this ideology, their legitimacy has steadily declined since the fall of the Berlin wall. Separating communism from its metaphysical foundations, which include an abiding faith in the immutable laws of history and an almost holy conception of the proletariat, this text recasts Marx's theories at a time when capitalism's metaphysical moorings—in technology, empire, and industrialization—are buckling. While Michael Hardt and Antonio Negri call for a return of the revolutionary left, this text expresses a fear that this would lead only to more violence and failed political policy. Instead, it adopts an antifoundationalist stance drawn from the hermeneutic thought of Martin Heidegger, Jacques Derrida, and Richard Rorty. Hermeneutic communism leaves aside the ideal of development and the general call for revolution; it relies on interpretation rather than truth and proves more flexible in different contexts. Hermeneutic communism motivates a resistance to capitalism's inequalities yet intervenes against violence.Less
Having lost much of its political clout and theoretical power, communism no longer represents an appealing alternative to capitalism. In its original Marxist formulation, communism promised an ideal of development, but only through a logic of war, and while a number of reformist governments still promote this ideology, their legitimacy has steadily declined since the fall of the Berlin wall. Separating communism from its metaphysical foundations, which include an abiding faith in the immutable laws of history and an almost holy conception of the proletariat, this text recasts Marx's theories at a time when capitalism's metaphysical moorings—in technology, empire, and industrialization—are buckling. While Michael Hardt and Antonio Negri call for a return of the revolutionary left, this text expresses a fear that this would lead only to more violence and failed political policy. Instead, it adopts an antifoundationalist stance drawn from the hermeneutic thought of Martin Heidegger, Jacques Derrida, and Richard Rorty. Hermeneutic communism leaves aside the ideal of development and the general call for revolution; it relies on interpretation rather than truth and proves more flexible in different contexts. Hermeneutic communism motivates a resistance to capitalism's inequalities yet intervenes against violence.
Steven Vanderputten
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- January 2019
- ISBN:
- 9781501715945
- eISBN:
- 9781501715976
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Cornell University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7591/cornell/9781501715945.003.0005
- Subject:
- History, European Medieval History
This chapter reviews the evidence for institutional and spiritual reform in women's communities, and makes three key observations. First, that bishops in particular relied on reform as a way of ...
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This chapter reviews the evidence for institutional and spiritual reform in women's communities, and makes three key observations. First, that bishops in particular relied on reform as a way of expressing specific claims to religious and political authority, and of rearranging the lordship and patronage of female monasticism to their own benefit and that of their associates. Second, that the installation of, or the ‘return’ to a Benedictine regime by no means heralded a greater degree of freedom from the interventions of clerical and lay rulers. And finally, that these interventions have rendered obscure a ‘pre-reform’ culture of reflection over the purpose and organization of female communal life, and also a great deal of experimentation. Instead of reversing a situation of terminal decline, the reforms marked the beginning of clerical intolerance towards the ‘ambiguous’ observance of women religious, and the end of a state of relative intellectual and spiritual autonomy.Less
This chapter reviews the evidence for institutional and spiritual reform in women's communities, and makes three key observations. First, that bishops in particular relied on reform as a way of expressing specific claims to religious and political authority, and of rearranging the lordship and patronage of female monasticism to their own benefit and that of their associates. Second, that the installation of, or the ‘return’ to a Benedictine regime by no means heralded a greater degree of freedom from the interventions of clerical and lay rulers. And finally, that these interventions have rendered obscure a ‘pre-reform’ culture of reflection over the purpose and organization of female communal life, and also a great deal of experimentation. Instead of reversing a situation of terminal decline, the reforms marked the beginning of clerical intolerance towards the ‘ambiguous’ observance of women religious, and the end of a state of relative intellectual and spiritual autonomy.
