Political science and theory Books

Book SynopsisFor much of the last half century, the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) has seemed the outlier in global peace. Today Iraq, Libya, Israel/Palestine, Yemen, and Syria are not just countries, but synonyms for prolonged and brutal wars. But why is MENA so exceptionally violent? More importantly, can it change? Exploring the causes and consequences of wars and conflicts in this troubled region, Ariel Ahram helps readers answer these questions. In Part I, Ahram shows how MENA’s conflicts evolved with the formation of its states. Violence varied from civil wars and insurgencies to traditional interstate conflicts and affected some countries more frequently than others. The strategies rulers employed to stay in power constrained how they recruited, trained, and equipped their armies. Part II explores dynamics that trap the region in conflict—oil dependence, geopolitical interference, and embedded identity cleavages. The catastrophic wars of the 2010s reflect the confounding effects of these traps, culminating in state collapse and intervention from the US and Russia, as well as regional powers like Iran, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE. Finally, Ahram considers the possibilities of peace, highlighting the disjuncture between local peacebuilding and national and internationally-backed mediation. War and Conflict in the Middle East and North Africa will be an essential resource for students of peace and security studies and MENA politics, and anyone wanting to move beyond headlines and soundbites to understand the historical and social roots of MENA’s conflicts.Trade Review“This book enhances our understanding of organized political violence in the Middle East. Drawing on a wide range of literatures alongside a comparison of case studies, it highlights the factors driving war and conflict in the region. It is a crucial resource for students interested in these topics.”Brent E. Sasley, University of Texas at Arlington “Ahram knits together the factors that have trapped the Middle East in violence, capturing the complexities of the region in a straightforward and accessible way. War and Conflict in the Middle East and North Africa is an excellent guide to the region today.”Daniel Byman, Georgetown University “Ariel Ahram has cleared the conceptual underbrush and introduced a number of important arguments about conflict in the Middle East. My students will be reading this book. If you want a clear-headed primer on the region's many wars, you should read it, too.”F. Gregory Gause, III, Bush School of Government and Public Service, Texas A&M University “Ahram’s book offers a solid overview of armed conflict in the MENA region during the post-Second World War era. This work, in short, could serve as a useful introductory text in university classes dedicated to this phenomenon.”Israel Affairs“a thought-provoking read… a valuable source for those who study, research, or teach regional dynamics and global trends.” The Journal of the Middle East and AfricaTable of ContentsIntroduction Part I Chapter 1: Accounting for War in the Middle East and North Africa Chapter 2: The MENA Security Predicaments Part IIChapter 3: Oil as Conflict Trap Chapter 4: Identity as Conflict Trap Chapter 5: Geopolitics as Conflict Trap Chapter 6: Fragmentation, Integration, and War in the 2010s Chapter 7: Peace and Peacemaking

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Book SynopsisThe original – and often continuing – sin of countries with a settler colonial past is their brutal treatment of indigenous peoples. This challenging legacy continues to confront modern liberal democracies ranging from the USA and Canada to Australia, New Zealand and beyond. Duncan Ivison’s book considers how these states can justly accommodate indigenous populations today. He shows how indigenous movements have gained prominence in the past decade, driving both domestic and international campaigns for change. He examines how the claims made by these movements challenge liberal conceptions of the state, rights, political community, identity and legitimacy. Interweaving a lucid introduction to the debates with his own original argument, he contends that we need to move beyond complaints about the ‘politics of identity’ and towards a more historically and theoretically nuanced liberalism better suited to our times. This book will be a key resource for students and scholars interested in political theory, historic injustice, Indigenous studies and the history of political thought.Trade Review‘In this refreshingly clear and succinct book, Duncan Ivison argues against views of Indigenous rights that erroneously presuppose the legitimacy of the liberal state’s unilateral assertion of sovereignty over Indigenous peoples. A must-read for political theorists.’ Melissa S. Williams, University of Toronto ‘This important work takes the historical and present injustices inflicted on Indigenous peoples seriously and presents one of the best liberal responses to them.’James Tully, University of Victoria, AustraliaTable of ContentsAcknowledgements Preface: Uluru Chapter 1: The Challenge Chapter 2: Multiculturalism Chapter 3: Rights Chapter 4: Legitimacy & Justice Notes Bibliography

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Book SynopsisThe original – and often continuing – sin of countries with a settler colonial past is their brutal treatment of indigenous peoples. This challenging legacy continues to confront modern liberal democracies ranging from the USA and Canada to Australia, New Zealand and beyond. Duncan Ivison’s book considers how these states can justly accommodate indigenous populations today. He shows how indigenous movements have gained prominence in the past decade, driving both domestic and international campaigns for change. He examines how the claims made by these movements challenge liberal conceptions of the state, rights, political community, identity and legitimacy. Interweaving a lucid introduction to the debates with his own original argument, he contends that we need to move beyond complaints about the ‘politics of identity’ and towards a more historically and theoretically nuanced liberalism better suited to our times. This book will be a key resource for students and scholars interested in political theory, historic injustice, Indigenous studies and the history of political thought.Trade Review‘In this refreshingly clear and succinct book, Duncan Ivison argues against views of Indigenous rights that erroneously presuppose the legitimacy of the liberal state’s unilateral assertion of sovereignty over Indigenous peoples. A must-read for political theorists.’ Melissa S. Williams, University of Toronto ‘This important work takes the historical and present injustices inflicted on Indigenous peoples seriously and presents one of the best liberal responses to them.’James Tully, University of Victoria, AustraliaTable of ContentsAcknowledgements Preface: Uluru Chapter 1: The Challenge Chapter 2: Multiculturalism Chapter 3: Rights Chapter 4: Legitimacy & Justice Notes Bibliography

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Book SynopsisShould Brexit or Trump cause us to doubt our faith in democracy? Are ‘the people’ too ignorant or stupid to rule? Numerous commentators are seriously arguing that the answer to these questions might be ‘yes’. In this take-no-prisoners book, Canadian-Irish author Roslyn Fuller kicks these anti-democrats where it hurts the most – the facts. Fuller shows how many academics, journalists and politicians have embraced the idea that there can be ‘too much democracy’, and deftly unravels their attempts to end majority rule, whether through limiting the franchise, pursuing Chinese ‘meritocracy’ or confining participation to random legislation panels. She shows that Trump, Brexit or whatever other political event you may have disapproved of recently aren’t doing half the damage to democracy that elite self-righteousness and corruption are. In fact, argues Fuller, there are real reasons to be optimistic. Ancient methods can be combined with modern technology to revitalize democracy and allow the people to truly rule. In Defence of Democracy is a witty and energetic contribution to the debate on the future of democracy.Trade Review‘In an era when, remarkably, the merits of democracy seem to be up for debate, it is invaluable to have so many of the arguments of the anti-democrats dispelled so comprehensively. If you've ever felt like you needed the arguments to defend the ability of the people to govern themselves, you’ll find what you need here.’Robin McAlpine, Director of Common Weal ‘In Defence of Democracy offers us a preview of what democracy is about to become: much more representative, more direct, more digital, more local and transnational. A winning concept described by this winning writer. Get it! Read it!’Bruno Kaufmann, Democracy International"a valuable guide"Los Angeles Review of BooksTable of ContentsIntroduction: Why This? Why Me? Why Now? Part One: The Terrible Truth: People Aren’t All That Stupid or Evil Objection One: Democracy Can’t Work Because People are Too Racist and Sexist Objection Two: People are Too Stupid for Democracy Objection Three: There’s No Point to Democracy Because People Don’t Know What Is Good For Them Anyway Objection Four: People are Just Too Crazy for Democracy to Work To Conclude Part Two: Fixing Politics the Anti-Democrat Way Section I Assorted Libertarian, Authoritarian and Explicitly Elitist Solutions Rule by the ‘Knowledgeable’ (Jason Brennan) Rule by the Deep State (Bryan Caplan) Rule by the Market (Ilya Somin) Long Live the Party! (Jonathan Rauch and Benjamin Wittes) Rule of the Superior (Daniel Bell) Section II Sortition: The False Democrats Participation Representation and Legitimacy Politics is Conflict Mediation Corruption Conclusions On Sortition Conclusions to Part Two Part Three: A World You Might Want to Actually Live In (Fuller Democracy) Five Principles for Transformational (but Responsible…) People Power 1. Shift to Online and En Masse 2. Pay-for-Participation 3. Focused, Outcome-Oriented Deliberation (Information, Isegoria and Conflict Resolution) 4. Precarious, Informal Leadership (but Leadership all the Same) 5. Sortition in its Proper Place Why It’s Worth It 1. People want Democracy 2. Fuller Democracy Solves a lot of Anti-Democrat Objections to Democracy 3. Writing a New Social Contract Final Words: Buckle-up Buttercup – The Future is Going to be Interesting

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Book SynopsisDemocracies today are in the grip of a myth: the myth of the will of the people. Populist movements use the idea to challenge elected representatives. Politicians, content to invoke the will of the people, fail in their duty to make responsible and accountable decisions. And public contest over political choices is stifled by fears that opposing the will of the people will be perceived as elitist. In this book Albert Weale dissects the idea of the will of the people, showing that it relies on a mythical view of participatory democracy. As soon as a choice between more than two simple alternatives is involved, there is often no clear answer to the question of what a majority favours. Moreover, because governments have to interpret the results of referendums, the will of the people becomes a means for strengthening executive control – the exact opposite of what appealing to the people’s will seemed to imply. Weale argues that it’s time to dispense with the myth of the will of the people. A flourishing democracy requires an open society in which choices can be challenged, parliaments strengthened and populist leaders called to account.Trade Review"An accessible and incisive critique of populism and referenda by a true democrat. The Will of the People is a magisterial contribution of academic political theory to our troubled and confused public debate. Essential reading."—Cécile Laborde, University of Oxford "In this lucid and engaging essay, Albert Weale enlists insights of modern political analysis to enlighten public debate. He cogently shows that the manipulative ideal of a singular 'will of the people' is both fallacious and antithetical to fundamental values of democratic politics."—Jack Nagel, University of PennsylvaniaTable of Contents Table of Contents Acknowledgements Preface Chapter 1 In the Grip of a Myth Chapter 2 Nostalgic Myths Chapter 3 What is a People? Chapter 4 Majority Willing? Chapter 5 The Mythical Sovereign Chapter 6 On Being Outnumbered Chapter 7 Democracy without Myth Chapter 8 The Ethics of Responsibility Notes

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Book SynopsisPoliticians invoke grand ideas: social justice, democracy, community, liberty, equality. But what do these ideas really mean? How can politicians across the political spectrum appeal to the same values? This fourth edition of Adam Swift's highly readable introduction to political philosophy answers these important questions, and includes new material on issues such as nationalism, immigration and multiculturalism, as well as updated guides to further reading. This lively and accessible book is ideal for students, but it also brings the insights of the world's leading political philosophers to a wide general audience. Using plenty of examples, it equips readers to think for themselves about the ideas that shape political life. Democracy works best when both politicians and voters move beyond rhetoric to think clearly and carefully about the values and principles that should govern their society. But clear thinking is difficult in an age when established orthodoxies have fallen by the wayside and political debate is becoming increasingly tribal and raucous. Bringing political philosophy out of the ivory tower and within the reach of all, this book provides us with tools to cut through the complexities and penetrate the smokescreens of modern politics. In so doing, it makes a valuable contribution to the democratic process and this new edition will continue to be essential reading for students of political philosophy and theory.Trade Review‘As a teacher and a writer, Adam Swift’s career has been about connecting the high ideals of political theory with the vital fabric of everyday life. His book is a welcoming invitation into the world of political philosophy and urgent injunction to think more deeply and read more widely. This highly readable and relevant introduction to political thought is important reading for politicians and students alike.’Ed MillibandTable of ContentsPreface Preface to Fourth Edition Introduction Part 1: Social Justice Part 2: Democracy Part 3: Liberalism and Community Part 4: Liberty Part 5: Equality Conclusion Index

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Book SynopsisWe think that we live in democracies: in fact, we live in mediarchies. Our political regimes are based less on nations or citizens than on audiences shaped by the media. We assume that our social and political destinies are shaped by the will of the people without realizing that ‘the people’ are always produced, both as individuals and as aggregates, by the media: we are all embedded in mediated publics, ‘intra-structured’ by the apparatuses of communication that govern our interactions. In this major book, Yves Citton maps out the new regime of experience, media and power that he designates by the term ‘mediarchy’. To understand mediarchy, we need to look both at the effects that the media have on us and also at the new forms of being and experience that they induce in us. We can never entirely escape from the effects of the mediarchies that operate through us but by becoming more aware of their conditioning, we can develop the new forms of political analysis and practice which are essential if we are to rise to the unprecedented challenges of our time. This comprehensive and far-reaching book will be essential reading for students and scholars in media and communications, politics and sociology, and it will be of great interest to anyone concerned about the multiple and complex ways that the media – from newspapers and TV to social media and the internet – shape our social, political and personal lives today.Trade Review‘Mediarchy is a magnificent work of synthesis that brings together many different approaches to media. Citton boldly puts the analysis of media at the centre of social thought and shows just how many of the things we observe about our times fall into place through this perspective.’McKenzie Wark, New School for Social Research ‘Grounded and creative, this book proposes a timely synthesis of recent media theory. Citton questions the “transcontinental divide” that has informed Media Studies from its onset and in the process manages to breathe new life into some of the most fundamental questions facing media critics today. Mediarchy is a must read for anyone interested in understanding the complex, multitiered operationality of media in our modern world.’Mark Hansen, Duke University"a rich and thought-provoking book"European Journal of CommunicationTable of ContentsContents Prelude: Democracy or mediarchy? PART ONE: MEDIA Chapter One: Naming mediarchy Interlude One: Heterarchy Chapter Two: Approaching mediarchy Interlude Two: Informational pharmacology Chapter Three: Unfolding mediarchy Interlude Three: Affective meteorologies Chapter Four: Equipping mediarchy PART TWO: MASS MEDIA Chapter Five: Massifying mediarchy Interlude: Populisms Chapter Six: Systematizing mediarchy Interlude Five: Media powers Chapter Seven: Decolonizing mediarchy PART THREE: MEDIUM Chapter Eight: Archaeologizing mediarchy Interlude: Accelerationisms Chapter Nine: Stratifying mediarchy The politics of low frequencies Chapter Ten: Magnetizing mediarchy Interlude: Formative milieus Chapter Eleven: Zombifying mediarchy PART FOUR: META-MEDIA Chapter Twelve: Digitizing mediarchy Interlude: Data commons Chapter Thirteen: Inhabiting mediarchy Interlude: Mediarchic metamorphoses Chapter Fourteen: Surprising mediarchy Postlude: Medianarchism? List of illustrations Notes

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Book SynopsisClaims to self-determination are rife in world politics today. They range from Scottish and Catalonian campaigns for independence to calls for the devolution of power to regions and cities. But is self-determination meaningful or desirable in the twenty-first century, or merely a dangerous illusion? In this book, David Miller mounts a powerful defence of political self-determination. He explains why it is valuable and argues that geographic proximity alone is not enough for groups to have the capacity for self-determination: group members must also identify with each other. He explores the different political forms that self-determination can take, and he suggests some realistic constraints on how it can be achieved, concluding that people exercising their collective agency is still both feasible and important. Anyone concerned by the theoretical issues raised by the various secessionist and nationalist movements around the world should read this book.Trade Review‘This lucid and accessible book by one of the world’s leading political philosophers defends the contemporary relevance of self-determination. A first-class read that masterfully engages its critics.’Anna Stilz, Princeton University ‘In this characteristically intelligent book, David Miller explores the concept of self-determination in its relation to democracy, peoplehood, decolonization and the rise of supranational institutions. He offers a philosophically nuanced and morally compelling defence of self-determination from which his critics especially will learn a great deal.’Lea Ypi, London School of EconomicsTable of ContentsAcknowledgements Chapter 1 Introduction Chapter 2 The Value of Self-Determination Chapter 3 The Agents of Self-Determination Chapter 4 Self-Determination and Secession Chapter 5 Self-Determination Within, Alongside and Beyond the Nation-State?

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Book SynopsisClaims to self-determination are rife in world politics today. They range from Scottish and Catalonian campaigns for independence to calls for the devolution of power to regions and cities. But is self-determination meaningful or desirable in the twenty-first century, or merely a dangerous illusion? In this book, David Miller mounts a powerful defence of political self-determination. He explains why it is valuable and argues that geographic proximity alone is not enough for groups to have the capacity for self-determination: group members must also identify with each other. He explores the different political forms that self-determination can take, and he suggests some realistic constraints on how it can be achieved, concluding that people exercising their collective agency is still both feasible and important. Anyone concerned by the theoretical issues raised by the various secessionist and nationalist movements around the world should read this book.Trade Review‘This lucid and accessible book by one of the world’s leading political philosophers defends the contemporary relevance of self-determination. A first-class read that masterfully engages its critics.’Anna Stilz, Princeton University ‘In this characteristically intelligent book, David Miller explores the concept of self-determination in its relation to democracy, peoplehood, decolonization and the rise of supranational institutions. He offers a philosophically nuanced and morally compelling defence of self-determination from which his critics especially will learn a great deal.’Lea Ypi, London School of EconomicsTable of ContentsAcknowledgements Chapter 1 Introduction Chapter 2 The Value of Self-Determination Chapter 3 The Agents of Self-Determination Chapter 4 Self-Determination and Secession Chapter 5 Self-Determination Within, Alongside and Beyond the Nation-State?

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Book SynopsisFrom the shores of Europe to the Mexican-US border, mass migration is one of the most pressing issues we face today. Yet at the same time, calls to defend national sovereignty are becoming ever more vitriolic, with those fleeing war, persecution, and famine vilified as a threat to our security as well as our social and economic order. In this book, written amidst the dark resurgence of appeals to defend ‘blood and soil’, Donatella Di Cesare challenges the idea of the exclusionary state, arguing that migration is a fundamental human right. She develops an original philosophy of migration that places the migrants themselves, rather than states and their borders, at the centre. Through an analysis of three historic cities, Athens, Rome and Jerusalem, Di Cesare shows how we should conceive of migrants not as an other but rather as resident foreigners. This means recognising that citizenship cannot be based on any supposed connection to the land or an exclusive claim to ownership that would deny the rights of those who arrive as migrants. Instead, citizenship must be disconnected from the possession of territory altogether and founded on the principle of cohabitation – and on the ultimate reality that we are all temporary guests and tenants of the earth. Di Cesare’s argument for a new ethics of hospitality will be of great interest to all those concerned with the challenges posed by migration and with the increasingly hostile attitudes towards migrants, as well as students and scholars of philosophy and political theory.Trade Review‘Deeply original, thoughtful and based on an incredible erudition, Donatella Di Cesare’s plea for a world in which all human beings would be “resident foreigners” is the best answer to the rise of racism, xenophobia and nationalism.’Enzo Traverso, Cornell University‘In this accessible and lively work, Di Cesare writes with knowledge and passion on one of the key systemic contradictions of capitalism. Highly recommended.’Morning Star‘theoretically deep and politically stimulating… public philosophy at its best’Contemporary Political TheoryTable of ContentsIntroduction. In short 1. Migrants and the state 1. Ellis Island; 2. If the migrant unmasked the state; 3. The state-centric order; 4. A fundamental hostility; 5. Beyond sovereignty. A marginal note; 6. Philosophy and migration; 7. A shipwreck with spectators. On the current debate. 8. Thinking from the shore. 9. Migration and modernity. 10. Columbus and the image of the globe. 11 ‘We refugees’. The scum of the earth. 12. What rights for the stateless? 13. The frontier of democracy. 14. The sovereigntism of closing the borders. 15. Philosophers against Samaritans. 16. Citizens’ priority and the dogma of self-determination; 17. If the state is a club. Exclusionary liberalism; 18. The defence of national integrity; 19. Ownership over the earth: a baseless myth; 20. Freedom of movement and birth privilege; 21. Migrants against the poor? Welfare chauvinism and global justice; 22. Neither exodus nor ‘deportation’ nor ‘human trafficking’; 23. Jus migrandi. For the right to migrate; 24. Mare liberum and the sovereign’s word; 25. Kant, the right to visit and residency denied 2. The end of hospitality? 1. The continent of migrants. 2. ‘Us’ and ‘them’. The grammar of hatred. 3. Europe, 2015. 4. Hegel, the Mediterranean and the cemetery of the sea, 5. Fadoul’s story. 6. ‘Refugees’ and ‘migrants’. Impossible classifications. 7. The metamorphoses of the exile. 8. Asylum: from an ambiguous right to a dispositif of power. 9. ‘You’re not from here!’ An existential negation. 10. The migrant’s original sin. 11. ‘Illegals’: being condemned to invisibility. 12. Terms of domination: ‘integration’ and ‘naturalisation’; 13. When the immigrant remains an émigré; 14. The foreigner who lives outside, the foreigner who lives within; 15. Clandestine passageways, heterotopias, anarchic routes. 3. Resident foreigners 1. On exile. 2. Neither rootlessness or wandering. 3. Phenomenology of habitation. 4. What does migrating mean? 5. The global homelessness. 6. ‘Children of the Earth’. Athens and the myth of autochthony. 7. Rome: the city without origin and the imperial citizenship. 8. The theological-political charter of the ger. 9. Jerusalem. The city of foreigners. 10. On return. 4. Living together in the new millennium. 1. The new age of walls. 2. Lampedusa: the name of what border? 3. Condemned not to move. 4. The world of camps. 5. The passport, a paradoxical document. 6. ‘To each their own home!’ Cryptoracism and the new Hitlerism. 7. Hospitality. In the impasse between ethics and politics. 8. Beyond citizenship. 9. The limits of cosmopolitanism. 10. Community, immunity, reception. 11. When Europe is drowned… 12. Making room for others. 13. What does cohabitation mean? 14. Resident foreigners. References Name index

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Book SynopsisBolívar Echeverría was one of the leading philosophers and critical theorists in Latin America and his work on capitalism and modernity offers a distinctive account, informed by the experiences of Latin American societies, of the social and historical forces shaping the modern world. For Echeverría, capitalism and modernity do not coincide: modernity is a long-term historical phenomenon that involved a new set of relations between human beings and nature and between the individual and the collective, while capitalism is a particular form in which modernity has been realized. As Marx showed, capitalism is a mode of reproduction that involves the growing commodification of social life – everything, even human labor power itself, is turned into a commodity. Echeverría introduces the notion of blanquitud or “whiteness” to capture the new form of identity that is brought into being by the totalizing and homogenizing character of capitalism. While blanquitud includes certain ethnic features, it is not so much an ethnic category as an ethical and cultural one, referring to a type of human being, homo capitalisticus, which threatens to spread throughout the world, overcoming and integrating identities that might otherwise resist it. But capitalism is not the only form of modernity – there are alternative modernities. In the final part of the book Echeverría explores the baroque as a characteristic of Latin American identity and sees it as a way of theatricalizing and transforming reality that takes some distance from Eurocentric paradigms and resists the homogenizing forces of capitalism. Echeverría’s analysis of the dynamics of capitalism and modernity represents one of the most important contributions to critical theory from a Latin American perspective. It will be of great interest to students and scholars of critical theory and postcolonial theory and anyone concerned with the global impact of capitalism on social and cultural life.Trade Review"Bolívar Echeverría was one of the most brilliant and innovative Marxist thinkers of Latin America. Using, in a creative way,concepts of the Frankfurt School, he develops a radical criticism of the capitalist “really existing” modernity, grounded on “whiteness”. But he also shows how the Latin American baroque ethos, rooted on mestizaje, becomes a spontaneous strategy of resisting to capitalist colonisation and the “American Way of Life”." Michael Löwy, emeritus research director, CNRS, Paris"Echeverría's work seems more vital than ever."Los Angeles Review of BooksTable of ContentsTable of contents: Preface – Diana Fuentes Translator’s Preface Introduction 1. A Definition of Modernity 2. ‘Technological Rent’ and the ‘Devaluation’ of Nature 3. Meanings of Enlightenment 4. Images of ‘Whiteness’ 5. ‘American’ Modernity 6. From Academia to Bohemia and Beyond 7. Art and Utopia 8. Sartre From a Distance 9. Where is ‘the Left’ Now? 10. Meditations on the Baroque 11. The Mexican '68 and its City 12. Mexican Modernity and Anti-modernity Notes Index

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Book SynopsisBolívar Echeverría was one of the leading philosophers and critical theorists in Latin America and his work on capitalism and modernity offers a distinctive account, informed by the experiences of Latin American societies, of the social and historical forces shaping the modern world. For Echeverría, capitalism and modernity do not coincide: modernity is a long-term historical phenomenon that involved a new set of relations between human beings and nature and between the individual and the collective, while capitalism is a particular form in which modernity has been realized. As Marx showed, capitalism is a mode of reproduction that involves the growing commodification of social life – everything, even human labor power itself, is turned into a commodity. Echeverría introduces the notion of blanquitud or “whiteness” to capture the new form of identity that is brought into being by the totalizing and homogenizing character of capitalism. While blanquitud includes certain ethnic features, it is not so much an ethnic category as an ethical and cultural one, referring to a type of human being, homo capitalisticus, which threatens to spread throughout the world, overcoming and integrating identities that might otherwise resist it. But capitalism is not the only form of modernity – there are alternative modernities. In the final part of the book Echeverría explores the baroque as a characteristic of Latin American identity and sees it as a way of theatricalizing and transforming reality that takes some distance from Eurocentric paradigms and resists the homogenizing forces of capitalism. Echeverría’s analysis of the dynamics of capitalism and modernity represents one of the most important contributions to critical theory from a Latin American perspective. It will be of great interest to students and scholars of critical theory and postcolonial theory and anyone concerned with the global impact of capitalism on social and cultural life.Trade Review"Bolívar Echeverría was one of the most brilliant and innovative Marxist thinkers of Latin America. Using, in a creative way,concepts of the Frankfurt School, he develops a radical criticism of the capitalist “really existing” modernity, grounded on “whiteness”. But he also shows how the Latin American baroque ethos, rooted on mestizaje, becomes a spontaneous strategy of resisting to capitalist colonisation and the “American Way of Life”." Michael Löwy, emeritus research director, CNRS, Paris"Echeverría's work seems more vital than ever."Los Angeles Review of BooksTable of ContentsTable of contents: Preface – Diana Fuentes Translator’s Preface Introduction 1. A Definition of Modernity 2. ‘Technological Rent’ and the ‘Devaluation’ of Nature 3. Meanings of Enlightenment 4. Images of ‘Whiteness’ 5. ‘American’ Modernity 6. From Academia to Bohemia and Beyond 7. Art and Utopia 8. Sartre From a Distance 9. Where is ‘the Left’ Now? 10. Meditations on the Baroque 11. The Mexican '68 and its City 12. Mexican Modernity and Anti-modernity Notes Index

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Book SynopsisAgainst the backdrop of an alarming rise in authoritarianism and the crisis of liberal democracy, few would consider extoling the virtues of politics today. Yet in this lively dialogue with journalist Aude Lancelin, leading French thinker Alain Badiou argues that it is precisely through politics that humanity can still achieve its most ambitious aims. As power becomes ever more concentrated in the hands of the state and global corporations, the role of the citizen is reduced to little more than ritual. But Badiou emphasizes that politics is concerned not just with power and the state, but also with justice. So the central question of politics is “What is a just power?”, and the debate over politics is fundamentally about the norms to which power is subject and its relationship to a community – a community that is able to take control of its own destiny and provide its own direction, based on a shared standard of justice. This engaging dialogue, in which Badiou articulates his view of politics with exceptional clarity, will be of great value to anyone interested in radical politics today.Trade Review “A miracle occurs in this short book: it is as though Plato has somehow returned from the dead and commented on our time in a dialogue with his best pupil. This dialogue on the Platonic topic of justice in politics is an instant classic; compulsive reading for everyone who wants to search for truth in our era of opinions and alternative facts.”Slavoj ŽižekTable of Contents I. What is Politics? II. The Communist Hypothesis III. Revolutions Put to the Test of History IV. What Does “The Left” Mean Today? V. Macron, or the Democratic Coup d’état Conclusion

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Book SynopsisAgainst the backdrop of an alarming rise in authoritarianism and the crisis of liberal democracy, few would consider extoling the virtues of politics today. Yet in this lively dialogue with journalist Aude Lancelin, leading French thinker Alain Badiou argues that it is precisely through politics that humanity can still achieve its most ambitious aims. As power becomes ever more concentrated in the hands of the state and global corporations, the role of the citizen is reduced to little more than ritual. But Badiou emphasizes that politics is concerned not just with power and the state, but also with justice. So the central question of politics is “What is a just power?”, and the debate over politics is fundamentally about the norms to which power is subject and its relationship to a community – a community that is able to take control of its own destiny and provide its own direction, based on a shared standard of justice. This engaging dialogue, in which Badiou articulates his view of politics with exceptional clarity, will be of great value to anyone interested in radical politics today.Trade Review “A miracle occurs in this short book: it is as though Plato has somehow returned from the dead and commented on our time in a dialogue with his best pupil. This dialogue on the Platonic topic of justice in politics is an instant classic; compulsive reading for everyone who wants to search for truth in our era of opinions and alternative facts.”Slavoj Žižek

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Book SynopsisThe world has been sleep-walking into cyber chaos. The spread of misinformation via social media and the theft of data and intellectual property, along with regular cyberattacks, threaten the fabric of modern societies. All the while, the Internet of Things increases the vulnerability of computer systems, including those controlling critical infrastructure. What can be done to tackle these problems? Does diplomacy offer ways of managing security and containing conflict online? In this provocative book, Shaun Riordan shows how traditional diplomatic skills and mindsets can be combined with new technologies to bring order and enhance international cooperation. He explains what cyberdiplomacy means for diplomats, foreign services and corporations and explores how it can be applied to issues such as internet governance, cybersecurity, cybercrime and information warfare. Cyberspace, he argues, is too important to leave to technicians. Using the vital tools offered by cyberdiplomacy, we can reduce the escalation and proliferation of cyberconflicts by proactively promoting negotiation and collaboration online.Trade Review‘An indispensable survival guide to the next frontier for diplomacy. Riordan has issued a vital wake-up call about the perils that lie ahead if we do not marshal a collective response to the potential anarchic battle for cyber territory.’Tom Fletcher CMG, professor, former ambassador, and bestselling author of The Naked Diplomat ‘A timely and important book that extends our understanding of the role of digital technology in diplomacy, demonstrating not only how digital tools are used in diplomacy but also how diplomacy must cope with the – sometimes problematic – consequences of the use of these tools in cyberspace.’Corneliu Bjola, University of OxfordTable of Contents Contents 1: Introduction 2. The Diplomat in Cyberspace 3. Regulating Cyberspace 4 Mitigating Cyberconflict 5 Business and Cyberdiplomacy 6 Algorithms and Internet Companies 7: Building Diplomacy Online

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Book SynopsisThe world has been sleep-walking into cyber chaos. The spread of misinformation via social media and the theft of data and intellectual property, along with regular cyberattacks, threaten the fabric of modern societies. All the while, the Internet of Things increases the vulnerability of computer systems, including those controlling critical infrastructure. What can be done to tackle these problems? Does diplomacy offer ways of managing security and containing conflict online? In this provocative book, Shaun Riordan shows how traditional diplomatic skills and mindsets can be combined with new technologies to bring order and enhance international cooperation. He explains what cyberdiplomacy means for diplomats, foreign services and corporations and explores how it can be applied to issues such as internet governance, cybersecurity, cybercrime and information warfare. Cyberspace, he argues, is too important to leave to technicians. Using the vital tools offered by cyberdiplomacy, we can reduce the escalation and proliferation of cyberconflicts by proactively promoting negotiation and collaboration online.Trade Review‘An indispensable survival guide to the next frontier for diplomacy. Riordan has issued a vital wake-up call about the perils that lie ahead if we do not marshal a collective response to the potential anarchic battle for cyber territory.’Tom Fletcher CMG, professor, former ambassador, and bestselling author of The Naked Diplomat ‘A timely and important book that extends our understanding of the role of digital technology in diplomacy, demonstrating not only how digital tools are used in diplomacy but also how diplomacy must cope with the – sometimes problematic – consequences of the use of these tools in cyberspace.’Corneliu Bjola, University of Oxford

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Book SynopsisGold remains a highly prized and impactful resource within the global economy. From the insatiable demand for gold in the electronics that permeate our day-to-day lives to the environmental desolation driven by gold mining in the Amazon, the gold trade continues to touch the lives and livelihoods of people across the world. Bloomfield and Maconachie tell the intriguing story of the yellow metal, tracing the seismic shifts in the industry over the past few decades. They show how huge purchases of gold reserves by BRICS countries mark the shifting balance of power away from the West, and how rising affluence in India and China has led to a surging demand for gold jewellery, calling into question current approaches to make supply chains more responsible. Explaining why gold is so difficult to regulate and why it is only becoming more so, the authors suggest ways we could, collectively, make practices work better for the countless workers and communities who suffer at the producer end of the supply chain. Linking local to global, producer to consumer, and gold’s extraction from the Earth to the financial centres that fuel it, this book offers a probing analysis that reveals who wins and who loses and what this means for the future of gold.Trade Review‘Gold traces familiar histories and possible futures of a commodity that is associated with beauty, wealth and yet also so much destruction. Readable, accessible and brimming with insights that keep readers on their toes, the book will be immensely useful for students, teachers and general interest readers alike.’Anthony Bebbington, Clark University ‘Working as modern-day political economy alchemists, Bloomfield and Maconachie mobilise their deep expertise to explain why it is so difficult to turn gold mining into valuable forms of development.’Philippe Le Billon, University of British Columbia and author of Wars of Plunder

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Book SynopsisThe Anthropocene has become central to understanding the intimate connections between human life and the natural environment, but it has fractured our sense of time and possibility. What implications does that fracturing have for how we should think about politics in these new times? In this cutting-edge intervention, Duncan Kelly considers how this new geological era could shape our future by engaging with the recent past of our political thinking. If politics remains a short-term affair governed by electoral cycles, could an Anthropocenic sense of time, value and prosperity be built into it, altering long-established views about abundance, energy and growth? Is the Anthropocene so disruptive that it is no more than a harbinger of ecological doom, or can modern politics adapt by rethinking older debates about states, territories, and populations? Kelly rejects both pessimistic fatalism about humanity’s demise, and an optimistic fatalism that makes the Anthropocene into a problem too big for politics, best left to the market or technology to solve. His skilful defence of the potential for democratic politics to negotiate this challenge is an indispensable guide to the ideas that matter most to understanding this epochal transformation.Trade Review"There is something fresh and hopeful about this timely book. Kelly proceeds with a complex understanding of the Anthropocene, avoids the two extremes of climate-induced fatalism or politics that simply deny climate change, and explores resources within theories of representative politics they may enable democratic thought to rise to the challenge of a planetary environmental crisis."Dipesh Chakrabarty, University of Chicago “Kelly takes up the challenge to rethink politics and the history of political thought in the age of the Anthropocene, and illuminates, in the process, both what is recurrent and what is new and urgent.”Anne Phillips, London School of EconomicsTable of ContentsAcknowledgements Preface Chapter 1: Timings Chapter 2: Ecological Inequalities Chapter 3: Limiting Growth? Chapter 4: Ecological Debts Chapter 5: Population Futures Chapter 6: Value Epilogue: Historical Possibilities for an Anthropocened Politics Notes

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Book SynopsisThe Anthropocene has become central to understanding the intimate connections between human life and the natural environment, but it has fractured our sense of time and possibility. What implications does that fracturing have for how we should think about politics in these new times? In this cutting-edge intervention, Duncan Kelly considers how this new geological era could shape our future by engaging with the recent past of our political thinking. If politics remains a short-term affair governed by electoral cycles, could an Anthropocenic sense of time, value and prosperity be built into it, altering long-established views about abundance, energy and growth? Is the Anthropocene so disruptive that it is no more than a harbinger of ecological doom, or can modern politics adapt by rethinking older debates about states, territories, and populations? Kelly rejects both pessimistic fatalism about humanity’s demise, and an optimistic fatalism that makes the Anthropocene into a problem too big for politics, best left to the market or technology to solve. His skilful defence of the potential for democratic politics to negotiate this challenge is an indispensable guide to the ideas that matter most to understanding this epochal transformation.Trade Review"There is something fresh and hopeful about this timely book. Kelly proceeds with a complex understanding of the Anthropocene, avoids the two extremes of climate-induced fatalism or politics that simply deny climate change, and explores resources within theories of representative politics they may enable democratic thought to rise to the challenge of a planetary environmental crisis."Dipesh Chakrabarty, University of Chicago “Kelly takes up the challenge to rethink politics and the history of political thought in the age of the Anthropocene, and illuminates, in the process, both what is recurrent and what is new and urgent.”Anne Phillips, London School of EconomicsTable of ContentsAcknowledgements Preface Chapter 1: Timings Chapter 2: Ecological Inequalities Chapter 3: Limiting Growth? Chapter 4: Ecological Debts Chapter 5: Population Futures Chapter 6: Value Epilogue: Historical Possibilities for an Anthropocened Politics Notes

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Book SynopsisPopulism is the key political phenomenon of the 21st century. From Trump to Brexit, from Chávez to Podemos, the term has been used to describe leaders, parties and movements across the globe who disrupt the status quo and speak in the name of ‘the people’ against ‘the elite’. Yet the term remains something of a puzzle: poorly understood, vaguely defined and, more often than not, used as a term of abuse. In this concise and engaging book, leading expert Benjamin Moffitt cuts through this confusion. Offering the first accessible introduction to populism as a core concept in political theory, he maps the different schools of thought on how to understand populism and explores how populism relates to some of the most important concepts at the heart of political debate today. He asks: what has populism got to do with nationalism and nativism? How does it intersect with socialism? Is it compatible with liberalism? And in the end, is populism a good or bad thing for democracy? This book is essential reading for anyone – from students and scholars to general readers alike – seeking to make sense of one the most important and controversial issues in the contemporary political landscape.Trade Review"Employing a political theory perspective, Moffitt elucidates populism’s affinities and tensions with major left- and right-wing ideologies and develops novel insights into reactionary populists’ opportunistic invocation of liberal values."Kurt Weyland, University of Texas at Austin "The first book to analyse populism in its broader ideological context by relating it to nationalism, socialism, liberalism and democracy, Benjamin Moffitt’s accessible and concise Populism is essential reading for anyone speaking, thinking or writing about this phenomenon."Cas Mudde, University of Georgia"It is undoubtedly the introductory work that I would recommend to those seeking to get a definitive overview of the discipline, equally to undergraduate students and to more experienced scholars. Moffitt’s Populism is an impressive piece of scholarship that is both didactic and ambitious, with the potential to become a standard introduction to the study of populism."Théo Aiolfi, University of WarwickTable of ContentsAcknowledgements 1. Why Populism Matters 2. What is Populism? 3. Populism, Nationalism & Nativism 4. Populism & Socialism 5. Populism & Liberalism 6. Populism & Democracy References

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Book SynopsisIn this series of interviews and dialogues which took place between 1981 and 2003, Paul Ricoeur addresses some of the central questions of political philosophy and ethics: justice, violence, war, the environmental crisis, the question of evil, ethical and political action in the polis. Philosophical issues are brought to bear on present-day concerns and the practical realities of contemporary politics. How can the philosopher speak about politics without claiming superior insight or a higher order of knowledge? Ricoeur distinguishes three levels of society: ‘tools’ (modes of production and the accumulation of technology), ‘institutions’ (which are tied to national cultures) and ‘values’ (which claim to be universal). The philosopher’s task is to probe each of these levels and open up spaces for reflection, criticism and democratic deliberation. It is to explore the paradoxes of the political rather than invoking certainties dictated by conscience. Just as there no longer exists a grand narrative about the past, so too there is no longer any utopia capable of projecting the desired future. What remains is human creativity, which marks the source common to the institutional frameworks that are already present and the horizons that extend beyond them. The philosopher’s engagement lies in the promise to revive this source at the very moment it appears to dry up under the weight of the real. This volume of interviews and dialogues with one of the most important French philosophers of the post-war period will be of interest to anyone interested in the great political and ethical questions of our time.

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Book SynopsisIn this series of interviews and dialogues which took place between 1981 and 2003, Paul Ricoeur addresses some of the central questions of political philosophy and ethics: justice, violence, war, the environmental crisis, the question of evil, ethical and political action in the polis. Philosophical issues are brought to bear on present-day concerns and the practical realities of contemporary politics. How can the philosopher speak about politics without claiming superior insight or a higher order of knowledge? Ricoeur distinguishes three levels of society: ‘tools’ (modes of production and the accumulation of technology), ‘institutions’ (which are tied to national cultures) and ‘values’ (which claim to be universal). The philosopher’s task is to probe each of these levels and open up spaces for reflection, criticism and democratic deliberation. It is to explore the paradoxes of the political rather than invoking certainties dictated by conscience. Just as there no longer exists a grand narrative about the past, so too there is no longer any utopia capable of projecting the desired future. What remains is human creativity, which marks the source common to the institutional frameworks that are already present and the horizons that extend beyond them. The philosopher’s engagement lies in the promise to revive this source at the very moment it appears to dry up under the weight of the real. This volume of interviews and dialogues with one of the most important French philosophers of the post-war period will be of interest to anyone interested in the great political and ethical questions of our time.

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Book SynopsisIn recent years culture has become the primary currency of politics – from the identity politics that characterized the 2016 American election to the pushback against Western universalism in much of the non-Western world. Much less noticed is the rise of a new political entity, the civilizational state. In this pioneering book, the renowned political philosopher Christopher Coker looks in depth at two countries that now claim this title: Xi Jinping’s China and Vladimir Putin’s Russia. He also discusses the Islamic caliphate, a virtual and aspirational civilizational state that is unlikely to fade despite the recent setbacks suffered by ISIS. The civilizational state, he contends, is an idea whose time has come. For, while civilizations themselves may not clash, civilizational states appear to be set on challenging the rules of the international order that the West takes for granted. China seems anxious to revise them, Russia to break them, while Islamists would like to throw away the rule book altogether. Coker argues that, when seen in the round, these challenges could be enough to give birth to a new post-liberal international order.Trade Review‘Considerable erudition and inventiveness run through this analysis of Western and non-Western political forces which have exploited the language of civilization to promote nationalist or statist objectives. The Rise of the Civilizational State is highly recommended to all students of contemporary global transformations.’Andrew Linklater, Aberystwyth University ‘“Civilization” is one of those words that is central to our lives but that often hides in plain sight. In this gem of a book, Christopher Coker explores multiple possible meanings of civilization both historically and in terms of its contemporary significance. It is, as always with Coker, brilliantly written and shines an impressive and illuminating light on one of the most pressing issues of our day: What is the future of civilization (and, indeed, of civilizations) in the world of today and tomorrow?’Nick Rengger, St Andrew’s UniversityTable of Contents CONTENTS Preface Chapter 1 - Liberal Civilization and its Discontents Chapter 2 - Civilizational Myths Chapter 3 - Imagining the West Chapter 4 - Cultural Darwinism Chapter 5 - The Civilizational-State Chapter 6 - The Once and Future Caliphate Chapter 7 - A Post-Liberal world

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Book SynopsisIn recent years culture has become the primary currency of politics – from the identity politics that characterized the 2016 American election to the pushback against Western universalism in much of the non-Western world. Much less noticed is the rise of a new political entity, the civilizational state. In this pioneering book, the renowned political philosopher Christopher Coker looks in depth at two countries that now claim this title: Xi Jinping’s China and Vladimir Putin’s Russia. He also discusses the Islamic caliphate, a virtual and aspirational civilizational state that is unlikely to fade despite the recent setbacks suffered by ISIS. The civilizational state, he contends, is an idea whose time has come. For, while civilizations themselves may not clash, civilizational states appear to be set on challenging the rules of the international order that the West takes for granted. China seems anxious to revise them, Russia to break them, while Islamists would like to throw away the rule book altogether. Coker argues that, when seen in the round, these challenges could be enough to give birth to a new post-liberal international order.Trade Review‘Considerable erudition and inventiveness run through this analysis of Western and non-Western political forces which have exploited the language of civilization to promote nationalist or statist objectives. The Rise of the Civilizational State is highly recommended to all students of contemporary global transformations.’Andrew Linklater, Aberystwyth University ‘“Civilization” is one of those words that is central to our lives but that often hides in plain sight. In this gem of a book, Christopher Coker explores multiple possible meanings of civilization both historically and in terms of its contemporary significance. It is, as always with Coker, brilliantly written and shines an impressive and illuminating light on one of the most pressing issues of our day: What is the future of civilization (and, indeed, of civilizations) in the world of today and tomorrow?’Nick Rengger, St Andrew’s UniversityTable of Contents CONTENTS Preface Chapter 1 - Liberal Civilization and its Discontents Chapter 2 - Civilizational Myths Chapter 3 - Imagining the West Chapter 4 - Cultural Darwinism Chapter 5 - The Civilizational-State Chapter 6 - The Once and Future Caliphate Chapter 7 - A Post-Liberal world

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Book SynopsisFor almost two decades, China has claimed that its expanding economy benefits Europe, stimulating European growth, exports, and employment. But the reality is not so clear-cut. Whilst individual companies may have profited from China’s economic rise,unbalanced trade with China has actually cost Europe over 1.4 trillion euros in the last ten years as well as undermining its political influence. China’s monumental infrastructural project, the Belt And Road Initiative or New Silk Road as it has come to be known - is set to make this situation even worse.The Silk Road Trap is the first book to expose just how risky this uneven partnership is for Europe. In it, leading expert on Asian affairs Jonathan Holslag, argues that Europe must reduce its reliance on China and work on building a stronger and more sustainable European economic model. By revealing the political aspirations and economic strategy behind the new Silk Road, he lays out its implications for specific European industries, from steel over aircraft to robots. Holslag, though critical of China, does not, however, make the case for confrontational, Trumpian protectionism. Instead, he posits that the new Silk Road need not ensnare Europe; it offers the continent a unique opportunity to transition from a future "made in China" to one that is "made in Europe".Trade Review‘A smart and provocative analysis that deserves wide attention.’François Godement, European Council on Foreign Relations ‘In this perceptive and pragmatic book, Jonathan Holslag awakens Europe to its romantic self-deception regarding China’s expansionist intentions and offensives. Europe must get realistic about China and this book may just be that wake-up call.’Karel de Gucht, Vrije Universiteit Brussel and former EU trade commissioner 'A strong and thought-provoking argument about the implications of China’s rise for Europe.'Alan Beattie, Financial Times‘A powerful counterpoint to the increasingly complacent attitudes of European (and British) policymakers to a country that combines authoritarian politics with a state-directed economic system.’MoneyWeek‘Enlightening’ FT Adviser‘The Silk Road Trap is a brief but well-argued study of the EU’s strategic concerns vis-à-vis the PRC.’Europe-Asia StudiesTable of ContentsTables, Figures and Boxes 1. A call for economic realism 2. Europe’s failed engagement 3. China’s ambition for the future 4. China’s connectivity contest 5. The “Belt and Road” and “Made in China 2025” 6. European future made in Europe Notes and references

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Book SynopsisFor almost two decades, China has claimed that its expanding economy benefits Europe, stimulating European growth, exports, and employment. But the reality is not so clear-cut. Whilst individual companies may have profited from China’s economic rise,unbalanced trade with China has actually cost Europe over 1.4 trillion euros in the last ten years as well as undermining its political influence. China’s monumental infrastructural project, the Belt And Road Initiative or New Silk Road as it has come to be known - is set to make this situation even worse.The Silk Road Trap is the first book to expose just how risky this uneven partnership is for Europe. In it, leading expert on Asian affairs Jonathan Holslag, argues that Europe must reduce its reliance on China and work on building a stronger and more sustainable European economic model. By revealing the political aspirations and economic strategy behind the new Silk Road, he lays out its implications for specific European industries, from steel over aircraft to robots. Holslag, though critical of China, does not, however, make the case for confrontational, Trumpian protectionism. Instead, he posits that the new Silk Road need not ensnare Europe; it offers the continent a unique opportunity to transition from a future "made in China" to one that is "made in Europe".Trade Review‘A smart and provocative analysis that deserves wide attention.’François Godement, European Council on Foreign Relations ‘In this perceptive and pragmatic book, Jonathan Holslag awakens Europe to its romantic self-deception regarding China’s expansionist intentions and offensives. Europe must get realistic about China and this book may just be that wake-up call.’Karel de Gucht, Vrije Universiteit Brussel and former EU trade commissioner 'A strong and thought-provoking argument about the implications of China’s rise for Europe.'Alan Beattie, Financial Times‘A powerful counterpoint to the increasingly complacent attitudes of European (and British) policymakers to a country that combines authoritarian politics with a state-directed economic system.’MoneyWeek‘Enlightening’FT Adviser‘The Silk Road Trap is a brief but well-argued study of the EU’s strategic concerns vis-à-vis the PRC.’Europe-Asia StudiesTable of ContentsTables, Figures and Boxes 1. A call for economic realism 2. Europe’s failed engagement 3. China’s ambition for the future 4. China’s connectivity contest 5. The “Belt and Road” and “Made in China 2025” 6. European future made in Europe Notes and references

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Book SynopsisWe have entered the gateway to the apocalypse. This theological concept is the best metaphor to describe the world in which we are already living. Chaos is all around us: political folly, economical delirium, ecological catastrophe, intellectual cynicism, technological simulation of life. This is what Franco ‘Bifo’ Berardi suggests in this wry, dark, disconcerting but also brilliant and invigorating journey through the main events that we have witnessed in recent years. One century after the Communist revolution, the very idea that the world could be changed for the better seems dead once and for all. Every time that a new change occurs nowadays, it seems to be a change for the worse. But the fact that nothing can save us any more shouldn’t be seen as a form of fatality or a reason for surrender. On the contrary, if our world is dead, then the space is open for another to appear – a world where apocalypse can shake us out of our zombie-like contemporary existence. The second coming of Communism will have nothing to do with 1917. Apocalypse has to be conceived of as a metaphor, and Communism is a metaphor too: the metaphor of the possible deployment of the potentials of the mind.Table of Contents0. How to How to deal with chaos Not action but interpretation Black out 1. In retrospect Fifty years after sixty-eight A hundred years after the Soviet revolutionIs fascism back? 2. Apocalypse The expanding sphere of nothingness The Empire of Chaos and the Embedded Order Guns, opioids and reason Trumping truth in the empire of fake Auschwitz on the beach 3. Is there life after the apocalypse?

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Book SynopsisHuman beings universally dream of a better world. For centuries they have expressed their yearning for ways of life that are free from oppression, want and fear, through philosophy, art, film and literature. In this concise and engaging book, Mark Jendrysik examines the multifarious ways utopians have posed the question of how human beings might establish justice and realize truly human values. Drawing upon a range of sources, from Plato’s Republic and Thomas More’s Utopia to Ursula Le Guin’s The Dispossessed, he argues that, though for many utopia means ‘demanding the impossible’, the goals that seemed out of reach for one generation are often realized in the next. Nonetheless, he shows that, while utopian thought points toward our most noble aspirations, it also illustrates the dangers of totalitarianism, of the surveillance state and of global climate change. This engaging book will be an invaluable guide for anyone seeking to understand how, for good or ill, utopian aspirations shape our lives, even in times that seem designed to close off dreams of a better world.Table of ContentsAcknowledgments Introduction 1 What is Utopia? What is Utopian Political Thought? 2 Utopianism before Utopia 3 Inventing Utopia 4 Utopia and the Age of Revolution 5 Utopia and Modernity 6 Utopia and/as Ideology 7 From Utopia to Dystopia 8 Does Utopia Have a Future? Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisIn this book the influential philosopher Jacques Rancière, in discussion with Peter Engelmann, explores the enduring connection between politics and aesthetics, arguing that aesthetics forms the fundamental basis for social and political upheaval. Beginning from his rejection of structuralist Marxism, Rancière outlines the development of his thought from his early studies on workers’ emancipation to his recent work on literature, film and visual art. Rather than discussing aesthetics within narrow terms of how we contemplate art or beauty, Rancière argues that aesthetics underpins our entire ‘regime of experience’. He shows how political relations develop from sensual experience, as individual feelings and perceptions become the concern of the community as a whole. Since politics emerges from the ‘division of the sensual’, aesthetic experience becomes a radically emancipatory and egalitarian means to disrupt this order and transform political reality. Investigating new forms of emancipatory politics arising from current art practices and social movements, this short book will appeal to anyone interested in contemporary art, aesthetics, philosophy and political theory.Trade Review‘More than a lucid introduction to Rancière’s intellectual history and key concepts, this book’s provocative conversations explore our joint capability for new forms of political expression lying beyond the stultifying logic of the global ruling class.’Paul Michael Garrett, NUI Galway, Republic of IrelandTable of ContentsFirst Conversation Second Conversation Afterword by Peter Engelmann Notes

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Book SynopsisThis volume of conversations between Alain Badiou and Peter Engelmann focuses on the concrete political situation in the world of today. Here the validity and applicability of Badiou’s ideas are tested in relation to the great social and political problems of our time, including terrorism, migration, the surge in support for nationalist and populist parties and the growing gap between rich and poor. Badiou argues that in the age of today’s globalized capitalism, with its division of labour on a global scale and the worldwide interconnection of information through the Internet, there are no longer any national solutions. Because nations and states lose meaning in favour of transnational corporations in globalized capitalism, resistance to capitalism must by definition be global too. Only a politics that defines itself as a politics for all and does not act in the interests of one particular group – whether a nation, religion or community of shared values – can lead the world out of the current crisis of globalized capitalism.Trade Review‘Badiou's powerful exposition of the unfinished project of revolutionary Marxism makes a compelling case for the universality of communist politics. Elaborated with respect to pressing contemporary problems, his vision for a communist politics for us is inspiring, necessary, and – best of all – possible.’Jodi Dean, Hobart and William Smith Colleges “[a] lively and engaging discussion.”Marx & Philosophy Review of BooksTable of ContentsContents Foreword by Peter Engelmann First Conversation The Situation of the Left Today and the Necessity of an Alternative The Democratic Discourse Communism as Modern Politics? Second Conversation The New Imperialism Politics of Identity The Principle of the Common Good, or: Beyond the Economy Afterword: On Trump Notes

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Book SynopsisMigration dominates contemporary politics across the world, and there has been a corresponding surge in political theorizing about the complex issues that it raises. In a world in which borders seem to be solidifying while the number of displaced people soars, how should we think about the political and ethical implications of human movement across the globe? In this book, Gillian Brock, one of the leading figures in the field, lucidly introduces and explains the important historical, empirical, and normative context necessary to get to grips with the major contemporary debates. She examines issues ranging from the permissibility of controlling borders and the criteria that states can justifiably use to underpin their migration management policies through to questions of integration, inclusion, and resistance to unjust immigration laws. Migration and Political Theory is essential reading for any student, scholar, or general reader who seeks to understand the political theory and ethics of migration and movement in the twenty-first century.Trade Review“This excellent book provides a careful, clear, comprehensive, and engaging overview of current debates about migration. Sophisticated, and yet highly accessible, it connects normative questions to factual information about migration as it actually occurs.”Joseph H. Carens, University of Toronto “Gillian Brock explores a wide range of issues central to debates around migration at an impressive level of theoretical depth, but at the same time with great clarity. This book is an invaluable contribution to an increasingly important field.”Phil Cole, University of the West of England, Bristol“[Migration and Political Theory] succeeds in providing an account that is informed, nuanced and accessible, while also unveiling several divergences between the values claimed by liberal democratic states and their actual practice in the field of migration and border control.” Ethnic and Racial Studies

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Book SynopsisMigration dominates contemporary politics across the world, and there has been a corresponding surge in political theorizing about the complex issues that it raises. In a world in which borders seem to be solidifying while the number of displaced people soars, how should we think about the political and ethical implications of human movement across the globe? In this book, Gillian Brock, one of the leading figures in the field, lucidly introduces and explains the important historical, empirical, and normative context necessary to get to grips with the major contemporary debates. She examines issues ranging from the permissibility of controlling borders and the criteria that states can justifiably use to underpin their migration management policies through to questions of integration, inclusion, and resistance to unjust immigration laws. Migration and Political Theory is essential reading for any student, scholar, or general reader who seeks to understand the political theory and ethics of migration and movement in the twenty-first century.Trade Review“This excellent book provides a careful, clear, comprehensive, and engaging overview of current debates about migration. Sophisticated, and yet highly accessible, it connects normative questions to factual information about migration as it actually occurs.”Joseph H. Carens, University of Toronto “Gillian Brock explores a wide range of issues central to debates around migration at an impressive level of theoretical depth, but at the same time with great clarity. This book is an invaluable contribution to an increasingly important field.”Phil Cole, University of the West of England, Bristol“[Migration and Political Theory] succeeds in providing an account that is informed, nuanced and accessible, while also unveiling several divergences between the values claimed by liberal democratic states and their actual practice in the field of migration and border control.”Ethnic and Racial Studies

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Book SynopsisFootball is the most popular sport on the planet partly because it’s so simple to play – but as philosopher, novelist and avid fan Stephen Mumford shows, behind the straightforward rules of the game there lurks a world of intriguing complexity. Mumford considers the intellectual basis upon which football rests, guiding readers through a number of issues at the heart of the game. How can a team be greater than the sum of its individual players? What is the essential role of chance? Should we want to win at all costs? What does it mean to control space? And can true beauty be found in football? Rich with colourful examples from football’s past and present, Mumford’s book is both a love letter to football and a reflection on its enduring capacity to enthral and excite.Trade Review‘Stephen Mumford uses his considerable philosophical expertise to explain why football is the most popular sport in the world. His analysis will add much to his readers’ enjoyment of the game.’David Papineau, author of Knowing the Score: How Sport Teaches Us About Philosophy ‘The perfect gift for soccer fans new to philosophy or philosophers new to soccer – this book is a rich, multi-layered reflection on both.’Alan White, Williams College ‘The game is one of the great survivors, a leviathan led by donkeys.’ The Times"Mumford provides a scintillating read filled with thought-provoking ideas, drawing examples from past and present times. The author's skill in presenting the philosophical approach in a concise and consumable manner is crucial to making this book accessible."ChoiceTable of Contents 1. Introduction 2. Beauty 3. Wholes 4. Space 5. Chance 6. Victory Further Reading

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Book SynopsisThe concept of community is tainted by the events of the twentieth century, frequently appropriated by totalitarian regimes for the purposes of exclusion and oppression. In this dialogue with Peter Engelmann, philosopher Jean-Luc Nancy attempts to reframe community as central to a reconceptualization of politics and democracy. Observing that all our interactions are in some way shared experiences, Nancy demonstrates that a common sense of life precedes our existence as individuals: we can only truly make sense of life in a plurality. Democracy is typically concerned with establishing political unity, yet its greater task lies in community: creating a space in which sense can realize itself and circulate. This conversation with one of France’s foremost thinkers will be of great interest to all readers of contemporary philosophy and political theory.Trade Review‘That the common is not a blanket under which we huddle with others for protection, but a blank that eludes us, is the political lesson Nancy has sought to impart. This moving interview exposes the restless vigilance required to safeguard the negativity of this profound insight against its collapse into utopian fantasy.’ Joan Copjec, Brown UniversityTable of Contents I. Rethinking the Political II. History: Between Process and Event III. The Ontology of Communality IV. The Spirit of Communism V. Democracy: Fixation or Circulation of Sense Editor’s Afterword Notes

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Book SynopsisThe concept of community is tainted by the events of the twentieth century, frequently appropriated by totalitarian regimes for the purposes of exclusion and oppression. In this dialogue with Peter Engelmann, philosopher Jean-Luc Nancy attempts to reframe community as central to a reconceptualization of politics and democracy. Observing that all our interactions are in some way shared experiences, Nancy demonstrates that a common sense of life precedes our existence as individuals: we can only truly make sense of life in a plurality. Democracy is typically concerned with establishing political unity, yet its greater task lies in community: creating a space in which sense can realize itself and circulate. This conversation with one of France’s foremost thinkers will be of great interest to all readers of contemporary philosophy and political theory.Trade Review‘That the common is not a blanket under which we huddle with others for protection, but a blank that eludes us, is the political lesson Nancy has sought to impart. This moving interview exposes the restless vigilance required to safeguard the negativity of this profound insight against its collapse into utopian fantasy.’ Joan Copjec, Brown University

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Book SynopsisDespite its oil wealth, the Middle East and North Africa is economically stagnating. Growth rates are comparatively unfavorable and insufficient to substantially improve citizens’ lives. Whether this economic inertia can be overcome or will continue into the indefinite future is a vital question that confronts both the region and the world. In this book leading Middle East scholar Robert Springborg discusses the economic future of this region by examining the national and regional political causes of its contemporary underperformance. Overgrown, weak MENA states, he explains, have been unable to escape their unfavorable historical legacies. “Limited access orders” and the deep states based in the means of coercion that underpin them undermine state capacities and constrain beneficial, autonomous political and economic activity. Increasingly challenged by their populations, MENA states face the daunting and so far unmet challenge of diversifying non-sustainable, rentier political economies away from direct or indirect dependence on oil and gas revenues. Stagnation of those revenues and failure to generate alternative income sources, combined with rapid population growth, presents the region with an economic challenge that can only be overcome by profound political change.Trade Review�The state-of-the-art big picture analysis of where MENA is and how it got there.� Glenn E. Robinson, Naval Postgraduate School �Overcoming the rigid dichotomy between area studies and disciplinary social science, Robert Springborg has accomplished a rare feat: a theoretically grounded investigation of Middle East political economies that is nonetheless rooted in a deep understanding of national histories and social contexts. His investigation of deep states and �limited access orders� in the region will benefit both students and researchers for many years to come.� Steffen Hertog, London School of Economics and Political Science �A work of magisterial scope that simultaneously drills down into the bedrock of constraints and challenges that subvert prosperity in the Middle East today. Attuned to the political determinants of economic performance, Springborg�s book brings the reader completely up-to-date on region�s contemporary economic quandaries.� Eva Bellin, Brandeis UniversityTable of ContentsPreface and Acknowledgements Introduction Chapter One: Accounting for Development in the MENA Chapter Two: The Origins of State Effectiveness Chapter Three: Colonialism, Post-Colonialism, Globalization and the State Chapter Four: Limited Access Orders and the Rise of Deep States Chapter Five: Deep States: Types, Resources and Impacts Chapter Six: Inclusion, Human Resources and State Power Chapter Seven: State Capacities for Economic Management Chapter Eight: The MENA -Regionalized but not Integrated Chapter Nine : Survival Strategies in Weaker MENA States Chapter Ten: Survival Strategies in Stronger MENA States Conclusion Selected Readings Notes

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Book SynopsisMany of us wonder what we could possibly do to end oppression, exploitation, and injustice. People have studied revolutions and protest movements for centuries, but few have focused on prefigurative politics, the idea of 'building the new society within the shell of the old'. Fed up with capitalism? Get organised and build the institutions of the future in radical unions and local communities. Tired of politicians stalling on climate change? Set up an alternative energy collective. Ready to smash racism and the patriarchy? Root them out in all areas of our lives, not just in 'high politics'. This is the first book dedicated to prefigurative politics, explaining its history and examining the various debates surrounding it. How can collective decision-making be inclusive? In what ways are movements intersectional? Can prefigurative organisations scale up? It is a must-read for students of radical politics, anarchism, and social movements, as well as activists and concerned citizens everywhere.Trade Review�Prefigurative Politics is essential reading for anyone who is serious about building a new world in the shell of the old. Concise, clear, and powerful, Raekstad and Gradin�s work illuminates histories of prefiguration and charts a course forward.�Mark Bray, Dartmouth College, author of Antifa: The Anti-Fascist Handbook �The left often struggles with an internal contradiction between (a) implementing strategies and tactics to undo its opponents, and (b) advocating for an alternative social structure. Raekstad and Gradin embrace this contradiction and consider how best to mutually reinforce both components of a broad left strategy. Here is productive strategic thinking among advocates of basic social change.�Richard D. Wolff, University of Massachusetts, Amherst �A wonderful and timely contribution to the growing literature on (socialist) activist strategy. Both authors draw extensively on their own experiences with activism and their academic research... Everyone interested in left-activism or simply longing for a better future should read Prefigurative Politics.�Marx and Philosophy Review of BooksTable of ContentsAcknowledgements Chapter 1 Introduction Chapter 2 What Prefigurative Politics Is and Is Not Chapter 3 Praxis and Social Change Chapter 4 Decision-Making in Large-Scale Organisations Chapter 5 The Personal is Political Chapter 6 Prefigurative Politics and the State Chapter 7 Radical Prefigurativism, Not Liberal Individualism Chapter 8 Conclusion: Now. Here. You. Notes Bibliography

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Book SynopsisThe election of Donald Trump as president of the United States sent shockwaves across the globe. How was such an outcome even possible? In two lectures given at American universities in the immediate aftermath of the election, the leading French philosopher Alain Badiou helps us to make sense of this extraordinary occurrence. He argues that Trump's victory was the symptom of a global crisis made up of four characteristics: the triumph of a brutal form of global capitalism, the decomposition of the established political elite, the growing frustration and disorientation that many people feel today, and the absence of a compelling alternative vision. It was in this context that Trump could emerge as a new kind of political figure that was both inside and outside the political order, a member of the Republican Party who, at the same time, represents something outside the system. The progressive political challenge now is to create something new that offers people a real choice, a radical alternative based on principles of universality and equality. This concise account of the meaning of Trump should be read by everyone who wants to understand what is happening in our world today.Trade Review"What is our task today? Reading Trump as the symptom of global capitalism's political crisis, Badiou compellingly argues that our task is to bring into existence a strategic choice between capitalism and communism. Anything less confines us to the present's democratic fascism. This crucial intervention eschews fear and despair as it finds hope in the creation of a divisive, communist politics."—Jodi Dean, author of Crowds and Party "Approachable and insightful, and will satisfy both general readers and readers more knowledgeable about political theory."—Publishers WeeklyTable of ContentsTwo Days after the Election of Trump Alain Badiou Speaks in Los Angeles Two Weeks after the Election of Trump Alain Badiou Speaks in Boston

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Book SynopsisThe question of free speech is never far from the headlines and frequently declared to be in crisis. Starting from the observation that such debates so often focus on what can and cannot be said in relation to race, Gavan Titley asks why racism has become so central to intense disputes about the status and remit of freedom of speech. Is Free Speech Racist? moves away from recurring debates about the limits of speech to instead examine how the principle of free speech is marshalled in today’s multicultural and intensively mediated societies. This involves tracing the ways in which free speech has been mobilized in far-right politics, in the recycling of ‘race realism’ and other discredited forms of knowledge, and in the politics of immigration and integration. Where there is intense political contestation and public confusion as to what constitutes racism and who gets to define it, ‘free speech’ has been adopted as a primary mechanism for amplifying and re-animating racist ideas and racializing claims. As such, contemporary free speech discourse reveals much about the ongoing life of race and racism in contemporary society.Trade Review"This is a small but mighty book."Angela Saini, BBC Science Focus 'Best Books of 2020'"Titley’s book offers a detailed, analytical counter-argument to those voices suggesting that the rights of the already entitled are somehow under threat or that speaking out against racism is an assault on public life.” […F]ree speech is always more, rather than less, complex in his analysis of the fluid processes by which it shapes racism."Times Higher Education"An excellent contribution to dispelling liberal myths that freedom of expression is impotent and unconditional, and to taking back freedom of expression. […] Titley's short and concise book [is] recommended for any anti-racist thinking and action." Antirasistisk "[This book] is clear, manageable and does not reproduce that fakely neutral tone that some academic discourses on race do. It does not shy away from complexity either. This book is both a worthwhile contribution to the history of writing on racism and a timely publication considering recent events. Highly recommended." Manchester Review of Books​ "[O]ne of the clearest accounts that has yet been published of […] how free speech is being misused by those who have turned it into an ideology. […] It's lively, compelling and principled, and anyone who cares about the topic should buy a copy." David Renton, lives; running"A particularly necessary reminder to those of us who relate to freedom of expression on a liberal basis […] that the worn-out term 'liberal democracy' is actually based on freedoms and rights that do not arise through reflex responses – that these are processes that require active debate to defend and develop. It is never more important than after attacks on our open societies."Göteborgs-Posten"Against accounts that frame freedom of speech in terms of idealized speech acts that serve both moral and utilitarian ends in avowedly enlightened, postracial liberal democracies, Titley asks critical questions about how invocations of free speech are being put to work, in service of whose interests, and to what ends. This framing pushes us past endless, circular debates about free speech as an abstract, idealized liberal democratic good and instead brings prevailing relations of oppression and exploitation sharply into focus." Alex Khasnabish, Journal for the Study of Radicalism "Titley writes with an analytical and interrogative eye toward one of democracy's most professed values and tenets—free speech. Clawing his way beneath the surface of popular political rhetoric, Titley implores his audience to reconsider how they understand free speech and its implications."Sociology of Race and Ethnicity"A significant contribution to our understanding [of how and why] the far- and racist right in many Western countries have with uneven but significant success managed to appropriate the language and rhetorics of free speech, and weaponize it for the purpose of mainstreaming racism and Islamophobia."Sindre Bangstad, Ethnic and Racial Studies "[P]seudoscience has now gone mainstream: it infects public and political discourse on the pandemic, on climate, on medicine and vaccination, on abortion, race and culture. […] As media scholar Gavan Titley points […], dealing with misinformation of this kind is an unequal battle."Chemistry World"In this admirably short, tightly argued and easily accessible book […], Titley shows us all what Applied Philosophy (my description, not his) can be, but so often is not: remorselessly logical, but at the same time jargon-free, witty and continually stimulating. The case that he sets out ought to be—but of course will not be—the last word on the matter."Bob Brecher, Res Publica "[A]n excellent inquiry into how racist expression has found a home through the alleged 'free speech crisis'."Irish Marxist Review "This important contribution embeds contemporary discussions of free speech into Critical Race Theory in subtle, well-argued ways. Titley exemplifies how racisms are advanced through the defense of freedom of speech, and how the latter is used as a blunt weapon to bludgeon efforts to tackle racist expression.​"David Theo Goldberg, University of California, Irvine "A marvellously readable and yet intellectually rigorous exploration of how race, racism and freedom of speech have become so intensely intertwined in the western public sphere. Titley offers an illuminating account of how the so-called “free speech crisis” is really a story of race, power and politics whereby vested interests have captured the very idea of the freedom to speak."Priyamvada Gopal, Churchill College, University of Cambridge"This is an excellent and urgently needed book that offers a key contribution to both academic and public debate on free speech. In a clear, succinct style, Gavan Titley persuasively argues that free speech is often defended in a superficial way, which focuses on speech as a mere channel of ideas and neglects structural inequalities between different speakers."Matteo Bonotti, Monash UniversityTable of Contents1 Debating racism, disputing speech 2 Closure: who decides what is racist? 3 Culture: who values free speech? 4 Capture: what is free speech being claimed for? Afterword: So, is free speech racist?

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Book SynopsisThe notion of ‘the end’ has long occupied philosophical thought. In light of the horrors of the twentieth century, some writers have gone so far as to declare the end of philosophy itself, emphasizing the impossibility of thinking after Auschwitz. In this book the distinguished philosopher Alain Badiou, in dialogue with Giovanbattista Tusa, argues that we must renounce ‘the pathos of completion’ and continue to think philosophically. To accept the atrocities of the twentieth century as marking the end of philosophy is intolerable precisely because it buys into the totalizing doctrines of the perpetrators. Badiou contends that philosophical thinking is needed now more than ever to counter the totalizing effects of globalized capitalism, which prescribes no objective for human life other than integration into its system, giving rise to a widespread sense of hopelessness and nihilism. This book will appeal to the many followers of Badiou’s work and to anyone interested in contemporary philosophy and radical political theory.Trade Review‘For those who are new to the work of Alain Badiou, and for those familiar with his corpus, The End offers a lucid overview of some of his most important concepts – the subject, event, politics. It also works its way through two senses of the end, both the current nihilistic end times of twenty-first-century capitalism, and the more radical and innovative end of the Western philosophical tradition. Part interview, part dialogue, part reflection and part essay, The End is at once an engaging and provocative read.’Claire Colebrook, Penn State UniversityTable of ContentsApologue Prologue The End Epilogue Coda: ‘To the End? Of Europe and Philosophy’ The Infinity of Truths. A Very Short Essay on the End of Ends Notes

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Book SynopsisThe notion of ‘the end’ has long occupied philosophical thought. In light of the horrors of the twentieth century, some writers have gone so far as to declare the end of philosophy itself, emphasizing the impossibility of thinking after Auschwitz. In this book the distinguished philosopher Alain Badiou, in dialogue with Giovanbattista Tusa, argues that we must renounce ‘the pathos of completion’ and continue to think philosophically. To accept the atrocities of the twentieth century as marking the end of philosophy is intolerable precisely because it buys into the totalizing doctrines of the perpetrators. Badiou contends that philosophical thinking is needed now more than ever to counter the totalizing effects of globalized capitalism, which prescribes no objective for human life other than integration into its system, giving rise to a widespread sense of hopelessness and nihilism. This book will appeal to the many followers of Badiou’s work and to anyone interested in contemporary philosophy and radical political theory.Trade Review‘For those who are new to the work of Alain Badiou, and for those familiar with his corpus, The End offers a lucid overview of some of his most important concepts – the subject, event, politics. It also works its way through two senses of the end, both the current nihilistic end times of twenty-first-century capitalism, and the more radical and innovative end of the Western philosophical tradition. Part interview, part dialogue, part reflection and part essay, The End is at once an engaging and provocative read.’Claire Colebrook, Penn State UniversityTable of ContentsApologue Prologue The End Epilogue Coda: ‘To the End? Of Europe and Philosophy’ The Infinity of Truths. A Very Short Essay on the End of Ends Notes

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Book SynopsisFrom obnoxious public figures to online trolling and accusations of “fake news”, almost no one seems able to disagree without hostility. But polite discord sounds farfetched when issues are so personal and fundamental that those on opposing sides appear to have no common ground. How do you debate the “enemy”? Philosophers Scott Aikin and Robert Talisse show that disagreeing civilly, even with your sworn enemies, is a crucial part of democracy. Rejecting the popular view that civility requires a polite and concessive attitude, they argue that our biggest challenge is not remaining calm in the face of an opponent, but rather ensuring that our political arguments actually address those on the opposing side. Too often politicians and pundits merely simulate political debate, offering carefully structured caricatures of their opponents. These simulations mimic political argument in a way designed to convince citizens that those with whom they disagree are not worth talking to. Good democracy thrives off conflict, but until we learn the difference between real and simulated arguments we will be doomed to speak at cross-purposes. Aikin and Talisse provide a crash course in political rhetoric for the concerned citizen, showing readers why understanding the structure of arguments is just as vital for a healthy democracy as debate over facts and values. But there’s a sting in the tail - no sooner have we learned rhetorical techniques for better disagreement than these techniques themselves become weapons with which to ignore our enemies, as accusations like “false equivalence” and “ad hominem” are used to silence criticism. Civility requires us to be eternally vigilant to the ways we disagree.Trade Review�Democracy appears threatened from the deepening, polarisation of citizens. From Trump to Brexit where one person's truth is another's fake news, wisdom is much needed to help us navigate such uncertain, choppy waters. Thankfully, we have two such guides in Aikin and Talisse who can bring clarity of understanding to what is complex and obscure. An excellent read.� Professor Thom Brooks, Chair in Law and Government, Durham University �At a time of deep political polarization, Professors Aikin and Talisse have written a very important book designed, not to try to save democracy, but to manage its symptoms. Their focus on the virtue of civility is especially significant. Highly recommended!� Christian B. Miller, A.C. Reid Professor of Philosophy at Wake Forest University

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Book SynopsisFrom obnoxious public figures to online trolling and accusations of “fake news”, almost no one seems able to disagree without hostility. But polite discord sounds farfetched when issues are so personal and fundamental that those on opposing sides appear to have no common ground. How do you debate the “enemy”? Philosophers Scott Aikin and Robert Talisse show that disagreeing civilly, even with your sworn enemies, is a crucial part of democracy. Rejecting the popular view that civility requires a polite and concessive attitude, they argue that our biggest challenge is not remaining calm in the face of an opponent, but rather ensuring that our political arguments actually address those on the opposing side. Too often politicians and pundits merely simulate political debate, offering carefully structured caricatures of their opponents. These simulations mimic political argument in a way designed to convince citizens that those with whom they disagree are not worth talking to. Good democracy thrives off conflict, but until we learn the difference between real and simulated arguments we will be doomed to speak at cross-purposes. Aikin and Talisse provide a crash course in political rhetoric for the concerned citizen, showing readers why understanding the structure of arguments is just as vital for a healthy democracy as debate over facts and values. But there’s a sting in the tail - no sooner have we learned rhetorical techniques for better disagreement than these techniques themselves become weapons with which to ignore our enemies, as accusations like “false equivalence” and “ad hominem” are used to silence criticism. Civility requires us to be eternally vigilant to the ways we disagree.Trade Review�Democracy appears threatened from the deepening, polarisation of citizens. From Trump to Brexit where one person's truth is another's fake news, wisdom is much needed to help us navigate such uncertain, choppy waters. Thankfully, we have two such guides in Aikin and Talisse who can bring clarity of understanding to what is complex and obscure. An excellent read.� Professor Thom Brooks, Chair in Law and Government, Durham University �At a time of deep political polarization, Professors Aikin and Talisse have written a very important book designed, not to try to save democracy, but to manage its symptoms. Their focus on the virtue of civility is especially significant. Highly recommended!� Christian B. Miller, A.C. Reid Professor of Philosophy at Wake Forest University

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Book SynopsisWhat causes climate change, social breakdown, rampant inequality and the creeping spread of ubiquitous surveillance? Capitalism. What is the only alternative to capitalism? Socialism. Socialism cannot, however, remain static if it is going to save civilisation from these catastrophes. In this urgent manifesto for a 21st century left, Jeremy Gilbert shows that we need a revitalised socialist politics that learns from the past to adapt to contemporary challenges. He argues that socialism must overcome its industrial origins and give priority to an environmental agenda. In an age of global networks, digital technology and instant communication, central government diktat and restrictions on free speech and movement must be jettisoned. We need to control the economy rather than let it control us - but we must do this by empowering workers, citizens and communities to run their world their way. It’s time to take back the wealth, the services and the platforms that our own energy has built. In the digital age, it’s time for a new socialism.Table of ContentsIntroduction Part One: Capitalism and Socialism Chapter One: The Cause of the Trouble Chapter Two: Why Socialism? Part Two: Welcome to the Twenty-First Century Chapter Three: How did We Get Here? Chapter Four: Where are We Now? Part Three: Twenty-First Century Socialism Chapter Five: The Programme Chapter Six: The Strategy Notes

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Book SynopsisFor some while we have been witnessing a series of destructive phenomena which seem to indicate a full-fledged return to the negative on the world stage – from terrorism and armed conflict to the threat of environmental catastrophe. At the same time, politics seems increasingly impotent in the face of these threats. In this book, the leading Italian philosopher Roberto Esposito reconstructs the genealogy of the reciprocal intertwining of politics and negation. He retraces the intensification of negation in the thought of various thinkers, from Schmitt and Freud to Heidegger, and examines the negative slant of some of our fundamental political categories, such as sovereignty, property and freedom. Against the centrality of negation, Esposito proposes an affirmative philosophy that does not negate or repress negation but radically rethinks it in the positive cipher of difference, determination and opposition. The result is a rigorous and original pathway which, in the tension between affirmation and negation, recognizes the disturbing traumas of our time, as well as the harbingers of what awaits at its limits. This highly original and timely book will be of great value to students and scholars in philosophy, cultural theory and the humanities more generally, and to anyone interested in contemporary European thought.Table of ContentsIntroduction Glosses Chapter One 1. Enemy and Friend 2. Negative Terms 3. Denials 4. Being and nothingness 5. Being-to-death Glosses Chapter Two 1. Annihilations 2. Sovereign Negation 3. Not common 4. Negative freedom 5. In the Reverse of the People Glosses Chapter Three 1. Difference 2. Determination 3. Opposition Glosses Notes Index of names

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Book SynopsisFor some while we have been witnessing a series of destructive phenomena which seem to indicate a full-fledged return to the negative on the world stage – from terrorism and armed conflict to the threat of environmental catastrophe. At the same time, politics seems increasingly impotent in the face of these threats. In this book, the leading Italian philosopher Roberto Esposito reconstructs the genealogy of the reciprocal intertwining of politics and negation. He retraces the intensification of negation in the thought of various thinkers, from Schmitt and Freud to Heidegger, and examines the negative slant of some of our fundamental political categories, such as sovereignty, property and freedom. Against the centrality of negation, Esposito proposes an affirmative philosophy that does not negate or repress negation but radically rethinks it in the positive cipher of difference, determination and opposition. The result is a rigorous and original pathway which, in the tension between affirmation and negation, recognizes the disturbing traumas of our time, as well as the harbingers of what awaits at its limits. This highly original and timely book will be of great value to students and scholars in philosophy, cultural theory and the humanities more generally, and to anyone interested in contemporary European thought.Table of ContentsIntroduction Glosses Chapter One 1. Enemy and Friend 2. Negative Terms 3. Denials 4. Being and nothingness 5. Being-to-death Glosses Chapter Two 1. Annihilations 2. Sovereign Negation 3. Not common 4. Negative freedom 5. In the Reverse of the People Glosses Chapter Three 1. Difference 2. Determination 3. Opposition Glosses Notes Index of names

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Book SynopsisIs politics necessarily violent? Does the justifiability of violence depend on whether it is perpetrated to defend or upend the existing order – or perhaps on the way in which it is conducted? Is violence simply direct physical harm, or can it also be structural, symbolic, or epistemic? In this book, Elizabeth Frazer and Kimberley Hutchings explore how political theorists, from Niccolo Machiavelli to Elaine Scarry, have addressed these issues. They engage with both defenders and critics of violence in politics, analysing their diverse justificatory and rhetorical strategies in order to draw out the enduring themes of these debates. They show how political theorists have tended to evade the central difficulties raised by violence by either reducing it to a neutral tool or identifying it with something quite distinct, such as justice or virtue. They argue that, because violence is necessarily wrapped up with hierarchical and exclusive structures and imaginaries, legitimising it in terms of the ends that it serves, or how it is perpetrated, no longer makes sense. This book will be an invaluable resource for students and scholars in areas ranging from the ethics of terror and war to radical and revolutionary political thought.Trade Review‘This excellent book offers a very careful, systematic and immensely readable introduction and analysis of the intersection between violence and politics, from Machiavelli to the present day.' Vittorio Bufacchi, University College Cork, Ireland"[T]here is no comparable text in the English language that approximates the breadth of coverage that the authors achieve."The Review of PoliticsTable of ContentsAcknowledgements Introduction: Reflections on Politics and Violence Chapter One: Politics and Revolutionary Violence Chapter Two: Politics and State Violence Chapter Three: Politics and Violence Reconsidered Chapter Four: Politics as a Continuation of Violence Chapter Five: The Problem of Violence Chapter Six: Violence and the Transformation of Man Chapter Seven: The Politicisation of Violence Chapter Eight: Towards a Political Theory of Violence Notes Bibliography

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