Against the Personification of Democracy

Against the Personification of Democracy
Author :
Publisher : Bloomsbury Publishing USA
Total Pages : 322
Release :
ISBN-10 : 9781441162748
ISBN-13 : 1441162747
Rating : 4/5 (747 Downloads)

Book Synopsis Against the Personification of Democracy by : Wesley C. Swedlow

Download or read book Against the Personification of Democracy written by Wesley C. Swedlow and published by Bloomsbury Publishing USA. This book was released on 2011-12-22 with total page 322 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Against the Personification of Democracy offers a new theory of political subjectivity that puts the dilemma of desire into the forefront. By using Lacan to read key figures in political philosophy, the book demonstrates why democratic theory -- representative or radical - is not only ineffective when it comes to the best form of political cohabitation, but also productive of destructive and self-defeating forces. The book begins with the debate between Hobbesian and Lockeian notions of subjectivity to argue that the nature of political subjectivity is a function of the problem of desire. It then considers the question of the proper structure of political cohabitation in light of Hannah Arendt's insights into what happened to the stateless in World War II, leading to a distinction between the person in a bare and unadorned form and the public persona that is represented in most forms of democracy. Lacan is used to reread the question of political subjectivity, but, unlike radical democratic theory, the book argues against agonistic, representative, and thus endless democracy. Such a political formation is seen as an instigation and ultimate disappointment to desire (the persona), which leads to general negative outcomes, including genocide, concentration camps, and the removal of rights. Arguing against Zizek's proposal that a radical Act can save us politically, the book proposes a universal political formation as the only way out of the dilemma of political desire. This formation is not dependent on public personas, but rooted in actual persons meeting in their locality and sovereign to no one. An indispensable text for anyone interested in political theory, political philosophy, and democratic theory, Against the Personification of Democracy critiques positive theories of sovereignty through its analysis of political subjectivity and the problem of desire. More importantly, it provides a truly universal theory of democratic cohabitation that escapes political desire and thus the scapegoats of democratic failure, not to mention the anxiety of the impossibility of the democratic promise.


Against the Personification of Democracy Related Books

Against the Personification of Democracy
Language: en
Pages: 322
Authors: Wesley C. Swedlow
Categories: Political Science
Type: BOOK - Published: 2011-12-22 - Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA

GET EBOOK

Against the Personification of Democracy offers a new theory of political subjectivity that puts the dilemma of desire into the forefront. By using Lacan to rea
Against the Personification of Democracy
Language: en
Pages: 206
Authors: Wesley C. Swedlow
Categories: Political Science
Type: BOOK - Published: 2009-11-02 - Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA

GET EBOOK

Against the Personification of Democracy offers a new theory of political subjectivity that puts the dilemma of desire into the forefront. By using Lacan to rea
Polis and Personification in Classical Athenian Art
Language: en
Pages: 281
Authors: Amy C. Smith
Categories: Art
Type: BOOK - Published: 2011-06-22 - Publisher: BRILL

GET EBOOK

Ancient Greek artists pioneered in the allegorical use of personifications of political ideas, events, places, institutions, and peoples in visual arts. This bo
Dilemmas of Democracy in Latin America
Language: en
Pages: 276
Authors: Howard J. Wiarda
Categories: History
Type: BOOK - Published: 2005 - Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield

GET EBOOK

Ultimately it is only with a renewed approach to U.S. policy - one that includes respectfully engaging with the myriad histories and cultures of the region - th
Personification in the Greek World
Language: en
Pages: 369
Authors: Judith Herrin
Categories: History
Type: BOOK - Published: 2017-07-12 - Publisher: Routledge

GET EBOOK

Personification, the anthropomorphic representation of any non-human thing, is a ubiquitous feature of ancient Greek literature and art. Natural phenomena (eart