Rethinking Political and International Theory – Serie

Connecting three generations of critical theorists, this edited collection focuses on the mutual complementarity between the concept of "human dignity" and the theory and practice of human rights.Human dignity has recently emerged as a controversial theme in the philosophy of human rights and has become the subject of a growing debate involving theological, political, juridical, moral, and biomedical perspectives. Previously, interpretations of this concept took for granted specific definitions of this term without accounting for the perspective offered by a "Critical Theory of Human Rights." This interdisciplinary perspective relies on a tradition that goes from Immanuel Kant to Jürgen Habermas, influences new generations, and sheds more light on how human dignity is used (and abused) in contemporary discourses. Based on this tradition, the contributors sustain an engaged discussion of the topic and address issues such as domination, colonialism, multiculturalism, globalization, and cosmopolitanism. Informed by different contexts, each author offers a unique contribution to distinctive aspects of the necessary internal correlation between human dignity and human rights.This book will be of interest to students and researchers in human rights in Europe, North America, and Latin America and readers in the areas of political science, philosophy, sociology, law, and international relations.

Rethinking Hobbes and Kant argues that predominant approaches to the theoretical relationship between Hobbes and Kant have reached conclusions that were pre-digested in assumptions about the ‘isms’ which these two writers are propounding. Chou shows how these assumptions have inhibited commentators from recognising the affinities between Hobbes’s and Kant’s political philosophies, or, if they have, prevented them from providing a plausible explanation of those affinities. To provide a fresh understanding of the relation between Hobbes and Kant, this book examines and compares what they actually wrote about some central conceptions in political theory, as it becomes visible once the assumptions out of which they are formed are set aside. Chou argues that what matters is that that we reflect upon our own assumptions, and that we have at least some conscious awareness that the assumptions of our day were not held all the time and everywhere, and that we do not reify them into crude models which distort the thought of the past and the present in equal measure. This book therefore seeks to bring into the arena of conscious thought assumptions which are deeply rooted in many modern minds and which work to distort many current studies of the relationship between Hobbes’ and Kant’s political philosophies, with negative consequences for the understanding of Hobbes, of Kant, and of politics itself.Providing a fresh understanding of the relation between Hobbes and Kant, this book will be of great use for graduates and scholars of Political Theory, Philosophy and Political Sociology.

Critical international theory has the task of providing orientation to human beings in better understanding their conditions of existence, how those conditions came to assume their contemporary characteristics, and what immanent potential they might hold for emancipatory transformation. The argument in this book is that this task of orientation is indissociable from a reliance on grand narratives that capture the main features of the long-term process of human development. And yet, many of these grand narratives also tend to reproduce Eurocentric worldviews that undermine critical international theory’s reliability as a means of orientation. In this book, André Saramago provides an innovative answer to the problem of orientation with which critical international theory is confronted. Through an indepth engagement with the work of Jürgen Habermas, Karl Marx, and Norbert Elias, he recovers a historical-sociological approach to grand narratives that avoids a reproduction of their Eurocentric shortcomings. In the process, he improves critical international theory’s role as a means of orientation by making it better theoretically equipped to capture the interweaving of the historical development of the human capacity for self-determination in the four key dimensions of human existence: people’s relations with themselves as individuals; social relations at both the intra- and inter-societal levels; and people’s relations with non-human nature. This book will appeal to all students and researchers interested in interdisciplinary and critical approaches to the study of world politics, long-term processes of social change, and human-nature relations, working within or across the fields of International Relations, Sociology, Political Theory, and related areas of inquiry.

Critical international theory has the task of providing orientation to human beings in better understanding their conditions of existence, how those conditions came to assume their contemporary characteristics, and what immanent potential they might hold for emancipatory transformation. The argument in this book is that this task of orientation is indissociable from a reliance on grand narratives that capture the main features of the long-term process of human development. And yet, many of these grand narratives also tend to reproduce Eurocentric worldviews that undermine critical international theory’s reliability as a means of orientation. In this book, André Saramago provides an innovative answer to the problem of orientation with which critical international theory is confronted. Through an indepth engagement with the work of Jürgen Habermas, Karl Marx, and Norbert Elias, he recovers a historical-sociological approach to grand narratives that avoids a reproduction of their Eurocentric shortcomings. In the process, he improves critical international theory’s role as a means of orientation by making it better theoretically equipped to capture the interweaving of the historical development of the human capacity for self-determination in the four key dimensions of human existence: people’s relations with themselves as individuals; social relations at both the intra- and inter-societal levels; and people’s relations with non-human nature. This book will appeal to all students and researchers interested in interdisciplinary and critical approaches to the study of world politics, long-term processes of social change, and human-nature relations, working within or across the fields of International Relations, Sociology, Political Theory, and related areas of inquiry.

There is an inherent tension between popular and establishment powers in political communities. With anti-establishment sentiment on the rise across Western democracies, exploring the underpinnings of this dualism and rethinking theories of political life within states is of paramount importance. By combining the theories of Carl Schmitt and Benedict Spinoza, this book develops a framework of continuous reproduction, whereby the two powers simultaneously hold one another in tension and supersede one another. In the same vein, political communities are shown to be perpetually caught in a cycle of creativity/contestation, derived primarily from Schmitt (the tragic groundlessness of politics) and limitation (derived primarily from Spinoza as a quasi-theological belief in the status quo). Providing a novel theoretical framework explaining the workings of democratic politics, this book also offers a non-traditional reading of Spinoza and Schmitt. Whereas traditionally both have been treated as almost polar opposites, here they are held in creative tension, providing equally important building blocks for the proposed theory. By furthering their analysis, the author creates a new theory of political action.

Connecting three generations of critical theorists, this edited collection focuses on the mutual complementarity between the concept of "human dignity" and the theory and practice of human rights.Human dignity has recently emerged as a controversial theme in the philosophy of human rights and has become the subject of a growing debate involving theological, political, juridical, moral, and biomedical perspectives. Previously, interpretations of this concept took for granted specific definitions of this term without accounting for the perspective offered by a "Critical Theory of Human Rights." This interdisciplinary perspective relies on a tradition that goes from Immanuel Kant to Jürgen Habermas, influences new generations, and sheds more light on how human dignity is used (and abused) in contemporary discourses. Based on this tradition, the contributors sustain an engaged discussion of the topic and address issues such as domination, colonialism, multiculturalism, globalization, and cosmopolitanism. Informed by different contexts, each author offers a unique contribution to distinctive aspects of the necessary internal correlation between human dignity and human rights.This book will be of interest to students and researchers in human rights in Europe, North America, and Latin America and readers in the areas of political science, philosophy, sociology, law, and international relations.

What would a sustainable society look like? How could it be achieved? By challenging conventional wisdom about the ecological crisis and reframing the traditional values of green politics "Real Green; Sustainability after the End of Nature" offers new answers to the key questions of the environmental debate. In this ground-breaking and challenging work Manuel Arias-Maldonado convincingly argues that, since nature has now been transformed into a part of the human environment, it can be seen to no longer exist. Ecological problems thus become an inevitable and normal feature of our relationship with nature. Hence a post-natural environmentalism, realistic and liberal while remaining green, is advocated. In this framework, sustainability, democracy and liberalism become mutually reinforcing elements rather than conflicting ones. Only by combining them can a green society be realised.

Despite a plethora of studies devoted to it, the current understanding of al-Qaeda and the threat it poses remains vague and ambiguous. Is al-Qaeda a rigidly structured organisation, a global network of semi-independent cells, a franchise, or simply an ideology? What role did Osama bin Laden play within the group and its terrorist campaign? What does it mean to talk about the "global Salafi-jihad" threat allegedly confronting the West? In addressing such questions many writers have sought to offer definitive answers, yet overall the truth about al-Qaeda remains elusive. This book moves beyond this traditional approach in order to investigate and critically assess how such answers reflect the particular epistemological frameworks within which they are produced. Its chapters explore the varied contexts within which the obscure entity labelled al-Qaeda is constituted as a comprehensible object of political, strategic, cultural, and scientific knowledge, and within which 'terrorism' is rendered an experience of quotidian life. This volume offers a much-needed critical reflection on Western ways of talking and of thinking about the frightening experience of global terrorism. In trying to know how we know al-Qaeda, it offers us an opportunity to try to know ourselves and our often hidden assumptions about legitimacy, violence, and political purpose.

This book makes a significant contribution to the on-going international dialogue on the meaning of concepts such as human rights, humanity, and cosmopolitanism. The authors propose a new agenda for research into a Critical Theory of Human Rights. Each chapter pursues three goals: to reconstruct modern philosophical theories that have contributed to our views on human rights; to highlight the importance of humanity and human dignity as a complementary dimension to liberal rights; and, finally, to integrate these issues more directly in contemporary discussions about cosmopolitanism. The authors not only present multicultural perspectives on how to rethink political and international theory in terms of the normativity of human rights, but also promote an international dialogue on the prospects for a critical theory of human rights discourses in the 21st century.

Are Western and Islamic political and constitutional ideas truly predestined for civilizational clash? In order to understand this controversy The Concert of Civilizations begins by deriving and redefining a definition of constitutionalism that is suitable for comparative, cross-cultural analysis. The rule of law, reflection of national character, and the clear delineation and limitation of governmental power are used as lenses through which thinkers like Cicero, Montesquieu, and the authors of The Federalist Papers can be read alongside al-Farabi, ibn Khaldun, and the Ottoman Tanzimat decrees. Bridging the civilizational divide is a chapter comparing the Magna Carta with Muhammad’sConstitution of Medina, as both documents can be seen as foundational within their traditions. For the first time in political theory, this text also provides a sustained, detailed analysis of Khayr al-Din al-Tunisi’s book The Surest Path, which explains his fusion of Muslim and Western ideas in his writing of Tunisia’s first modern constitution, which is also the first constitution for a majority-Muslim state. Finally, the book discusses the Arab Spring through a brief overview of the revolutions in Egypt, Libya, and Tunisia, and offers some early thoughts about Tunisia’s uniquely successful revolution.

The past several decades have seen the emergence of a vigorous ongoing debate about the 'politics of recognition'. The initial impetus was provided by the reflections of Charles Taylor and others about the rights to cultural recognition of historically marginalized groups in Western societies. Since then, the parameters of the debate have considerably broadened. However, while debates about the politics of recognition have yielded significant theoretical insights into recognition, its logical and necessary counterpart, misrecognition, has been relatively neglected. 'The Politics of Misrecognition' is the most meticulous reflection to date on the importance of misrecognition for the understandings of our political and personal experience. A team of leading experts from a range of disciplines, including philosophy, political theory, sociology, psychoanalysis, history, moral economy and criminology present different theoretical frameworks in which the politics of misrecognition may be understood. They apply these frameworks to a wide variety of contexts, including those of class identity, disability, slavery, criminal victimization and domestic abuse. In this way, the book provides an essential resource for anyone interested in the dynamics of misrecognition and their implications for the development of political and social theory.

There is an inherent tension between popular and establishment powers in political communities. With anti-establishment sentiment on the rise across Western democracies, exploring the underpinnings of this dualism and rethinking theories of political life within states is of paramount importance. By combining the theories of Carl Schmitt and Benedict Spinoza, this book develops a framework of continuous reproduction, whereby the two powers simultaneously hold one another in tension and supersede one another. In the same vein, political communities are shown to be perpetually caught in a cycle of creativity/contestation, derived primarily from Schmitt (the tragic groundlessness of politics) and limitation (derived primarily from Spinoza as a quasi-theological belief in the status quo). Providing a novel theoretical framework explaining the workings of democratic politics, this book also offers a non-traditional reading of Spinoza and Schmitt. Whereas traditionally both have been treated as almost polar opposites, here they are held in creative tension, providing equally important building blocks for the proposed theory. By furthering their analysis, the author creates a new theory of political action.

The past several decades have seen the emergence of a vigorous ongoing debate about the 'politics of recognition'. The initial impetus was provided by the reflections of Charles Taylor and others about the rights to cultural recognition of historically marginalized groups in Western societies. Since then, the parameters of the debate have considerably broadened. However, while debates about the politics of recognition have yielded significant theoretical insights into recognition, its logical and necessary counterpart, misrecognition, has been relatively neglected. 'The Politics of Misrecognition' is the most meticulous reflection to date on the importance of misrecognition for the understandings of our political and personal experience. A team of leading experts from a range of disciplines, including philosophy, political theory, sociology, psychoanalysis, history, moral economy and criminology present different theoretical frameworks in which the politics of misrecognition may be understood. They apply these frameworks to a wide variety of contexts, including those of class identity, disability, slavery, criminal victimization and domestic abuse. In this way, the book provides an essential resource for anyone interested in the dynamics of misrecognition and their implications for the development of political and social theory.

In an interview with Günter Gaus for German television in 1964, Hannah Arendt insisted that she was not a philosopher but a political theorist. Disillusioned by the cooperation of German intellectuals with the Nazis, she said farewell to philosophy when she fled the country. This book examines Arendt's ideas about thinking, acting and political responsibility, investigating the relationship between the life of the mind and the life of action that preoccupied Arendt throughout her life. By joining in the conversation between Arendt and Gaus, each contributor probes her ideas about thinking and judging and their relation to responsibility, power and violence. An insightful and intelligent treatment of the work of Hannah Arendt, this volume will appeal to a wide number of fields beyond political theory and philosophy, including law, literary studies, social anthropology and cultural history.

The first book length study of agonism as a mature account of democratic politics, Institutionalizing Agonistic Democracy provides a lucid overview of agonistic democratic theories and demonstrates the viability of this approach for institutional politics. Situating agonistic democracy within and against debates about radical democracy, foundationalism, liberal democracy, and pluralism, Institutionalizing Agonistic Democracy engages the texts of Mouffe, Connolly, Ranciere, Tully, Honig, Owen, and others to fully map the contours of agonistic democratic theories. Organizing this diverse literature into a coherent typology enables sophisticated analysis of the assumptions, distinctions, and aspirations of the often conflicting theoretical positions gathered within the constellation of agonistic democratic theory. Using this framework to explore the concrete institutional possibilities appropriate to agonistic democracy, Wingenbach argues that a modified version of Rawlsian political liberalism describes the institutional conditions most likely to sustain agonistic political practices. Once shorn of metaphysical commitments and detached from aspirations to consensus, political liberalism offers a contingent and historically viable framework within which agonistic contestation can occur. Such a reinterpretation of Rawls produces not the sublimation of agonism but a transformation of liberalism, so that it more adequately accommodates the deep pluralism of the post-foundational condition.

Despite a plethora of studies devoted to it, the current understanding of al-Qaeda and the threat it poses remains vague and ambiguous. Is al-Qaeda a rigidly structured organisation, a global network of semi-independent cells, a franchise, or simply an ideology? What role did Osama bin Laden play within the group and its terrorist campaign? What does it mean to talk about the "global Salafi-jihad" threat allegedly confronting the West? In addressing such questions many writers have sought to offer definitive answers, yet overall the truth about al-Qaeda remains elusive. This book moves beyond this traditional approach in order to investigate and critically assess how such answers reflect the particular epistemological frameworks within which they are produced. Its chapters explore the varied contexts within which the obscure entity labelled al-Qaeda is constituted as a comprehensible object of political, strategic, cultural, and scientific knowledge, and within which 'terrorism' is rendered an experience of quotidian life. This volume offers a much-needed critical reflection on Western ways of talking and of thinking about the frightening experience of global terrorism. In trying to know how we know al-Qaeda, it offers us an opportunity to try to know ourselves and our often hidden assumptions about legitimacy, violence, and political purpose.

What would a sustainable society look like? How could it be achieved? By challenging conventional wisdom about the ecological crisis and reframing the traditional values of green politics "Real Green; Sustainability after the End of Nature" offers new answers to the key questions of the environmental debate. In this ground-breaking and challenging work Manuel Arias-Maldonado convincingly argues that, since nature has now been transformed into a part of the human environment, it can be seen to no longer exist. Ecological problems thus become an inevitable and normal feature of our relationship with nature. Hence a post-natural environmentalism, realistic and liberal while remaining green, is advocated. In this framework, sustainability, democracy and liberalism become mutually reinforcing elements rather than conflicting ones. Only by combining them can a green society be realised.

This book makes a significant contribution to the on-going international dialogue on the meaning of concepts such as human rights, humanity, and cosmopolitanism. The authors propose a new agenda for research into a Critical Theory of Human Rights. Each chapter pursues three goals: to reconstruct modern philosophical theories that have contributed to our views on human rights; to highlight the importance of humanity and human dignity as a complementary dimension to liberal rights; and, finally, to integrate these issues more directly in contemporary discussions about cosmopolitanism. The authors not only present multicultural perspectives on how to rethink political and international theory in terms of the normativity of human rights, but also promote an international dialogue on the prospects for a critical theory of human rights discourses in the 21st century.

Interest in Aristotelianism and in virtue ethics has been growing for half a century but as yet the strengths of the study of Aristotelian ethics in politics have not been matched in economics. This ground-breaking text fills that gap. Challenging the premises of neoclassical economic theory, the contributors take issue with neoclassicism’s foundational separation of values from facts, with its treatment of preferences as given, and with its consequent refusal to reason about final ends. The contrary presupposition of this collection is that ethical reasoning about human ends is essential for any sustainable economy, and that reasoning about economic goods should therefore be informed by reasoning about what is humanly and commonly good. Contributions critically engage with aspects of corporate capitalism, managerial power and neoliberal economic policy, and reflect on the recent financial crisis from the point of view of Aristotelian virtue ethics. Containing a new chapter by Alasdair MacIntyre, and deploying his arguments and conceptual scheme throughout, the book critically analyses the theoretical presuppositions and institutional reality of modern capitalism.

Are Western and Islamic political and constitutional ideas truly predestined for civilizational clash? In order to understand this controversy The Concert of Civilizations begins by deriving and redefining a definition of constitutionalism that is suitable for comparative, cross-cultural analysis. The rule of law, reflection of national character, and the clear delineation and limitation of governmental power are used as lenses through which thinkers like Cicero, Montesquieu, and the authors of The Federalist Papers can be read alongside al-Farabi, ibn Khaldun, and the Ottoman Tanzimat decrees. Bridging the civilizational divide is a chapter comparing the Magna Carta with Muhammad’sConstitution of Medina, as both documents can be seen as foundational within their traditions. For the first time in political theory, this text also provides a sustained, detailed analysis of Khayr al-Din al-Tunisi’s book The Surest Path, which explains his fusion of Muslim and Western ideas in his writing of Tunisia’s first modern constitution, which is also the first constitution for a majority-Muslim state. Finally, the book discusses the Arab Spring through a brief overview of the revolutions in Egypt, Libya, and Tunisia, and offers some early thoughts about Tunisia’s uniquely successful revolution.

Since the onset of the Global Financial Crisis the ideas of Karl Marx have once again become prominent in social and political thought. This book turns to Marx’s theory of revolutionary subjectivity as a means of assessing the work of three contemporary global theorists: Ernesto Laclau, Antonio Negri, and Alain Badiou, considered here together for the first time.