Description
Book SynopsisLooking at how emergencies in the past and present have shaped the development of democracy, the author argues that democracies must resist emergency's pull to focus on life's necessities (food, security, and bare essentials) because these tend to privatize and isolate citizens rather than bring us together on behalf of hopeful futures.
Trade ReviewCo-Winner of the 2012 David Easton Award, Foundations of Political Theory Section of the American Political Science Association "[A] remarkable book... Honig's careful work enriches our understanding of democratic politics."--William Corlett, Law and Politics Book Review "Creatively engaging with many debates in democratic theory, [Honig] is at her best reinterpreting unconventional texts like biblical parables or the legal history of the Red Scare."--Choice "Emergency Politics nicely combines theory with insightful analyses of historical and contemporary events... This is a timely and important book that should be read by anyone interested in the current state of democratic theory and practice. It is a cogent argument for an agonistic conception of democracy, based on insightful theoretical and empirical analyses."--Lasse Thomassen, Journal of Politics
Table of ContentsAcknowledgments xi Preface xv Introduction: Surviving 1 Chapter One: Beginnings 12 Chapter Two: Emergence 40 Chapter Three: Decision 65 Chapter Four: Orientation 87 Chapter Five: Proximity 112 Aftermath 139 Notes 143 Bibliography 181 Index 193
