Antonio Cerella – författare

What is political modernity? And how much of its concepts and structures has changed or remained the same with the advent of the so-called globalization? What does it mean, from a political perspective, that we live in a postmodern era? This book discusses these issues in light of the key authors and texts of the continental philosophical tradition: from Carl Schmitt to Giorgio Agamben, from Thomas Hobbes to Michel Foucault. Looking at the roots of the current historical crisis that characterizes Western political regimes, this book gazes into the past in order to trace the possible development of our current global era, in which all the classical concepts and our symbolic resources seem to be called into question, leaving a vacuum of meaning for political action as much as for political theory.

What is political modernity? And how much of its concepts and structures has changed or remained the same with the advent of the so-called globalization? What does it mean, from a political perspective, that we live in a postmodern era? This book discusses these issues in light of the key authors and texts of the continental philosophical tradition: from Carl Schmitt to Giorgio Agamben, from Thomas Hobbes to Michel Foucault. Looking at the roots of the current historical crisis that characterizes Western political regimes, this book gazes into the past in order to trace the possible development of our current global era, in which all the classical concepts and our symbolic resources seem to be called into question, leaving a vacuum of meaning for political action as much as for political theory.

This book presents the first in-depth study of the renowned Austrian-Jewish sociologist and philosopher Jacob Taubes (1923-87).Jacob Taubes is now increasingly recognised as one of the most important Jewish thinkers of the 20th century. Born in Vienna, his family fled to Switzerland in the 1930s to escape Nazism, and Taubes later took up positions at institutions in the US, Berlin, and Jerusalem. where he engaged in debates with figures as diverse as Gershom Scholem and Carl Schmitt. Following his early death, Taubes’s influence has continued to grow and figures such as Giorgio Agamben, Slavoj Zizek and Alain Badiou have all engaged with his thought. In Jacob Taubes: Sovereignty and Messianic Time, acclaimed philosopher Elettra Stimilli offers the first critical study of Taubes’s work, from his debates with Schmitt to his reading of Saint Paul, as well as his foundational influence on the school of thought we now call “political theology”. This book is essential reading for anyone researching political theology, 20th- century Jewish thought and the relationship between theology and philosophy today.

Jacob Taubes (1923-87) was one of the most important Jewish thinkers of the 20th-century, but until recently there has been little academic writing about him. Elettra Stimilli presents the first English translation of Taubes' work, which has proved so essential to philosophical and theological studies. Stimilli’s work will hold considerable interest for students and scholars specialising in Saint Paul’s writings; Taubes brilliantly deconstructed these texts to reveal their more subversive and heterodox implications and through his interlocutions with Carl Schmitt, identified the apostle as a heretical Jew, who decided to follow Jesus. Such original thought ushered in a new realm of political theology that has been crucial to thinkers who work with Pauline thought today, such as Slavoj Žižek and Alain Badiou. Stimilli’s work has grown increasingly significant and her incisive treatment of Taubes’ writings will bring him to the attention of an even wider audience.

30 essential concepts. 30 distinguished scholars. 1 landmark volume.This collection is the first critical lexicon dedicated to the central concepts of political theology. Bringing together thirty specially commissioned essays – from 'Acclamation' to 'War' – it maps the conceptual terrain that has shaped, and continues to shape, political-theological inquiry. Featuring contributions from an international and interdisciplinary group of scholars across philosophy, theology and religious studies, political theory, law, history, and comparative literature, this volume offers an authoritative guide to the field and a vital point of reference for future research.In each of the book’s thirty essays readers will find a history of the relevant concept, a summary of key debates and a reflection on that concept’s current and future significance within the field. Chapters are also accompanied by a short bibliography of further reading to enable the reader to pursue a concept in more depth. International and interdisciplinary in its scope, this keystone volume in Bloomsbury’s Political Theologies series is an unparalleled survey of one of the most dynamic fields within contemporary political theory, philosophy and religious studies.

30 essential concepts. 30 distinguished scholars. 1 landmark volume.This collection is the first critical lexicon dedicated to the central concepts of political theology. Bringing together thirty specially commissioned essays – from 'Acclamation' to 'War' – it maps the conceptual terrain that has shaped, and continues to shape, political-theological inquiry. Featuring contributions from an international and interdisciplinary group of scholars across philosophy, theology and religious studies, political theory, law, history, and comparative literature, this volume offers an authoritative guide to the field and a vital point of reference for future research.In each of the book’s thirty essays readers will find a history of the relevant concept, a summary of key debates and a reflection on that concept’s current and future significance within the field. Chapters are also accompanied by a short bibliography of further reading to enable the reader to pursue a concept in more depth. International and interdisciplinary in its scope, this keystone volume in Bloomsbury’s Political Theologies series is an unparalleled survey of one of the most dynamic fields within contemporary political theory, philosophy and religious studies.

What is the relationship between the sacred and the political, transcendence and immanence, religion and violence? And how has this complex relation affected the history of Western political reason? In this volume an international group of scholars explore these questions in light of mimetic theory as formulated by René Girard (1923-2015), one of the most original thinkers of our time. From Aristotle and his idea of tragedy, passing through Machiavelli and political modernity, up to contemporary biopolitics, this work provides an indispensable guide to those who want to assess the thorny interconnections of sacrality and politics in Western political thought and follow an unexplored yet critical path from ancient Greece to our post-secular condition. While looking at the past, this volume also seeks to illuminate the future relevance of the sacred/secular divide in the so-called 'age of globalization'.

Globalization is one of the most contested and (ab)used concepts of our time. Whether one interprets it as a ‘collective illusion’ or as the final stage of capitalism, as ‘uncontrollable multitude’ or as a radical opening of new spaces of freedom, the ‘global age’ represents the conceptual and existential background of our being-in-the-world. But what lies behind this process? What mode of human existence is brought about by the age of technology and ‘global mobilization’? And is it possible to attempt a unitary interpretation of this age that presents itself as both total and pluralistic? This volume rethinks these epochal questions in light of Martin Heidegger’s complex hermeneutics, proposing at the same time that such questions enable the interrogation of some of its most fundamental aspects: the metanarrative of Seinsgeschichte as withdrawal of Being; the structure of human existence within the frame of technology; the relation between humanism and nihilism, as well as politics and technology; the changing character of subjectivity in the ‘age of the world picture’; the mythopoeic force of art and the uprooting of human beings. As this volume shows, interrogating Heidegger’s thought has significant potential for both International Political Theory and also the analysis of specific concepts and dynamics in contemporary international studies, such as the changing character of spatiality, temporality, and subjectivity