POLITIKON: The IAPSS Journal of Political Science Vol 41 (June 2019) POLITIKON: The IAPSS Journal of Political Science Vol 41 (June 2019) 2 Volume 41: June 2019 ISSN 2414-6633 https://doi.org/10.22151/politikon.41 Editorial Board Editor-in-Chief: Max Steuer (Slovakia) Deputy Editor-in-Chief: Rafael Plancarte (Mexico) Ana Magdalena Figueroa (Brazil) Justinas Lingevičus (Lithuania) Stephanie Mojica (USA) Dana Rice (Australia) Gergana Tzvetkova (Bulgaria) Editorial Assistants Cláudia Susana Rodrigues de Araújo (Portugal) Andressa Liegi Vieira Costa (Brazil) Karla Drpić (Croatia) Damla Keşkekci (Turkey) Jesslene Lee (Singapore) Emmanuelle Rousseau (France) Kamila Suchomel (Czech Republic) Bruna Veríssimo (Brazil) https://doi.org/10.22151/politikon.41 POLITIKON: The IAPSS Journal of Political Science Vol 41 (June 2019) 3 Table of Contents Editorial Note ....................................................................................................................... 4 Articles Jordan Peterson and the (F)law of ‘Scientific Inquiry:’ A Critical Evaluation of Peterson’s Use of Science and Philosophy in his Conquest Against Social Justice/David Guignion .......................................................................................................... 7 People or Preservation? How Electoral Accountability Reduces Human Cost in South Africa’s National Parks/AJ Golio ..................................................................................... 24 Rescuing Rationality from the Rationalists: For a Neo-Weberian Understanding of Rationality in Critical Terrorism Studies/Bernardino Leon-Reyes .................................... 43 Research Note Downward Mobility: When Social Lifts Change Direction /Maxim Chupilkin .......... 58 Book Review Homo Deus. A Brief History of Tomorrow by Yuval N. Harari / Marzio Di Feo ............... 66 Call for Papers .................................................................................................................... 69 POLITIKON: The IAPSS Journal of Political Science Vol 41 (June 2019) 4 Editorial Note https://doi.org/10.22151/politikon.41.0 This is the second regular issue of IAPSS Politikon for 2019. As promised in the first one, we are pleased to report the results of the evaluation process for the first Best Article Award, comprising the four issues published in 2018. Congratulations to our authors (both from Volume 39 of the journal) Paola Imperatore (University of Pisa) and Adil Nussipov (Central European University) who share this year’s award. We also express our sincere gratitude to all members of our evaluation committee, namely Chair and honouree of this year’s award Professor İlter Turan (Istanbul Bilgi University, IPSA Past President), senior members Professor Yuko Kasuya (Keio University, IPSA EC member and Publications Subcommittee Chair), Professor Petri Koikkalainen (University of Lapland, ECPR EC member and Training Subcommittee Chair), and junior member Rafael Plancarte-Escobar (Autonomous University of Querétaro, Deputy Editor-in-Chief of IAPSS Politikon). The Award Committee concluded that both articles stood out equally for the innovative questions they raised as well as the methodological and theoretical coherence they displayed and decided that the Award be divided between the two authors. The Award Committee also noted that, though employing different modes of analysis, both articles stood out for the sophisticated operationalization of variables and use of data followed by penetrating analysis. The articles represent notable contributions to their respective subfields of Social Movements and International Organizations. While Imperatore’s article contributes to understanding the frames and discursive strategies present in the protest campaigns against infrastructure projects in the case of Italy, Nussipov’s paper, employing a quantitative model, helps us understand why International Organizations allow or deny access to Transnational Actors in their policymaking process. In the past months, the efforts to further improve the performance and outreach of IAPSS Politikon led to the preparation of an annual report, covering the period from June 2018 to May 2019. One of the findings of this report is that the journal received1 90 submissions, with a desk-rejection rate of 63 percent and a rejection rate (including desk-rejections) of 71 percent. The acceptance rate (excluding articles withdrawn by authors at some stage of the review process) equals 19 percent. These basic statistics match the journal’s ambition to meet high standards of academic quality (hence the relatively low acceptance rate). At the same time, the higher desk-rejection rate mostly due to submissions not meeting the formal requirements and the authors not rectifying them as requested, but relatively low rate of rejections in the main review process indicate inclusivity of authors from 1 Depending on the counting of the exact submission dates and other methodological details. https://doi.org/10.22151/politikon.41.0 POLITIKON: The IAPSS Journal of Political Science Vol 41 (June 2019) 5 disadvantaged (educational, language, financial) backgrounds. In other words, authors who place considerable efforts into improving their manuscripts normally have a good chance of getting them accepted to the journal. Last but not least, to the issue itself. In this one, all the publishing formats currently in place are represented (but we are working on extending these also based on the feedback and types of submissions received). There are three research papers. The issue begins with the contribution belonging to Political Theory by David Guignion, which critically assesses some of the central theses of the well-known contemporary thinker Jordan Peterson. Departing from the context of a particular piece of Canadian legislation, Guignion uses a number of primary writings and speeches of Jordan Peterson and juxtaposes them with the political thought of the philosophers Jean Baudrillard, Hannah Arendt, and Friedrich Nietzsche. The findings are an ambitious ‘counter-critique’ to Peterson’s critique of the notion of science in contemporary society. Next, AJ Golio’s article combines theory and empirics by identifying the ‘human costs’ that accompany the “fortress design” preservation policy of national parks which carries severe restrictions on land use including by local rural communities. While this model of conservation originates from the US, the author scrutinizes the case of South Africa which has implemented it as well. The South African case, with its regime transition, enriches the understanding of how opening up this policy area to more public participation, in particular through electoral accountability, may help reduce its negative side effects on the communities that existentially depend on the land. The last research article shifts the balance back to a theoretical study revolving around the notions of rationality and rationalisation in Critical Terrorism studies. Bernardino Leon-Reyes gains inspiration from the Weberian conceptualization of rationality in studying how a critical take on terrorism seems to have missed the centrality of (a certain type of) rationality in the conduct of terrorist actions. Breaking down this ‘objectified rationality’ into different subtypes creates room for empirical analyses of processes of rationalization of terrorist conduct as well as of the responses to it which may undermine the foundations of democratic regimes. The last part of the issue is devoted to a research note by Maxim Chupilkin who advocates a more intense focus on inequality in political economy. He argues for a bi-directional study of social mobility, looking at both those who achieved a better economic position than their predecessors and those whose position worsened (including individuals from wealthy family backgrounds who do not end up with as high earnings as expected). Lastly, Marzio Di Feo reviews the popular book by Yuval Harari Homo Deus, praising it for its holistic and interdisciplinary approach but also raising a note of caution in relation to the generally optimistic outlook of the author on the civilizational transition towards ‘an age of algorithms’. POLITIKON: The IAPSS Journal of Political Science Vol 41 (June 2019) 6 We invite you to engage with the papers from the present issue and look forward to presenting more original scholarship from junior researchers in the coming months. On behalf of the Editorial Board Max Steuer Editor-in-Chief References Imperatore, Paola (2018): ‘“Not Here Nor Elsewhere”: The Local-Global Dialectic in Locally Unwanted Land Use (LULU) Campaigns; The Case of Italy’, Politikon: The IAPSS Journal of Political Science 39: 36-63. DOI: https://doi.org/10.22151/politikon.39.2 Nussipov, Adil (2018): ‘International Authority of International Organizations and Access Provision for Transnational Actors’, Politikon: The IAPSS Journal of Political Science 39: 64-85. DOI: https://doi.org/10.22151/politikon.39.3 https://doi.org/10.22151/politikon.39.2 https://doi.org/10.22151/politikon.39.3