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Conspiracy theories are neither delusions nor lies, neither
simplistic fallacies nor psychological quirks: rather, they are a
political problem. They are not so much about truth as about
power. Rather than seeking to debunk conspiracy theories as
the work of fringe groups and cranks, Donatella Di Cesare develops
an original account that portrays conspiracy as the spectre of a
shattered community. With the proliferation of conspiracy theories,
the distrust of politics and politicians turns into a boundless and
pervasive suspicion. Who is behind the scenes? Who is
pulling the strings? The world, which seems increasingly confusing
and impossible to read, must have a hidden side, a secret realm,
that of the Deep State and the New World Order, where plans are
hatched, information is gathered and thoughts are
controlled. It is no longer a matter of a one-off plot or
intrigue. Conspiracy is the very form in which citizens who
feel condemned to a frustrating impotence, helpless before a
techno-economic juggernaut and manipulated by a faceless power,
relate to the world. This is why conspiracy, which exposes the
emptiness of democracy, proves to be a fearsome weapon of mass
depoliticisation.
Ever since the end of the Second World War when the sheer enormity
of the Nazi crime against the Jews became apparent, there have been
repeated attempts to deny that the Holocaust really happened. The
existence of gas chambers was questioned and the testimony of
survivors was thrown into doubt: the more witnesses spoke out, the
more they were intimidated and attacked by a denialism that sought
to present itself as a search for historical truth. The accusation
of trickery and deception - so central to the centuries-old
anti-Jewish hatred - continues to thrive in our times. Today
denialism takes a new and more insidious form: Jews are accused of
exploiting the 'cult of the Holocaust' not only to found the state
of Israel but also in order to take the reigns of power in a New
World Order. Holocaust denial has merged with conspiracy thinking,
and the 'world Jewish conspiracy' has become the cornerstone of the
new denialism. Concisely and authoritatively, acclaimed philosopher
Donatella Di Cesare reconstructs the evolution of denialism and
sheds new light on one of the most troubling phenomena of our time.
Conspiracy theories are neither delusions nor lies, neither
simplistic fallacies nor psychological quirks: rather, they are a
political problem. They are not so much about truth as about
power. Rather than seeking to debunk conspiracy theories as
the work of fringe groups and cranks, Donatella Di Cesare develops
an original account that portrays conspiracy as the spectre of a
shattered community. With the proliferation of conspiracy theories,
the distrust of politics and politicians turns into a boundless and
pervasive suspicion. Who is behind the scenes? Who is
pulling the strings? The world, which seems increasingly confusing
and impossible to read, must have a hidden side, a secret realm,
that of the Deep State and the New World Order, where plans are
hatched, information is gathered and thoughts are
controlled. It is no longer a matter of a one-off plot or
intrigue. Conspiracy is the very form in which citizens who
feel condemned to a frustrating impotence, helpless before a
techno-economic juggernaut and manipulated by a faceless power,
relate to the world. This is why conspiracy, which exposes the
emptiness of democracy, proves to be a fearsome weapon of mass
depoliticisation.
It is time for philosophy to return to the city. In today's
crisis-ridden world of globalised capitalism, increasingly closed
in on itself, it may seem harder than ever to think of ways out.
Philosophy runs the risk of becoming the handmaiden of science and
of a hollowed-out democracy. Donatella Di Cesare calls on
philosophy instead to return to the political fray and to the city,
the global polis, from which it was banished after the death of
Socrates. Suggesting a radical existentialism and a new anarchism,
Di Cesare shows that Western philosophy has been characterised by a
political vocation ever since its origins in ancient Greece, and
argues that the separation of philosophy from its political roots
robs it of its most valuable and enlightening potential. But
critique and dissent are no longer enough. Mindful of a defeated
exile and an inner emigration, philosophers should return to
politics and forge an alliance with the poor and the downtrodden.
This passionate defence of the political relevance of philosophy
and its radical potential in our globalised world will be of great
interest to students and scholars of philosophy and to a wide
general readership.
From the shores of Europe to the Mexican-US border, mass migration
is one of the most pressing issues we face today. Yet at the same
time, calls to defend national sovereignty are becoming ever more
vitriolic, with those fleeing war, persecution, and famine vilified
as a threat to our security as well as our social and economic
order. In this book, written amidst the dark resurgence of appeals
to defend 'blood and soil', Donatella Di Cesare challenges the idea
of the exclusionary state, arguing that migration is a fundamental
human right. She develops an original philosophy of migration that
places the migrants themselves, rather than states and their
borders, at the centre. Through an analysis of three historic
cities, Athens, Rome and Jerusalem, Di Cesare shows how we should
conceive of migrants not as an other but rather as resident
foreigners. This means recognising that citizenship cannot be based
on any supposed connection to the land or an exclusive claim to
ownership that would deny the rights of those who arrive as
migrants. Instead, citizenship must be disconnected from the
possession of territory altogether and founded on the principle of
cohabitation - and on the ultimate reality that we are all
temporary guests and tenants of the earth. Di Cesare's argument for
a new ethics of hospitality will be of great interest to all those
concerned with the challenges posed by migration and with the
increasingly hostile attitudes towards migrants, as well as
students and scholars of philosophy and political theory.
As capitalism triumphs on the ruins of utopias and faith in
progress fades, revolts are breaking out everywhere. From London to
Hong Kong and from Buenos Aires to Beirut, protests flare up, in
some cases spreading like wildfire, in other cases petering out and
reigniting elsewhere. Not even the pandemic has been able to stop
them: as many were reflecting on the loss of public space, the fuse
of a fresh explosion was lit in Minneapolis with the brutal murder
of George Floyd. We are living in an age of revolt. But what is
revolt? It would be a mistake to think of it as simply an explosion
of anger, a spontaneous and irrational outburst, as it is often
portrayed in the media. Exploding anger is not a bolt from the blue
but a symptom of a social order in which the sovereignty of the
state has imposed itself as the sole condition of order. Revolt
challenges the sovereignty of the state, whether it is democratic
or despotic, exposing the violence that underpins it. Revolt upsets
the agenda of power, interrupts time, throws history into disarray.
The time of revolt, discontinuous and intermittent, is also a
revolt of time, an anarchic transition to a space of time that
disengages itself from the architecture of politics. This brilliant
reflection on the nature and significance of revolt will be of
interest to students of politics and philosophy and to anyone
concerned with the key questions of politics today.
Marranos were Spanish or Portuguese Jews who converted to
Christianity at the time of the Spanish Inquisition to avoid being
massacred or forced to flee but who continued to practise Judaism
in secret. They were persecuted by the first racist blood laws but
the water of forced baptism was not enough to make them assimilate.
Donatella Di Cesare sees the marranos as the quintessential figures
of the modern condition: the marranos were not just those whom
modernity cast out as the 'other', but were those 'others' who were
forced to disavow their beliefs and conceal themselves. They became
'the other of the other', doubly excluded, condemned to a life of
existential duplicity with no way out, spurned by both Catholics
and Jews and unable to belong fully to either community. But this
double life of the marranos turned out to be a secret source of
strength. Doubly estranged, with no possibility of redemption, the
marranos became modernity's first true radicals. Dissidents out of
necessity, they inaugurated modernity with their ambivalence and
their split self. And their story is not over. By treating the
history of the marranos as a prism through which to grasp the
defining features of modernity, this highly original book will be
of interest to a wide readership.
Torture is not as universally condemned as it once was. From
Guantanamo and Abu Ghraib prisons to the death of Giulio Regeni,
countless recent cases have shocked public opinion. But if we want
to defend the human dignity that torture violates, simple
indignation is not enough. In this important book, Donatella Di
Cesare provides a critical perspective on torture in all its
dimensions. She seeks to capture the peculiarity of an extreme and
methodical violence where the tormentor calculates and measures out
pain so that he can hold off the victim's death, allowing him to
continue to exercise his sovereign power. For the victim, being
tortured is like experiencing his own death while he is still
alive. Torture is a threat wherever the defenceless find themselves
in the hands of the strong: in prisons, in migrant camps, in
nursing homes, in centres for the disabled and in institutions for
minors. This impassioned book will appeal to students and scholars
of philosophy and political theory as well as to anyone committed
to defending human rights as universal and inviolable.
Marranos were Spanish or Portuguese Jews who converted to
Christianity at the time of the Spanish Inquisition to avoid being
massacred or forced to flee but who continued to practise Judaism
in secret. They were persecuted by the first racist blood laws but
the water of forced baptism was not enough to make them assimilate.
Donatella Di Cesare sees the marranos as the quintessential figures
of the modern condition: the marranos were not just those whom
modernity cast out as the 'other', but were those 'others' who were
forced to disavow their beliefs and conceal themselves. They became
'the other of the other', doubly excluded, condemned to a life of
existential duplicity with no way out, spurned by both Catholics
and Jews and unable to belong fully to either community. But this
double life of the marranos turned out to be a secret source of
strength. Doubly estranged, with no possibility of redemption, the
marranos became modernity's first true radicals. Dissidents out of
necessity, they inaugurated modernity with their ambivalence and
their split self. And their story is not over. By treating the
history of the marranos as a prism through which to grasp the
defining features of modernity, this highly original book will be
of interest to a wide readership.
We are inclined to see terrorist attacks as an aberration, a
violent incursion into our lives that bears no intrinsic relation
to the fundamental features of modern societies. But does this view
misconstrue the relationship between terror and modernity? In this
book, philosopher Donatella Di Cesare takes a historical approach
and argues that terror is not a new phenomenon, but rather one that
has always been a key part of modernity. At its most basic level,
terrorism is about the struggle for power and sovereignty. The
growing concentration of power in the hands of the state, which is
a constitutive feature of modern societies, sows the seeds of
terrorism, which is deployed as a weapon by those who are exposed
to the violence of the state and feel that they have no other
recourse. As Di Cesare illustrates her argument with examples
ranging from the Red Brigades and 9/11 to jihadism and ISIS, her
sophisticated analysis will appeal to anyone who wishes to
understand contemporary terrorism more deeply, as well as to
students and scholars of philosophy and political theory.
From the shores of Europe to the Mexican-US border, mass migration
is one of the most pressing issues we face today. Yet at the same
time, calls to defend national sovereignty are becoming ever more
vitriolic, with those fleeing war, persecution, and famine vilified
as a threat to our security as well as our social and economic
order. In this book, written amidst the dark resurgence of appeals
to defend 'blood and soil', Donatella Di Cesare challenges the idea
of the exclusionary state, arguing that migration is a fundamental
human right. She develops an original philosophy of migration that
places the migrants themselves, rather than states and their
borders, at the centre. Through an analysis of three historic
cities, Athens, Rome and Jerusalem, Di Cesare shows how we should
conceive of migrants not as an other but rather as resident
foreigners. This means recognising that citizenship cannot be based
on any supposed connection to the land or an exclusive claim to
ownership that would deny the rights of those who arrive as
migrants. Instead, citizenship must be disconnected from the
possession of territory altogether and founded on the principle of
cohabitation - and on the ultimate reality that we are all
temporary guests and tenants of the earth. Di Cesare's argument for
a new ethics of hospitality will be of great interest to all those
concerned with the challenges posed by migration and with the
increasingly hostile attitudes towards migrants, as well as
students and scholars of philosophy and political theory.
Philosophers have long struggled to reconcile Martin Heidegger's
involvement in Nazism with his status as one of the greatest
thinkers of the twentieth century. The recent publication of his
Black Notebooks has reignited fierce debate on the subject. These
thousand-odd pages of jotted observations profoundly challenge our
image of the quiet philosopher's exile in the Black Forest,
revealing the shocking extent of his anti-Semitism for the first
time. For much of the philosophical community, the Black Notebooks
have been either used to discredit Heidegger or seen as a
bibliographical detail irrelevant to his thought. Yet, in this new
book, renowned philosopher Donatella Di Cesare argues that
Heidegger's "metaphysical anti-Semitism" was a central part of his
philosophical project. Within the context of the Nuremberg race
laws, Heidegger felt compelled to define Jewishness and its
relationship to his concept of Being. Di Cesare shows that
Heidegger saw the Jews as the agents of a modernity that had
disfigured the spirit of the West. In a deeply disturbing
extrapolation, he presented the Holocaust as both a means for the
purification of Being and the Jews' own "self-destruction" a
process of death on an industrialized scale that was the logical
conclusion of the acceleration in technology they themselves had
brought about. Situating Heidegger's anti-Semitism firmly within
the context of his thought, this groundbreaking work will be
essential reading for students and scholars of philosophy and
history as well as the many readers interested in Heidegger's life,
work, and legacy.
Philosophers have long struggled to reconcile Martin Heidegger's
involvement in Nazism with his status as one of the greatest
thinkers of the twentieth century. The recent publication of his
Black Notebooks has reignited fierce debate on the subject. These
thousand-odd pages of jotted observations profoundly challenge our
image of the quiet philosopher's exile in the Black Forest,
revealing the shocking extent of his anti-Semitism for the first
time. For much of the philosophical community, the Black Notebooks
have been either used to discredit Heidegger or seen as a
bibliographical detail irrelevant to his thought. Yet, in this new
book, renowned philosopher Donatella Di Cesare argues that
Heidegger's "metaphysical anti-Semitism" was a central part of his
philosophical project. Within the context of the Nuremberg race
laws, Heidegger felt compelled to define Jewishness and its
relationship to his concept of Being. Di Cesare shows that
Heidegger saw the Jews as the agents of a modernity that had
disfigured the spirit of the West. In a deeply disturbing
extrapolation, he presented the Holocaust as both a means for the
purification of Being and the Jews' own "self-destruction" a
process of death on an industrialized scale that was the logical
conclusion of the acceleration in technology they themselves had
brought about. Situating Heidegger's anti-Semitism firmly within
the context of his thought, this groundbreaking work will be
essential reading for students and scholars of philosophy and
history as well as the many readers interested in Heidegger's life,
work, and legacy.
It is time for philosophy to return to the city. In today's
crisis-ridden world of globalised capitalism, increasingly closed
in on itself, it may seem harder than ever to think of ways out.
Philosophy runs the risk of becoming the handmaiden of science and
of a hollowed-out democracy. Donatella Di Cesare calls on
philosophy instead to return to the political fray and to the city,
the global polis, from which it was banished after the death of
Socrates. Suggesting a radical existentialism and a new anarchism,
Di Cesare shows that Western philosophy has been characterised by a
political vocation ever since its origins in ancient Greece, and
argues that the separation of philosophy from its political roots
robs it of its most valuable and enlightening potential. But
critique and dissent are no longer enough. Mindful of a defeated
exile and an inner emigration, philosophers should return to
politics and forge an alliance with the poor and the downtrodden.
This passionate defence of the political relevance of philosophy
and its radical potential in our globalised world will be of great
interest to students and scholars of philosophy and to a wide
general readership.
Exploring and understanding how medieval Christians perceived and
constructed the figure of the Prophet Muhammad is of capital
relevance in the complex history of Christian-Muslim relations.
Medieval authors writing in Latin from the 8th to the 14th
centuries elaborated three main images of the Prophet: the
pseudo-historical, the legendary, and the eschatological one. This
volume focuses on the first image and consists of texts that aim to
reveal the (Christian) truth about Islam. They have been taken from
critical editions, where available, otherwise they have been
critically transcribed from manuscripts and early printed books.
They are organized chronologically in 55 entries: each of them
provides information on the author and the work, date and place of
composition, an introduction to the passage(s) reported, and an
updated bibliography listing editions, translations and studies.
The volume is also supplied with an introductory essay and an index
of notable terms.
Ever since the end of the Second World War when the sheer enormity
of the Nazi crime against the Jews became apparent, there have been
repeated attempts to deny that the Holocaust really happened. The
existence of gas chambers was questioned and the testimony of
survivors was thrown into doubt: the more witnesses spoke out, the
more they were intimidated and attacked by a denialism that sought
to present itself as a search for historical truth. The accusation
of trickery and deception - so central to the centuries-old
anti-Jewish hatred - continues to thrive in our times. Today
denialism takes a new and more insidious form: Jews are accused of
exploiting the 'cult of the Holocaust' not only to found the state
of Israel but also in order to take the reigns of power in a New
World Order. Holocaust denial has merged with conspiracy thinking,
and the 'world Jewish conspiracy' has become the cornerstone of the
new denialism. Concisely and authoritatively, acclaimed philosopher
Donatella Di Cesare reconstructs the evolution of denialism and
sheds new light on one of the most troubling phenomena of our time.
Torture is not as universally condemned as it once was. From
Guantanamo and Abu Ghraib prisons to the death of Giulio Regeni,
countless recent cases have shocked public opinion. But if we want
to defend the human dignity that torture violates, simple
indignation is not enough. In this important book, Donatella Di
Cesare provides a critical perspective on torture in all its
dimensions. She seeks to capture the peculiarity of an extreme and
methodical violence where the tormentor calculates and measures out
pain so that he can hold off the victim's death, allowing him to
continue to exercise his sovereign power. For the victim, being
tortured is like experiencing his own death while he is still
alive. Torture is a threat wherever the defenceless find themselves
in the hands of the strong: in prisons, in migrant camps, in
nursing homes, in centres for the disabled and in institutions for
minors. This impassioned book will appeal to students and scholars
of philosophy and political theory as well as to anyone committed
to defending human rights as universal and inviolable.
As capitalism triumphs on the ruins of utopias and faith in
progress fades, revolts are breaking out everywhere. From London to
Hong Kong and from Buenos Aires to Beirut, protests flare up, in
some cases spreading like wildfire, in other cases petering out and
reigniting elsewhere. Not even the pandemic has been able to stop
them: as many were reflecting on the loss of public space, the fuse
of a fresh explosion was lit in Minneapolis with the brutal murder
of George Floyd. We are living in an age of revolt. But what is
revolt? It would be a mistake to think of it as simply an explosion
of anger, a spontaneous and irrational outburst, as it is often
portrayed in the media. Exploding anger is not a bolt from the blue
but a symptom of a social order in which the sovereignty of the
state has imposed itself as the sole condition of order. Revolt
challenges the sovereignty of the state, whether it is democratic
or despotic, exposing the violence that underpins it. Revolt upsets
the agenda of power, interrupts time, throws history into disarray.
The time of revolt, discontinuous and intermittent, is also a
revolt of time, an anarchic transition to a space of time that
disengages itself from the architecture of politics. This brilliant
reflection on the nature and significance of revolt will be of
interest to students of politics and philosophy and to anyone
concerned with the key questions of politics today.
We are inclined to see terrorist attacks as an aberration, a
violent incursion into our lives that bears no intrinsic relation
to the fundamental features of modern societies. But does this view
misconstrue the relationship between terror and modernity? In this
book, philosopher Donatella Di Cesare takes a historical approach
and argues that terror is not a new phenomenon, but rather one that
has always been a key part of modernity. At its most basic level,
terrorism is about the struggle for power and sovereignty. The
growing concentration of power in the hands of the state, which is
a constitutive feature of modern societies, sows the seeds of
terrorism, which is deployed as a weapon by those who are exposed
to the violence of the state and feel that they have no other
recourse. As Di Cesare illustrates her argument with examples
ranging from the Red Brigades and 9/11 to jihadism and ISIS, her
sophisticated analysis will appeal to anyone who wishes to
understand contemporary terrorism more deeply, as well as to
students and scholars of philosophy and political theory.
A stimulating and profound portrayal of the epochal event that has
already left its mark on the twenty-first century. Immunodemocracy
offers a stimulating and profound portrayal of the epochal event
that has already left its mark on the twenty-first century. Moving
from the ecological question to the rule of experts, from the state
of exception to immunitarian democracy, from rule by fear to the
contagion of conspiracy theory, from forced distancing to digital
control, Donatella Di Cesare examines how existence is already
changing--and what its future political effects may be. In her own
personal style, the author reconstructs the dramatic phases of what
she calls the breathing catastrophe. Coronavirus is a sovereign
virus that skirts its way around the walls of patriotism and the
sovereignists' imperious frontiers. And it reveals in all its
terrible crudeness the immunitarian logic that excludes the weakest
and hits the poorest. The Cordon sanitaire of disengagement risks
expanding beyond all proportion. The disparity between the
protected and the helpless--a challenge to any idea of justice--has
never been so blatant. The virus has not introduced, but merely
brought out into the open the ruthlessness of the capitalism that
is now wrapping us in its devastating spiral, in its compulsive,
asphyxial vortex. Is it our final warning? The violent global
pandemic shows that it is impossible for us to survive if we don't
help each other. We will need to protect ourselves from protection
and the specter of absolute immunization. When breathing can no
longer be taken for granted, we need to rethink a new way of living
together.
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Pete the Sheep (Paperback)
Eva Di Cesare, Sandra Eldridge, Tim McGarry; Jackie French, Bruce Whatley; Lyrics by …
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