Mark Devenney – författare

In addressing the political and theoretical debates between critical and post-Marxist theorists, this book discusses the politics of communication and rationality, subjectivity, sovereignty, ethics and deliberative democracy, considering questions such as:* Does the theory of communicative action justify deliberative democracy?* Is a theory of hegemony compatible with an account which relies upon an ideal of communicative success?* Is autonomy a good which should be fostered?* Can the ideal of democracy extend beyond the nation state?* Does post-Marxism have anything interesting to say about ethics?Analysing the work of Ernesto Laclau and Jürgen Habermas - as representatives of different choices made in regard to theory, politics and morality - Ethics and Politics in Contemporary Theory develops a critical response to the contrasting conclusions of these approaches.

This interdisciplinary book investigates the consequences of the language of terror for our lives in democratic societies.The approach of this book is in direct contrast with those that either view terrorism simplistically, as a clear reality threatening democratic society and thus requiring certain sorts of response, or argue, equally simplistically, that the invocation of terror is merely the ideological veil for continued capitalist exploitation. While closer in spirit to the second of these, this work does not simply dismiss the discourse on terror, but rather investigates the consequences of this discourse for the organisation of life in democratic societies.In interrogating the discourse of terror from a variety of viewpoints, this interdisciplinary text builds upon the understanding of the importance of the language of terror from a new perspective: the interconnections between discourses of terror; the material realities they at once reflect and help produce; and the specificities of particular historical circumstances. In offering an integrated approach of this sort, and founded on a base of applied philosophy, broadly conceived, the contributors offer a new contribution to both public and academic debate, and at the same time initiate a series of further interventions in Critical Terrorism Studies.This book will be of interest to students of critical terrorism studies, terrorism studies, security studies, philosophy and discourse theory. Bob Brecher is Director of the Centre for Applied Philosophy, Politics & Ethics at Brighton University. He has published widely in moral, political and applied philosophy and the politics of higher education.Mark Devenney is Academic Programme Leader in Humanities at the University of Brighton. He has published in the areas of critical theory, post-Marxism and post-Colonial politics.Aaron Winter is Lecturer in Sociology at the University of Abertay Dundee. His research focuses on terrorism and the concept of ‘extremism’, whiteness, masculinity and violence, and the extreme right, organised racism and the religious right in the United States.

In addressing the political and theoretical debates between critical and post-Marxist theorists, this book discusses the politics of communication and rationality, subjectivity, sovereignty, ethics and deliberative democracy, considering questions such as:* Does the theory of communicative action justify deliberative democracy?* Is a theory of hegemony compatible with an account which relies upon an ideal of communicative success?* Is autonomy a good which should be fostered?* Can the ideal of democracy extend beyond the nation state?* Does post-Marxism have anything interesting to say about ethics?Analysing the work of Ernesto Laclau and Jürgen Habermas - as representatives of different choices made in regard to theory, politics and morality - Ethics and Politics in Contemporary Theory develops a critical response to the contrasting conclusions of these approaches.

This interdisciplinary book investigates the consequences of the language of terror for our lives in democratic societies.The approach of this book is in direct contrast with those that either view terrorism simplistically, as a clear reality threatening democratic society and thus requiring certain sorts of response, or argue, equally simplistically, that the invocation of terror is merely the ideological veil for continued capitalist exploitation. While closer in spirit to the second of these, this work does not simply dismiss the discourse on terror, but rather investigates the consequences of this discourse for the organisation of life in democratic societies.In interrogating the discourse of terror from a variety of viewpoints, this interdisciplinary text builds upon the understanding of the importance of the language of terror from a new perspective: the interconnections between discourses of terror; the material realities they at once reflect and help produce; and the specificities of particular historical circumstances. In offering an integrated approach of this sort, and founded on a base of applied philosophy, broadly conceived, the contributors offer a new contribution to both public and academic debate, and at the same time initiate a series of further interventions in Critical Terrorism Studies.This book will be of interest to students of critical terrorism studies, terrorism studies, security studies, philosophy and discourse theory. Bob Brecher is Director of the Centre for Applied Philosophy, Politics & Ethics at Brighton University. He has published widely in moral, political and applied philosophy and the politics of higher education.Mark Devenney is Academic Programme Leader in Humanities at the University of Brighton. He has published in the areas of critical theory, post-Marxism and post-Colonial politics.Aaron Winter is Lecturer in Sociology at the University of Abertay Dundee. His research focuses on terrorism and the concept of ‘extremism’, whiteness, masculinity and violence, and the extreme right, organised racism and the religious right in the United States.

This is the first English language book to analyse the contrasting populisms of Lula and Bolsonaro, developing a unique analysis of Brazilian politics and the more than two-decade long rule of populisms of the left and the right. Lulism, as a centre-left discourse, defends the basic institutional framework of liberal democracies while contesting their inequalities. Bolsonarism is an extreme right-wing, flagrantly anti-democratic political movement.Introducing English speaking readers to why Brazil is central to contemporary geopolitical concerns, the book investigates how populisms imagine, represent and respond to debates about equality and social rights. It centres climate change in the analysis of populist politics, centring debates about the ‘natural world’ in both populisms, and analyses the place of indigenous identities and political claims in relation to Brazil’s populist discourses.

This book systematically introduces the idea of an improper politics. Introducing a conceptual vocabulary, it engages with the politics of the proper, propriety and property from a post-foundational perspective. Mark Devenney argues that this triad is central to understanding the maintenance of global inequality, both economic and political. He characterises democratic politics as improper, challenging the proper bounds of reason, accepted behaviours, and the policing of proper order. The conceptualisation of democracy as an improper practice of equality accords a dignity to forms of politics often deemed marginal.