Politics and Post-Structuralism
An Introduction
Edited by Alan Finlayson, Jeremy Valentine
Post-structuralism is recognised as a major force within literary and cultural studies. This book is the first to apply the theory to politics and to show the ways in which it can illuminate political theory and analysis. As such it is likely to become a key text in the development of this area, providing a stimulating introduction to the subject. Authors explore the two-way relationship, showing not only that post-structuralism can enhance the study of politics, but also that advocates of post-structuralism can benefit from being open to the lessons political studies can teach. The book aims to (i) clarify the relationship of contemporary theory to politics; (ii) open up a new intellectual interface; (iii) create a space for exchange between disciplines; (iv) provide a statement of the role of post-structuralist theory in politics
Covering three main sections - What is Post-structuralist Political Theory?; Post-structuralism and Political Analysis; and The Question of the Political - the authors draw on themes raised by Continental thinkers such as Derrida, Nancy and Deleuze, and Anglo-American thinkers such as Butler and Connolly in their questioning of the theoretical and empirical understanding of contemporary politics.
Key Features
- First systematic examination of post-structuralism to see what it may mean for political studies
- Advances its own rigorous and theoretically informed position
- Cutting edge: provides a vibrant introduction to this area of political thought and analysis
- Brings clarity to the two-way relationship between post-structuralism and politics
Part 1: Politics and the Subject
1. The Subject and Subjectivity, Caroline Williams
2. The State and Sovereign Subjectivity, James Martin
3. After The Subject of International Security, Jenny Edkins
Part 2: Doing Political Analysis
4. Ideology and Social Movements: The case of the FN, Steve Bastow
5. The Work of Ideas and Interests in Public Policy, Stephen Griggs and David Howarth
6. Economic Subjectivity and Globalization, Glyn Daly
7. Political Science and Complexity, Paul Haynes
Part 3. Critique and Political Thought
8. The Horizon of Community, Alan Finlayson
9. Public Reason Without a Public, Jeremy Valentine
10. Critical Theory and Democracy, Mark Devenney
11. The Singularity of the Political, Robert Porter
12. Genres, Technologies and Spaces of Being-In-Common, Michael J. Shapiro
Bibliography.
