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Document Details :

Title: From Golgotha to Oktoberfest
Subtitle: Reading the Bavarian 'Cross Decree' in Terms of the Social Imaginary
Author(s): LANGNER-PITSCHMANN, Annette
Journal: Louvain Studies
Volume: 42    Issue: 3   Date: 2019   
Pages: 309-322
DOI: 10.2143/LS.42.3.3286896

Abstract :
The paper discusses the so-called Bavarian Cross Decree implemented in 2018 as an attempt to establish identity narratives by recourse on religious symbols. It reads the decree in light of the differentiations resulting from the concept of the 'Social Imaginary' in the sense of C. Taylor on the one hand, and of C. Castoriadis on the other. From this it infers three conditions that are needed for a stable attitude in face of the identitary temptation. It turns out that it is crucial to remain aware of the irreducible difference between the real and the ideal, to admit the contingency of the respective identity pattern and to take into account the unconscious as a factor of political action.

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