Anca Simitopol - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Papers by Anca Simitopol

South-East European Journal of Political Science, 2014

This article discusses Jean-Claude Michéa’s populism, centered on the triad: liberalism versus so... more This article discusses Jean-Claude Michéa’s populism, centered on the triad: liberalism versus socialism, progress versus tradition, and intellectuals versus people. Michéa maintains that, in order to grasp the dynamics of the modern world, in the aftermath of the Industrial Revolution, we need to understand first of all two things. The first is that liberalism is the ideology that continually erodes tradition. The second is that ever since economy has been disembedded from the network of social relations, it has become an end in itself. Thus, capitalism, the economic form of liberalism, represents now an all-embracing ideology that governs social relations. According to Michéa, the only way out of capitalist regimentation is offered by the political thought of some of the early nineteenth-century socialists and by the political philosophy inspired by it and developed by thinkers like George Orwell or Charles Péguy. Michéa’s political thought rests on Orwell’s concept of “common decency”, which establishes the exchange of friendship and generosity. Michéa argues that “common decency” is rooted in “ordinary people”, and that any attempt of the Left to fight capitalism can be successful in so far as it returns to the people. Its refusal to do so can encourage society to turn towards far-right parties.

Sfera Politicii, 2014

This article discusses the relation between politics, religion, and science, as understood by the... more This article discusses the relation between politics, religion, and science, as understood by the nineteenth-century French socialist Claude-Henri de Saint-Simon and described in his project of European Union. We find in his works, and in this project in particular, ideas that are surprisingly actual, the most important of which is the idea of replacing the "governing of people", or people's interest in res publica, with the "administration of things", the best rule being then that of technocrats attempting, on the grounds of science, to administer a predictable world. Starting from the philosophical reflections of Étienne de La Boétie and of Simone Weil, this article raises the question of what explains the fact that a majority can be easily subordinated to the administrative control of a small technocratic group.

Romanian Review of Eurasian Studies, 2021

This article concentrates on the influence of French socialism on Dostoevsky’s thought. My claim ... more This article concentrates on the influence of French socialism on Dostoevsky’s thought. My claim is that Dostoevsky considered that understanding socialism was crucial to understanding European modernity and identified in France two trajectories of socialism: an authoritarian one and a fraternal one. I argue that he did not attack socialism in general, but the authoritarian (and the ensuing Russian revolutionary) type, and that he was, by contrast, heavily influenced by Romantic fraternal socialism. The aim of the present study is to explore the unfolding of the two antagonistic types of French socialism in Dostoevsky’s writings and to examine the common thread running within his work, from his early interest in Romantic socialism to his mature understanding of Christianity.

Sfera Politicii, 2014

This article discusses the relation between politics, religion, and science, as understood by the... more This article discusses the relation between politics, religion, and science, as understood by the nineteenth-century French socialist Claude-Henri de Saint-Simon and described in his project of European Union. We find in his works, and in this project in particular, ideas that are surprisingly actual, the most important of which is the idea of replacing the “governing of people”, or people’s interest in res publica, with the “administration of things”, the best rule being then that of technocrats attempting, on the grounds of science, to administer a predictable world. Starting from the philosophical reflections of Étienne de La Boétie and of Simone Weil, this article raises the question of what explains the fact that a majority can be easily subordinated to the administrative control of a small technocratic group.

South-East European Journal of Political Science, 2014

This article discusses Jean-Claude Michéa’s populism, centered on the triad: liberalism versus so... more This article discusses Jean-Claude Michéa’s populism, centered on the triad: liberalism versus socialism, progress versus tradition, and intellectuals versus people. Michéa maintains that, in order to grasp the dynamics of the modern world, in the aftermath of the Industrial Revolution, we need to understand first of all two things. The first is that liberalism is the ideology that continually erodes tradition. The second is that ever since economy has been disembedded from the network of social relations, it has become an end in itself. Thus, capitalism, the economic form of liberalism, represents now an all-embracing ideology that governs social relations. According to Michéa, the only way out of capitalist regimentation is offered by the political thought of some of the early nineteenth-century socialists and by the political philosophy inspired by it and developed by thinkers like George Orwell or Charles Péguy. Michéa’s political thought rests on Orwell’s concept of “common decency”, which establishes the exchange of friendship and generosity. Michéa argues that “common decency” is rooted in “ordinary people”, and that any attempt of the Left to fight capitalism can be successful in so far as it returns to the people. Its refusal to do so can encourage society to turn towards far-right parties.

Sfera Politicii, 2014

This article discusses the relation between politics, religion, and science, as understood by the... more This article discusses the relation between politics, religion, and science, as understood by the nineteenth-century French socialist Claude-Henri de Saint-Simon and described in his project of European Union. We find in his works, and in this project in particular, ideas that are surprisingly actual, the most important of which is the idea of replacing the "governing of people", or people's interest in res publica, with the "administration of things", the best rule being then that of technocrats attempting, on the grounds of science, to administer a predictable world. Starting from the philosophical reflections of Étienne de La Boétie and of Simone Weil, this article raises the question of what explains the fact that a majority can be easily subordinated to the administrative control of a small technocratic group.

Romanian Review of Eurasian Studies, 2021

This article concentrates on the influence of French socialism on Dostoevsky’s thought. My claim ... more This article concentrates on the influence of French socialism on Dostoevsky’s thought. My claim is that Dostoevsky considered that understanding socialism was crucial to understanding European modernity and identified in France two trajectories of socialism: an authoritarian one and a fraternal one. I argue that he did not attack socialism in general, but the authoritarian (and the ensuing Russian revolutionary) type, and that he was, by contrast, heavily influenced by Romantic fraternal socialism. The aim of the present study is to explore the unfolding of the two antagonistic types of French socialism in Dostoevsky’s writings and to examine the common thread running within his work, from his early interest in Romantic socialism to his mature understanding of Christianity.

Sfera Politicii, 2014

This article discusses the relation between politics, religion, and science, as understood by the... more This article discusses the relation between politics, religion, and science, as understood by the nineteenth-century French socialist Claude-Henri de Saint-Simon and described in his project of European Union. We find in his works, and in this project in particular, ideas that are surprisingly actual, the most important of which is the idea of replacing the “governing of people”, or people’s interest in res publica, with the “administration of things”, the best rule being then that of technocrats attempting, on the grounds of science, to administer a predictable world. Starting from the philosophical reflections of Étienne de La Boétie and of Simone Weil, this article raises the question of what explains the fact that a majority can be easily subordinated to the administrative control of a small technocratic group.