Description
Book SynopsisAn argument that in the era of globalization, survival—outlasting the uncertainties and threats of a precarious future—has supplanted harmonious coexistence as the primary goal of politics.
Trade Review“...
The Politics of Survival contains some fascinating discussions...it provides a fresh look at the preoccupation with living and surviving in uncertain times, and is therefore worth reading by students of contemporary political studies.” - Akin Akinwumi,
Political Studies Review“Marc Abélès is one of the foremost anthropological specialists on the study of contemporary politics, and
The Politics of Survival is a brilliant book. Abélès’s distinctly European take on issues of globalization will be extraordinarily valuable for a U.S. readership.”—
George Marcus, coauthor of
Designs for an Anthropology of the Future“This thoughtful essay on
The Politics of Survival offers a new perspective on the relationship between survival, security, governmentality and what Marc Abélès calls the accelerating ‘dearth of the future’. By boldly comparing the central debates about welfare and solidarity in the European Union with a close reading of divine kingship in Africa, Abélès is able to suggest new perspectives on the future of sovereignty, the new sacrality of non-governmental organizations, the function of the discourse of human rights and the general climate of precaution that characterize global politics. This book will be of equal interest to anthropologists, political theorists and all scholars concerned with the nature and future of utopian thinking.”—
Arjun Appadurai, author of
Fear of Small Numbers: An Essay on the Geography of Anger“The contribution of this book lies primarily in the opening up of an important new field of enquiry: what happens to politics, to democracy, to the relationship between the individual and the state, when survival is reframed as a political agenda? This book goes well beyond the dichotomous trade-off between liberty and security to show, instead, how politics itself is changed through discourses of fear and survival, a change that we are likely to be analysing for years to come.” -- Marianne Maeckelbergh * Anthropological Forum *
Table of ContentsTranslator's Note ix
Preface to the English Edition xi
Acknowledgments xvii
Introduction 1
1. The End of Brilliance That the Future Will Bring 21
2. Globalization and the State: A False Debate? 41
3. Virtual Europe, a Space of Uncertainty 57
4. Understanding the Displacement of Politics: From Convivance to Survival 87
5. A Necessary Detour 125
6. From Power to Humanity 143
7. The Economy of Survival 161
8. Toward a Global Politics 189
Conclusion 207
Bibliography 211
Index 219
