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The papers in this issue are based on presentations given at a conference held at the New School for Social Research in November 1994 celebrating the sixtieth anniversary of the Graduate Faculty and Social Research.
In 1994, both the Graduate Faculty of the New School for Social Research and its journal, Social Research, celebrated their sixtieth anniversaries. As our readers undoubtedly know, the anniversary of Social Research was marked by a special issue, but it was marked also by a conference, Rescue: The Paradoxes of Virtue, which celebrated the double anniversary of both the Graduate Faculty and Social Research.
The scholars who were the original members of the Graduate Faculty were brought together by an act of rescue performed by the first president of the New School, Alvin Johnson. It was this act of rescue that in 1933 brought a group of European professors fleeing from Nazi persecution to the New School to become the "Faculty in Exile." One year later, in 1934, this group became the Graduate Faculty of Political and Social Science of the New School, and, in this same year, this original faculty established Social Research, which has appeared continuously ever since. So it seems fair to say that both the Graduate Faculty and Social Research were the consequences of an act of rescue.
Given this history, there therefore seemed a no more fitting way to commemorate it than by serious reflection on the concept of "Rescue." And by focusing on "Rescue" rather than on those actions that make rescue necessary, our attention is directed to one of the most, rather than least, noble, aspects of human action, which seemed appropriate for a celebratory event. Finally and I think most importantly, the issues surrounding acts of rescue are rarely simple. They are, in fact, frequently complex and contested as recent events have demonstrated. So while the need for rescue is a fixed feature of our world, acts of rescue may not be.
To set the context, I would like to cite one example of the conceptual thicket surrounding "Rescue" which will be discussed in the following articles. Confronted with the suffering of another person or group of persons, whether because of a natural disaster-an earthquake or flood- or because of the intentionally harmful actions of another or a group of others, our moral obligation seems self-evident. We must make an effort to rescue the imperiled. But in circumstances like those that now surround us, it is not the actions of a single individual whose conscience is stirred that is likely to make a difference. But rather what is called for are large-scale humanitarian assistance programs and military interventions. Feelings of compassion and stirrings of conscience are simply not enough. Furthermore, if our voices are heard and large-scale actions are undertaken, those of us who are likely to give voice to our moral outrage are least likely to be the ones whose lives will be placed at risk. And so the question of intervening becomes more difficult, and the questions that arise can no longer be answered in terms of moral imperatives but demand political responses. Who then has the responsibility to intervene and the power to do so effectively? What are the limits of this responsibility, and who enforces it? The closer one looks, the harder these questions become, which may be part of the reason why so little is done and so many continue to suffer at the hands of others. These questions are our subject, and, given what goes on in the world, there could hardly be a more important one.
Alison DesForges is a consultant for Human Rights Watch in Africa.
Misha Glenny is a writer and journalist. His Most recent publications are The Fall of Yugoslavia (1992) and The Rebirth of History (1990).
Moshe Halbertal is professor of philosophy at The Hebrew University in Jerusalem. He is currently writing People of the Book: Canon, Meaning and Authority for Harvard Universitv Press.
Barbara Harff is associate professor of political science at the United States Naval Academy. She recently completed (with Ted R. Gurr) Ethnic Conflict in World Politics (1994).
J. Bryan Hehir is Professor of the Practice in Religion and Society, Harvard Divinity School and Center for International Affairs. He is the author of Intervention From Theories to Cases (1995).
Michael Ignatieff is a Visiting Fellow, St Antony's College, Oxford University. He recently wrote Blood and Belonging: Journeys into the New Nationalism (1994).
Otto Kallscheuer is a Visiting Fellow at the Institute for Human Sciences in Vienna. His most recent publications are Gottes Wort und Volkes Stimme (1994) and "Will There Be a European Left?" (1994).
Avishai Margalit is professor of philosophy at The Hebrew University in Jerusalem. With his coauthor, Moshe Halbertal, he has written Idolatry (1992). He is currently working on The Decent Society (forthcoming from Harvard University Press).
Monique Mujawamariya is a leading human rights activist.
Amélie Oksenberg Rorty is professor of philosophy at Mt. Holyoke College and a Fellow at the Woodrow Wilson Center. Her most recent published work is "The Hidden Politics of Multiculturalism" (1994).
Randall Robinson is Executive Director of TransAfrica. He is an editorialist who has frequently contributed to The Washington Post and other news publications. Mr. Robinson testifies regularly before the United States Congress.
Roger Rosenblatt is a writer whose works include The Man in the Water (1994) and Life Itself (1992).
Ernst Tugendhat is Emeritus Professor of Philosophy at Freie Univesitat in Berlin. He is the author of Vorlesungen über Ethik (1993).
Michael Walzer is a professor in the School of Social Science at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey. He recently published Thick and Thin: Moral Argument at Home and Abroad (1994).
Bernard Williams is White's Professor of Moral Philosophy, Oxford University, and Deutsch Professor of Philosophy, University of California, Berkeley. His newest work is Making Sense of Humanity (forthcoming, 1995).
