Description
Book SynopsisTracing how the logic of inoperativity works in the domains of language, law, history and humanity, Agamben and Politics systematically introduces the fundamental concepts of Agamben''s political thought and a critically interprets his insights in the wider context of contemporary philosophy.
Agamben''s commentators and critics tend to focus on his powerful critique of the Western political tradition in the Homo Sacer series. But this narrow focus serves to obscure the overall structure of Agamben''s political thought, which is neither negative nor critical but affirmative. Sergei Prozorov brings out the affirmative mood of Agamben''s political thought, focusing on the concept of inoperativity, which has been central to Agamben''s work from his earliest writings.
Trade Review'Prozorov has provided us with a wide-ranging study of Agamben's work that is both useful and engaging, a study that will surely meet its goal of enticing and emboldening its readers to return to Agamben's own texts with renewed interest and understanding.' Adam Kotsko, Shimer College - Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews
Table of ContentsIntroduction; 1. All's Well That Ends Well: Agamben's Comic Politics; 2. The Sabbatical Animal: The Politics of Inoperativity; 3. Speaking the Unspeakable: Inoperative Language; 4. How to Play with the Law: Inoperative Statehood; 5. The Time of the End: Inoperative History; 6. Outside of Being: Inoperative Humanity; Conclusion: An Optimist Against All Odds; Bibliography; Index.
