Polemicization : the contingency of the commonplace / Benjamin Arditi and Jeremy Valentine.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Arditi, Benjamín.

Contributor:

Valentine, Jeremy.

Series:

Taking on the political

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Political science--Philosophy.

Political science.

Polemics.

Knowledge, Sociology of.

Physical Description:

xv, 157 pages ; 24 cm.

Place of Publication:

New York : New York University Press, [1999]

Summary:

The point of departure of this book is the observation of Jaques Ranciere that "political argumentation must polemically construct the scene of its validity." This is not an assertion of the laws of the debate, but of the processes through which new experiences of subjectivity emerge to dislocate the "space of appearances." The authors refer to this process as polemicization.

The book suspends the proper distribution of appearances within familiar narratives of identity, difference, universality, antagonism, subjectivity and the relation between metaphysics and politics. This distribution is contested by navigating through the work of leading contemporary theorists such as Lefort, Schmitt, Laclau, Derrida and Zizek. This allows the authors to map the polemical dynamic of the political institution of the commonplace. The result is a provocative engagement whose broad disciplinary appeal cuts across the boundaries between political thought, cultural studies and social theory.

Contents:

1. Polemic and Polemicization. 1.1. Polemic and the Commonplace. 1.2. The Commonplace of Political Modernity. 1.3. Polemicizing the Commonplace

2. Polemicization and Political Philosophy. 2.1. Polemicization and Attitude. 2.2. Polemicization and the Political. 2.3. Polemicization and Critique. 2.4. Polemicization and Metaphysics. 2.5. Polemicization and Plurality

3. Polemicizing Subjectivity. 3.1. The Modern Subject. 3.2. The Basic Antagonism. 3.3. Outing the Subject. 3.4. Who Wants to be Popular?

4. Polemicizing Universals. 4.1. The Persistence of Universals. 4.2. The Pragmatics of the Referent. 4.3. Deliberation and Confrontation. 4.4. Undecidability and the Impurity of Universals. 4.5. Commonality Through Polemics.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages [143]-150) and index.

ISBN:

0814706886

0748610642

OCLC:

41944764