Description
Book SynopsisThe contributors to
Words and Worlds examine the state of politics and the political imaginary within contemporary societies by taking up the everyday words such as democracy, revolution, and populism that we use to understand the political present.
Trade Review“Emphasizing that words rest within social actions and social worlds and are woven into the fabric of the conceptual backdrop of contemporary politics, economics, and social worlds, this volume will have a major impact on our thinking about the fate of liberalisms and democracy.” -- Elizabeth A. Povinelli, author of * The Inheritance *
“Veena Das and Didier Fassin have assembled an arresting, methodologically innovative, and utterly relevant political lexicon. They have brought together a world-class group of authors who—with great sensitivity and insight—illuminate some of the concepts most urgently required for political understanding.” -- Alice Crary, author of * Inside Ethics: On the Demands of Moral Thought *
“Dark times require that, rather than reasserting fixed conceptual meanings and understandings, we follow Theodor Adorno in focusing upon the concept as both enabling and preventing access to the world. In this respect, [
Words and Worlds] is an erudite reminder of the power of critical theory to put words to work while appreciating their ambiguous relation to reality.” -- David Chandler * Journal of Anthropological Research *
Table of ContentsAcknowledgments vii
Introduction: From Words to Worlds / Didier Fassin and Veena Das 1
1. Knowledge / Veena Das 19
2. Democracy / Jan-Werner Müller 39
3. Authority / Banu Bargu 61
4. Belonging / Peter Geschiere 83
5. Toleration / Uday S. Mehta 103
6. Power / Alex De Waal 123
7. War / Julieta Lemaitre 143
8. Revolution / Behrooz Ghamari-Tabrizi 166
9. Corruption / Caroline Humphery 185
10. Openness / Todd Sanders and Elizabeth F. Sanders 205
11. Resilience / Jonathan Pugh 225
12. Inequality / Ravi Kanbur 243
13. Crisis / Didier Fassin 261
Bibliography 277
Contributors 299
Index 303
