Senator Barck Obama was Thursday 24 July 2008 in Berlin where he delivered his much anticipated speech in front of a massive crowd. Of course the reference to "ich bin ein Berliner" was obvious and too easy to mention. He opened his speech toning down expectations, stating he was there as a simple US citizen, and a "citizen of the world." Rhetorically he is leaving it up to the media coverage to make the link: "ich bin ein Weltbürger." To my knowledge, this must be one of the very first time a politician declares so openly a cosmopolitan ideal to be his. There is certainly much to celebrate for a cosmopolitan in this speech, but I would like to present a few remarks as to the alleged cosmopolitan nature of his commitment.
Foucault and the academe
Personally I do not understand at all where most of the people who write about Foucault or use Foucault in their studies (particularly in the fields of sociology and philosophy) get their interpretation of Foucault from. When I started to get interested in Foucault I had an odd reflex of getting my hand on secondary... Continue Reading →
MA thesis abstract
I have now finished writing my thesis, which only needs a very last light-editing touch. As a teaser, I publish here the abstract: Cosmopolitanism is not a well-known entity in political theory. Therefore, a history of this political doctrine is needed. However, such epistemological enquiry faces an ontological conundrum. Not only is it difficult to... Continue Reading →
Deadline
I have a deadline to keep. I should be finished by the end of the month, i.e. Monday 30 June 2008. All I have left to do is some final round of editing, cutting 47,000 words to 35,000, proofreading, and printing three copies. But I still have my part-time job that is draining half of... Continue Reading →
Encouraging words
I received on 9 June some very encouraging words from my academic supervisor, who commented on the draft of my MA thesis I sent him, congratulating me for my "nice piece of work", and also stating that he was "impressed by the standard of scholarship." My efforts are now all directed towards reducing my draft... Continue Reading →
Setting up a new blog on my research activities
I have decided to set up a new weblog in order to publicise my research activities and personal research themes and projects. I hope to create a network of interest around my activities, make myself known, and get acquainted with other academic research activities on the same field or topic. This blog is also egoistically... Continue Reading →
Frank Ejby Poulsen 