Description
Book SynopsisThis book is a philosophical essay on the sun. It draws on Georges Bataille’s theories of the solar economy and solar violence and demonstrates their relevance to a world affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and climate change.
The sun, which, since Antiquity, has played an essential role in our utopian imaginations, is the ultimate source of energy, both productive and destructive. According to Georges Bataille, its infinite generosity can be taken as the model for human societies, which suggests an alternative to the capitalist economy with its infinite expansion, colonization, and disastrous consequences on the cosmic scale.
Taking a step from solar economy to solar politics, Timofeeva locates the grounds for it in solidarity with nature, treated neither as a master nor as a slave, but as a comrade.
The book will appeal to students, academics, artists, and other readers interested in the philosophy of nature, ecology, social and political theory, postcolonial and decolonial studies, and the humanities generally.
Trade Review“What is needed today are books that combine the lesson of poststructuralism (historical character of our knowledge, its dependence on a social and linguistic context) with a robust approach to nature. In short, what is needed are books like Oxana Timofeeva’s Solar Politics, which combines the analysis of sun as a planetary phenomenon, both constructive and destructive, with an inquiry into the complex metaphoric dimension of the signifier ‘sun.’ This book is not just a book…, it is THE book we have been waiting for.”
Slavoj iek, University of Ljubljana
Table of ContentsAcknowledgements
Introduction: Two suns and the city
1. Two kinds of violence
2. General economy
3. Restrictive violence of capital
Conclusion: Sun is a comrade
Notes
