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Books > Social sciences > Politics & government > Political science & theory

Disappearances and Police Killings in Contemporary Brazil - The Politics of Life and Death (Hardcover): Sabrina Villenave Disappearances and Police Killings in Contemporary Brazil - The Politics of Life and Death (Hardcover)
Sabrina Villenave
R3,906 Discovery Miles 39 060 Ships in 12 - 17 working days

The book offers an interdisciplinary qualitative study of the history of policing in Brazil and its colonial underpinnings, providing theoretical accounts of the relationship between biopolitics, space, and race, and post-colonial/decolonial work on the state, violence, and the production of disposable political subjects. Focused empirically on contemporary (1985-2015) police killings and disappearances in favelas, particularly in Rio de Janeiro, the books argues that the invisibility of this phenomenon is the product of a colonial mindset - one that has persisted throughout Brazil's experience of both dictatorship and re-democratisation and is traceable to the legacies of the Portuguese empire and the plantation system implemented. Analysing the development of the police as a colonial mechanism of social control, Villenave shows how the "war on drugs" reproduces this same colonial logic and renders some, overwhelmingly black, lives disposable and thus vulnerable to unchecked police brutality and death. It will be of interest to students and scholars of international politics and also contributes to critical security studies, postcolonial and de-colonial thought, global politics, the politics of Latin America and political geography.

Overreach - Delusions of Regime Change in Iraq (Hardcover): Michael MacDonald Overreach - Delusions of Regime Change in Iraq (Hardcover)
Michael MacDonald
R912 Discovery Miles 9 120 Ships in 12 - 17 working days

In the run-up to the 2003 invasion of Iraq, a fair number of Americans thought the idea was crazy. Now everyone, except a few die-hards, thinks it was. So what was going through the minds of the talented and experienced men and women who planned and initiated the war? What were their assumptions? Overreach "aims to recover those presuppositions.

Michael MacDonald examines the standard hypotheses for the decision to attack, showing them to be either wrong or of secondary importance: the personality of President George W. Bush, including his relationship with his father; Republican electoral considerations; the oil lobby; the Israeli lobby. He also undermines the argument that the war failed because of the Bush administration s incompetence.

The more fundamental reasons for the Iraq War and its failure, MacDonald argues, are located in basic axioms of American foreign policy, which equate America s ideals with its interests (distorting both in the process) and project those ideals as universally applicable. Believing that democratic principles would bring order to Iraq naturally and spontaneously, regardless of the region s history and culture or what Iraqis themselves wanted, neoconservative thinkers, with support from many on the left, advocated breaking the back of state power under Saddam Hussein. They maintained that by bringing about radical regime change, the United States was promoting liberalism, capitalism, and democracy in Iraq. But what it did instead was unleash chaos. That these axioms are not limited to Iraq can be seen in the recent ousting of Khadafi s regime in Libya."

Public Choice Theory and the Illusion of Grand Strategy - How Generals, Weapons Manufacturers, and Foreign Governments Shape... Public Choice Theory and the Illusion of Grand Strategy - How Generals, Weapons Manufacturers, and Foreign Governments Shape American Foreign Policy (Hardcover)
Richard Hanania
R3,918 Discovery Miles 39 180 Ships in 12 - 17 working days

This book argues that while the US president makes foreign policy decisions based largely on political pressures, it is concentrated interests that shape the incentive structures in which he and other top officials operate. The author identifies three groups most likely to be influential: government contractors, the national security bureaucracy, and foreign governments. This book shows that the public choice perspective is superior to a theory of grand strategy in explaining the most important aspects of American foreign policy, including the war on terror, policy toward China, and the distribution of US forces abroad. Arguing that American leaders are selected to respond to public opinion, not necessarily according to their ability to formulate and execute long-terms plans, the author shows how mass attitudes are easily malleable in the domain of foreign affairs due to ignorance with regard to the topic, the secrecy that surrounds national security issues, the inherent complexity of the issues involved, and most importantly, clear cases of concentrated interests. The book will be of interest to students and scholars of American Studies, Foreign Policy Analysis and Global Governance.

Explosive Conflict - Time-Dynamics of Violence (Hardcover): Randall Collins Explosive Conflict - Time-Dynamics of Violence (Hardcover)
Randall Collins
R4,062 Discovery Miles 40 620 Ships in 12 - 17 working days

This sequel to Randall Collins' world-influential micro-sociology of violence introduces the question of time-dynamics: what determines how long conflict lasts and how much damage it does. Inequality and hostility are not enough to explain when and where violence breaks out. Time-dynamics are the time-bubbles when people are most nationalistic; the hours after a protest starts when violence is most likely to happen. Ranging from the three months of nationalism and hysteria after 9/11 to the assault on the Capitol in 2021, Randall Collins shows what makes some protests more violent than others and why some revolutions are swift and non-violent tipping-points while others devolve into lengthy civil wars. Winning or losing are emotional processes, continuing in the era of computerized war, while high-tech spawns terrorist tactics of hiding in the civilian population and using cheap features of the Internet as substitutes for military organization. Nevertheless, Explosive Conflict offers some optimistic discoveries on clues to mass rampages and heading off police atrocities, with practical lessons from time-dynamics of violence.

Against Inequality - The Practical and Ethical Case for Abolishing the Superrich (Paperback): Tom Malleson Against Inequality - The Practical and Ethical Case for Abolishing the Superrich (Paperback)
Tom Malleson
R647 Discovery Miles 6 470 Ships in 9 - 15 working days

In an era of remarkable wealth idolatry, Tom Malleson investigates the ethical justifications of wealth inequality, taking the radical position that we should abolish the billionaires. Stark inequality is a problem the world over, but it has been worsening over the past thirty years, particularly in rich, economically developed countries. To acquire the same amount of wealth as Elon Musk, the average American worker would have to work for more than four and a half million years. Is this inequality morally acceptable and is it feasible to actually reduce inequality in the real world? In Against Inequality, Tom Malleson makes the case for rejecting meritocracy, presenting a strong defense against the claim that individuals "deserve" their wealth. Malleson argues that people, especially rich people, do not morally deserve the bulk of their income because it does not, by and large, come from anything the specific individual does, but is largely due to the vast understructure of other people's labor, in addition to their lucky possession of bodily talents and efforts. Furthermore, the book brings to light extensive historical and comparative evidence to show that raising taxes on both income and wealth is practically feasible and that the costs of doing so are far outweighed by the truly enormous benefits that such taxes could bring in terms of environmental sustainability, democratic equality, equal opportunity, and reduced racism and xenophobia. Unlike previous books on inequality, Against Inequality focuses on the superrich, arguing that they have far too much: a world with billionaires alonside severe deprivation is a world without justice. Malleson's argument is not that billionaires are individually evil, but that a society that allows the existence of the superrich is structurally immoral. In an era of remarkable wealth idolatry, Against Inequality takes the radical position that we should abolish the billionaires.

Intersectionality, Second Edition (Paperback, 2nd Edition): Collins Intersectionality, Second Edition (Paperback, 2nd Edition)
Collins
R588 Discovery Miles 5 880 Ships in 12 - 17 working days

The concept of intersectionality has become a central topic in academic and activist circles alike. But what exactly does it mean, and why has it emerged as such a vital lens through which to explore how social inequalities of race, class, gender, sexuality, age, ability, and ethnicity shape one another? In this fully revised and expanded second edition of their popular text, Patricia Hill Collins and Sirma Bilge provide a much-needed introduction to the field of intersectional knowledge and praxis. Analyzing the emergence, growth, and contours of the concept of intersectionality, the authors also consider its global reach through an array of new topics such as the rise of far-right populism, reproductive justice, climate change, and digital environments and cultures. Accessibly written and drawing on a plethora of lively examples to illustrate its arguments, the book highlights intersectionality's potential for understanding complex architecture of social and economic inequalities and bringing about social justice-oriented change. Intersectionality will be an invaluable resource for anyone grappling with the main ideas, debates, and new directions in this field.

The Rights of Man - or, What Are We Fighting For? (Paperback): H. G. Wells The Rights of Man - or, What Are We Fighting For? (Paperback)
H. G. Wells; Introduction by Burhan Sonmez
R170 Discovery Miles 1 700 Ships in 12 - 17 working days

In 1940 the Second World War continued to rage, and atrocities wreaked around the globe made international waves. Wells, a socialist and prominent political thinker as well as a first-rate novelist, set down in The Rights of Man a stirring manifesto, designed to instruct the international community on how best to safeguard human rights. The work gained traction, and was soon under discussion for becoming actual legislation. Although Wells didn't live to see it enacted, his words laid the groundwork for the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which enshrined human rights in law for the first time, and was adopted by the United Nations in 1948, changing the course of history for ever and granting fundamental rights to billions.

What is to be done? (Paperback): Althusser What is to be done? (Paperback)
Althusser
R403 Discovery Miles 4 030 Ships in 12 - 17 working days

What is to be done? This was the question asked by Lenin in 1901 when he was having doubts about the revolutionary capabilities of the Russian working class. 77 years later, Louis Althusser asked the same question. Faced with the tidal wave of May '68 and the recurrent hostility of the Communist Party towards the protests, he wanted to offer readers a succinct guide for the revolution to come. Lively, brilliant and engaged, this short text is wholly oriented towards one objective: to organise the working class struggle. Althusser provides a sharp critique of Antonio Gramsci's writings and of Eurocommunism, which seduced various Marxists at the time. But this book is above all the opportunity for Althusser to state what he had not succeeded in articulating elsewhere: what concrete conditions would need to be satisfied before the revolution could take place. Left unfinished, it is published here in English for the first time.

Heidegger's Entscheidung - "Decision" Between "Fate" and "Destiny" (Paperback): Norman K Swazo Heidegger's Entscheidung - "Decision" Between "Fate" and "Destiny" (Paperback)
Norman K Swazo
R1,249 Discovery Miles 12 490 Ships in 12 - 17 working days

This book critically examines the debate on Martin Heidegger's concept of Entscheidung ("decision") and his engagement and confrontation with Nazism in terms of his broader philosophical thought. It argues that one cannot explain Heidegger's actions without accounting for his idea of "decision" and its connection to his understanding of individual "fate" and national (and European) "destiny." The book looks at the relation of biography to philosophy and the ethical and political implications of appropriating Heidegger's thinking in these domains of inquiry. It highlights themes such as Heidegger's differences with the neo-Kantians in Germany; Heidegger on Kant and practical reason; and his reading of Nietzsche and Hegel. It offers a philosophical assessment grounded in Heidegger's own texts, with reference to historical and other philosophical commentaries on the rise of National Socialism in post-Weimar Germany and the philosophical issues associated with the interpretation of Nazi genocide and ideology. An important intervention in Western philosophy, this book will be of great interest to scholars and researchers of political philosophy, continental philosophy, German philosophy, philosophy in general, and political studies.

Research for Social Justice - Proceedings of the International Seminar on Research for Social Justice (ISRISJ 2018), October... Research for Social Justice - Proceedings of the International Seminar on Research for Social Justice (ISRISJ 2018), October 30, 2018, Bandung, Indonesia (Paperback)
Elly Malihah, Vina Adriany, Tutin Aryanti, Hani Yulindrasari, Alicia Izharuddin
R1,540 Discovery Miles 15 400 Ships in 12 - 17 working days

Individuals are equipped with a wide range of knowledge that enhances their employability, health, family life, and social engagement. On this basis, providing equality for all has been set to be achieved as one of the United Nations sustainable development priorities. However, the international understandings are not only of what equality and inclusivity entail but also the social vision to achieve social justice. Best practices provide a meaningful cross-national discussion with respect to the following topics: power relations within research, social inequalities in society, science research for social justice, the redefinition of the notion of social justice, education for social justice, spatial justice, the research of gender and marginalized groups, the re-conceptualization of the epistemological foundation of research, hegemonic discourses on research, science technology for social justice and welfare, as well as culture and social justice. This edited book aims to provide a new perspective for other benefits of research because generally, the research carried out only aims to answer scientific problems and often override aspects of humanities. In response to these concerns, the book attempts to re-map the main objectives of the research. The authors in this book offer new perspectives, especially in formulating the purposes of the studies they will perform. Therefore, this book presents a unique review of research with a variety of approaches that are coherent with the state of society in the world, followed by eleven scopes of various cases from a variety of perspectives that highlight theoretical and methodological questions about research and social justice. This book presents outstanding applications through multiple types of approaches that are relevant to the current context of world community issues. The articles in this book will be of interest to undergraduate and graduate students, as well as researchers who are interested in the social field, especially research for social justice.

Surviving Democracy - Mitigating Climate Change in A Neoliberalized World (Paperback): Chien-Yi Lu Surviving Democracy - Mitigating Climate Change in A Neoliberalized World (Paperback)
Chien-Yi Lu
R1,233 Discovery Miles 12 330 Ships in 12 - 17 working days

Is democracy, in its neoliberalized form, responsible in part for bringing us to the brink of self-destruction and the policy inertia that is doing away with our chances of survival? Surviving Democracy probes the way democracy became neoliberalized and the role neoliberalized democracy plays in our dealings with-causing, understanding, denying, and mitigating-climate change. Defining neoliberalism as the art of exclusion through inclusion, Chien-Yi Lu treats climate change as collateral damage of the neoliberal order established to ensure upward power and wealth redistribution. Highlighting the role money played in the "free" competition of ideas between Keynes and Hayek, she investigates the resulting global structure, wherein the wealthy and powerful sit above the market and democracy, and the way this structure fundamentally contradicts with honest climate mitigation. Central to the structure is neoliberal elites' leveraging of the fluid relationship between the market and the state. Merging citizen power with consumer and investor powers is therefore imperative to the success of climate action. While expediting the bursting of the carbon bubble is an obvious answer, it is the discussion of the meat bubble that brings the book full circle, linking our survival to neoliberalism, inclusion, and democracy. Surviving Democracy probes the role democracy plays in our dealings with-causing, understanding, denying, and hopefully, mitigating-climate change.

Urban Change and Citizenship in Times of Crisis - Volume 1: Theories and Concepts (Paperback): Bryan S. Turner, Hannah Wolf,... Urban Change and Citizenship in Times of Crisis - Volume 1: Theories and Concepts (Paperback)
Bryan S. Turner, Hannah Wolf, Gregor Fitzi, Jurgen Mackert
R1,227 Discovery Miles 12 270 Ships in 12 - 17 working days

Urban Change and Citizenship in Times of Crisis addresses the fact that in the beginning of the twenty-first century the majority of the world's population is urbanised, a social fact that has turned cities more than ever into focal sites of social change. Multiple economic and political strategies, employed by a variety of individual and collective actors, on a number of scales, constitute cities as contested spaces that hold opportunities as well as restrictions for their inhabitants. While cities and urban spaces have long been of central concern for the social sciences, today, classical sociological questions about the city acquire new meaning: Can cities be spaces of emancipation, or does life in the modern city entail a corrosion of citizenship rights? Is the city the focus of societal transformation processes, or do urban environments lose importance in shaping social reality and economic relationships? Furthermore, new questions urgently need to be asked: What is the impact of different historical phenomena such as neo-liberal restructuring, financial and economic crises, or migration flows, as well as their respective counter-movements, on the structure of contemporary cities and on the citizenship rights of city inhabitants? The three volumes address such crucial questions thereby opening up new spaces of debate on both the city and new developments of urbanism. The contributions to Theories and Concepts offer new theoretical reflections on the city in a philosophical and historical perspective as well as fresh empirical analyses of social life in urban contexts. Chapters not only critically revisit classical and modern philosophical considerations about the nature of cities but no less discuss normative philosophical reflections of urban life and the role of religion in historical processes of the emergence of cities. Composed around the question whether there can be such a thing as a 'successful city', this volume addresses issues of urban political subjectivities by considering the city's role in historical processes of emancipation, the fight for citizenship rights, and today's challenges and opportunities with regard to promoting social justice, integration, and diversity. Consequentially, theory-driven empirical analyses offer new insight into ways of solving problems in urban contexts and a genuine approach to analyse the Social Quality in cities.

Urban Change and Citizenship in Times of Crisis - Volume 2: Urban Neo-liberalisation (Paperback): Bryan S. Turner, Hannah Wolf,... Urban Change and Citizenship in Times of Crisis - Volume 2: Urban Neo-liberalisation (Paperback)
Bryan S. Turner, Hannah Wolf, Gregor Fitzi, Jurgen Mackert
R1,228 Discovery Miles 12 280 Ships in 12 - 17 working days

The contributions to Urban neo- liberalisation bring together critical analyses of the dynamics and processes neo- liberalism has facilitated in urban contexts. Recent developments, such as intensified economic investment and exposure to aggressive strategies of banks, hedge- funds and investors, and long- term processes of market- and state- led urban restructuration, have produced uneven urban geographies and new forms of exclusion and marginality. These strategies have no less transformed the governance of cities by subordinating urban social life to rationalities and practices of competition within and between cities, and they also heavily impact on city inhabitants' experience of everyday life. Against the backdrop of recent austerity politics and a marketisation of cities, this volume discusses processes of urban neo- liberalisation with regard to democracy and citizenship, inclusion and exclusion, opportunities, and life- chances. It addresses pressing issues of commodification of housing and home, activation of civil society, vulnerability, and the right to the city.

Urban Change and Citizenship in Times of Crisis - Volume 3: Figurations of Conflict and Resistance (Paperback): Bryan S.... Urban Change and Citizenship in Times of Crisis - Volume 3: Figurations of Conflict and Resistance (Paperback)
Bryan S. Turner, Hannah Wolf, Gregor Fitzi, Jurgen Mackert
R1,223 Discovery Miles 12 230 Ships in 12 - 17 working days

At times of triumphant neo-liberalism cities increasingly become objects of financial speculation. Formally, social and political rights might not be abolished, yet factually they have become inaccessible for large parts of the population. The contributions gathered in this volume shed light on the clash between the perspectives of restructuring and reordering urban environments in the interest of investors and the manifold and innovative agencies of resistance that claim and stand up for the rights of urban citizenship. Renewed waves of urban transformation employ state coercion to foster the expulsion of poor and marginalised inhabitants from those urban spaces that attract interest from speculators. The intervention of state agencies triggers the work of hegemonic culture for reframing the housing issue and implementing moral and political legitimation, as well as legislation that restricts urban citizenship rights. The case studies of the volume comparatively show the different and sometimes contradictory patterns of these conflicts in Berlin, Sydney, Belfast, Jerusalem, Amsterdam, and Istanbul as well as in metropoles of Latin America and China. Innovative resistance agencies emerge that paint possible paths for the re-establishment of the right to the city as the core of urban citizenship.

Russia in the Middle East and North Africa - Continuity and Change (Paperback): Chiara Lovotti, Aleksandra Chmielewska,... Russia in the Middle East and North Africa - Continuity and Change (Paperback)
Chiara Lovotti, Aleksandra Chmielewska, Eleonora Ambrosetti, Christopher Hartwell
R1,233 Discovery Miles 12 330 Ships in 12 - 17 working days

After decades of intense interest and rivalry with the USA, the end of the Cold War and the dismantling of the USSR officially marked a period of significant retreat of Russia from the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). However, with Russia's economic recovery and the entrenchment of President Vladimir Putin, Russia's interest in the region has risen anew. Once again seen as a battleground to contest US hegemony, Russia has expanded its political, military and (to a lesser extent) economic relationships across the region. Most apparent in the military intervention in Syria, Russia has also been engaged with traditional rivals Iran, Saudi Arabia and Turkey, stepping into the vacuum left by the US Obama Administration. Is Russia's reengagement part of a strategy, or is it mere opportunism? Authors with different backgrounds, experiences and origins examine this question via an analysis of the historical drivers of Russian interest in the MENA region and the factors underlying current Russian policies.

Kant, Global Politics and Cosmopolitan Law - The World Republic as a Regulative Idea of Reason (Paperback): Claudio Corradetti Kant, Global Politics and Cosmopolitan Law - The World Republic as a Regulative Idea of Reason (Paperback)
Claudio Corradetti
R1,239 Discovery Miles 12 390 Ships in 12 - 17 working days

Why is there so much attention on Kant's global politics in present day law and philosophy? This book highlights the potential fruitfulness of Kant's cosmopolitan thought for understanding the complexities of the contemporary political world. It adopts a double methodological strategy by reconstructing a genealogical conceptual journey showing the development of international law, as well as introducing an interpretation of cosmopolitanism centred on Kant's theory of a metaphysics of freedom. The result is a novel focus on Kant's notion of the world republic. The hypothesis here defended is that the world republic stands as a way of thinking about international politics where the possibility of progression towards peace results from its use as a regulative idea.

Consciousness and the Neoliberal Subject - A Theory of Ideology via Marcuse, Jameson and Zizek (Paperback): Jon Bailes Consciousness and the Neoliberal Subject - A Theory of Ideology via Marcuse, Jameson and Zizek (Paperback)
Jon Bailes
R1,233 Discovery Miles 12 330 Ships in 12 - 17 working days

Consciousness and the Neoliberal Subject outlines a theory of ideological function and a range of ideological positions according to which individuals rationalise and accept socio-economic conditions in advanced consumer capitalist societies. Through a critical examination of the social and psychoanalytic theories of Herbert Marcuse, Fredric Jameson, and Slavoj Zizek, the author extends the understanding of ideology to consider not only the unconscious attachment to social relations, but also the importance of conscious rationalisation in sustaining ideologies. In this way, the book defines different ideologies today in terms of the manner in which they conditionally internalise a dominant neoliberal rationality, and considers the possibility that entrenched social norms may be challenged directly, through conscious engagement. It will appeal to scholars of social and political theory with interests in ideology, neoliberalism, psychoanalytic thought and critical theory.

Past and Present Political Theology - Expanding the Canon (Paperback): Dennis Vanden Auweele, Miklos  Vassanyi Past and Present Political Theology - Expanding the Canon (Paperback)
Dennis Vanden Auweele, Miklos Vassanyi
R1,243 Discovery Miles 12 430 Ships in 12 - 17 working days

This book demonstrates how discussions of Political Theology have been a constant feature throughout philosophical modernity and that they continue to impact contemporary political debates. By tracing the historical roots and detailing the contemporary outworking of Political Theology in Europe, it contends that this growing field requires a broader "canon" in order for it to mature. Political Theology is shown here to be about the diversity of relationships between religious beliefs and political orientations. First engaging with historical debates, chapters re-examine the relationship between personal conviction and societal orientation on such topics as the will to believe, evil, individualism, the relationship between church and state, and the relationship between belief and natural science. The volume then establishes the relevance of these debates for the present day. As such, it invites engagement on the back and forth between religion and politics in a liberal democracy and a communist state, on how communitarianism relates to religious language, on the diversity of Christian and Jewish political theology, and the politics of toleration. By broadening out the field of Political Theology this book offers the reader a more nuanced understanding of its sustained influence on public life. As such it will be of interest to academics working in Political Theology, but also Theology, Philosophy and Political Science more generally.

Innovations, Reinvented Politics and Representative Democracy (Paperback): Agnes Alexandre-Collier, Alexandra Goujon, Guillaume... Innovations, Reinvented Politics and Representative Democracy (Paperback)
Agnes Alexandre-Collier, Alexandra Goujon, Guillaume Gourgues
R1,236 Discovery Miles 12 360 Ships in 12 - 17 working days

This volume focuses on the issue of change in democratic politics in terms of experimental or actual innovations introduced either within political parties or outside the party system, involving citizen participation and mobilization. Including a wide and diverse range of alternatives in the organization of groups, campaigning, conducting initiatives and enhancing practices, they not only question the relevance of traditional institutions in representing citizens' values and interests, but also share a common goal which is precisely - and perhaps paradoxically - to reshape and invigorate representative democracy This book is of key interest to scholars and students of party politics, elections/electoral studies, social movement and democratic innovations and more broadly to comparative politics, political theory and political sociology.

International Relations as Politics among People - Hermeneutic Encounters and Global Governance (Paperback): Hannes... International Relations as Politics among People - Hermeneutic Encounters and Global Governance (Paperback)
Hannes Hansen-Magnusson
R1,224 Discovery Miles 12 240 Ships in 12 - 17 working days

Pioneering a hermeneutic methodology for analyses of global governance, this is the first monograph that makes Hans-Georg Gadamer's and Paul Ricoeur's hermeneutic philosophy relevant for global politics research. Drawing on the concept of "horizon" as the element that captures the dynamics of understanding in social interaction in order to analyse processes of international politics, this book shows that what is required is the embeddedness of meanings and ideas in human action and reflection. By advancing theory-building with regard to particular questions of global governance, it reconceptualises international relations as "politics among people". Providing a contextualised constructivist approach that highlights the importance of processes to which people are central, it challenges the use of collective concepts such as "state" and "nation" as units of analysis which continue to dominate international relations but which cloud the details of interaction processes. The two case studies of UN Convention on the Law of the Sea and Germany in NATO's mission "Operation Allied Force" in Kosovo in 1999 are structured around this contextualised constructivist approach developed in the monograph. The studies reveal how interaction processes can be made accountable, leading to new vantage points of our understanding of governance problems. This book will be of interest to scholars interested in global governance, the work of Hans-Georg Gadamer, Paul Ricoeeur and hermeneutic philosophy, the UN, humanitarian interventions, and foreign policy analysts.

Agonistic Democracy - Rethinking Political Institutions in Pluralist Times (Paperback): Marie Paxton Agonistic Democracy - Rethinking Political Institutions in Pluralist Times (Paperback)
Marie Paxton
R1,232 Discovery Miles 12 320 Ships in 12 - 17 working days

Agonistic Democracy explores how theoretical concepts from agonistic democracy can inform institutional design in order to mediate conflict in multicultural, pluralist societies. Drawing on the work of Foucault, Nietzsche, Schmitt and Arendt, Marie Paxton outlines the importance of their themes of public contestation, contingency and necessary interdependency for contemporary agonistic thinkers. Paxton then delineates three distinct approaches to agonistic democracy: David Owen's perfectionist agonism, Mouffe's adversarial agonism and William Connolly and James Tully's inclusive agonism. She demonstrates how each is fundamental to enabling citizens to cultivate better virtues for themselves and society (Owen), motivating democratic engagement (Mouffe) and enhancing relations of respect and understanding between conflicting citizens (Connolly and Tully). Situated within the context of a deeply polarised post-Trump America and post-Brexit Britain, this book reveals the need to rethink our approach to conflict mediation through democratic institutions. Pulling together insights from experimental research with deliberative democratic innovations, Paxton explores how agonistic theory might be institutionalised further. By discussing ways in which agonistic institutions might be developed to render democracy more virtuous, more engaging, and more inclusive, this book provides a unique resource for students of contemporary political theory.

International Relations Narratives - Plotting World Politics (Paperback): Riikka Kuusisto International Relations Narratives - Plotting World Politics (Paperback)
Riikka Kuusisto
R1,227 Discovery Miles 12 270 Ships in 12 - 17 working days

This book presents an innovative approach to research in International Relations by examining 12 theoretical contributions to the field as competing narrative bids. It demonstrates the pervasive nature of storytelling and considers narratives as a means of causal explanation in the human sciences. By introducing four classic literary plot structures with their respective characters, events, moods and denouements, the book divides IR literature into tragedies, romances/epics, comedies and ironic/satirical stories. For each plot type, its characteristic features, logic and appeal are first reprised through some well-known prose examples before being employed in the analysis of major IR texts. King Lear, for example, helps bring out the tragic logic of Politics among Nations, and Sleeping Beauty demonstrates the romantic appeal inherent in The End of History. Twelfth Night is used to approach The Transformation of Political Community as a comedy, and A Modest Proposal paves the way for the examination of Bananas, Beaches and Bases as irony/satire. Rather than assess the absolute merits and shortcomings of the competing theories, the book discusses the relative strengths and weaknesses of stories that adhere to different plots in giving meaning to actors and events in the international arena. Discussing a broad range of theories, this text will be of interest to scholars and students of International Relations and World Politics, including various subcommunities such as specialists in peace research and Feminist IR.

Necrogeopolitics - On Death and Death-Making in International Relations (Paperback): Caroline Alphin, Francois Debrix Necrogeopolitics - On Death and Death-Making in International Relations (Paperback)
Caroline Alphin, Francois Debrix
R1,236 Discovery Miles 12 360 Ships in 12 - 17 working days

Necrogeopolitics: On Death and Death-Making in International Relations brings together a diverse array of critical IR scholars, political theorists, critical security studies researchers, and critical geographers to provide a series of interventions on the topic of death and death-making in global politics. Contrary to most existing scholarship, this volume does not place the emphasis on traditional sources or large-scale configurations of power/force leading to death in IR. Instead, it details, theorizes, and challenges more mundane, perhaps banal, and often ordinary modalities of violence perpetrated against human lives and bodies, and often contributing to horrific instances of death and destruction. Concepts such as "slow death," "soft killing," "superfluous bodies," or "extra/ordinary" destruction/disappearance are brought to the fore by prominent voices in these fields alongside more junior creative thinkers to rethink the politics of life and death in the global polity away from dominant IR or political theory paradigms about power, force, and violence. The volume features chapters that offer thought-provoking reconsiderations of key concepts, theories, and practices about death and death-making along with other chapters that seek to challenge some of these concepts, theories, or practices in settings that include the Palestinian territories, Brazilian cities, displaced population flows from the Middle East, sites of immigration policing in North America, and spaces of welfare politics in Scandinavian states.

Methodology and Emotion in International Relations - Parsing the Passions (Paperback): Eric Van Rythoven, Mira Sucharov Methodology and Emotion in International Relations - Parsing the Passions (Paperback)
Eric Van Rythoven, Mira Sucharov
R1,239 Discovery Miles 12 390 Ships in 12 - 17 working days

This volume offers a state-of-the-art study of the diverse methodological approaches and issues in the study of emotions in international relations research. While interest in emotion and affect in IR has grown in recent years, there remains an absence of sustained engagement with questions of methodology and method. Although much of the field holds the 'emotions turn' as laudable, it is commonly seen as facing serious, even prohibitive, methodological challenges. Using a common framework for making discussions of methodology and emotion mutually intelligible, this work seeks to address this lacuna and will be of interest to students and scholars of international relations, research methods and IR theory.

Re-thinking Contemporary Political Behaviour - The Difference that Agency Makes (Paperback): Sadiya Akram Re-thinking Contemporary Political Behaviour - The Difference that Agency Makes (Paperback)
Sadiya Akram
R1,226 Discovery Miles 12 260 Ships in 12 - 17 working days

Proposing a novel approach to understanding the contemporary political landscape, Akram draws on the work of Pierre Bourdieu and Margaret Archer on agency and argues the need for an in-depth engagement with concepts of agency to improve the reach and scope of political analysis. Is the way that people engage with politics changing? If so, how well-equipped are we to document and explain the extent and range of the ways in which people are engaging in politics today? This book tackles these questions through a blend of theoretical reflection and empirical research, shedding new light on the relationship between arena and process definitions of politics, and how the social relates to the political. Hitherto unexplored features of agency such as the unconscious and the internal political conversation are shown to be critical in exploring how people mobilise today and how they make sense of their political engagement. Two in-depth case studies of the internal political conversations that individuals hold as well as an analysis of the 2011 UK riots are presented. Making a case for the role of self-expression in politics, this book will be of use for graduates and scholars interested in British politics, political theory, social theory, political sociology, the theory and practice of political engagement and political behaviour.

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The Big Con - How The Consulting…
Mariana Mazzucato, Rosie Collington Paperback R420 R328 Discovery Miles 3 280
Never Again - A New Generation Draws The…
David Hogg, Lauren Hogg Paperback R268 R216 Discovery Miles 2 160
Decolonisation In Universities - The…
Jonathan D. Jansen Paperback R370 R289 Discovery Miles 2 890
South Africa And The World - A Political…
Mills Soko Paperback R330 R264 Discovery Miles 2 640
From Servants to Workers - South African…
Shireen Ally Paperback R90 R71 Discovery Miles 710
Whiteness, Afrikaans, Afrikaners…
Various Paperback R220 R172 Discovery Miles 1 720
Teaching Undergraduate Political…
Mitchell Brown, Shane Nordyke, … Hardcover R3,161 Discovery Miles 31 610
Vulture Capitalism - Corporate Crimes…
Grace Blakeley Paperback R450 R360 Discovery Miles 3 600
Penal Theories and Institutions…
Michel Foucault Paperback R526 R437 Discovery Miles 4 370

 

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