Empire of knowledge : culture and plurality in the global economy / Vinay Lal.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Lal, Vinay.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Social history--20th century.

Social history.

Economic history--20th century.

Economic history.

World politics--20th century.

World politics.

Relations.

Developed countries--Relations--Developing countries.

Developed countries.

Developing countries--Relations--Developed countries.

Developing countries.

Equality.

Knowledge, Sociology of.

History--Philosophy.

History.

Physical Description:

xi, 254 pages ; 22 cm

Place of Publication:

London ; Sterling, Va. : Pluto Press, 2002.

Summary:

During the media frenzy over the Millennium celebrations, there was hardly any mention of the fact that, for the majority of the world, there was no Millennium at all. This linear understanding of time is a specifically Western -- and Christian -- concept. This is just one of many examples of the homogenization of knowledge that Vinay Lal uses to demonstrate that nearly every idea which we take for granted in the West is part of a politics of ideas. Lal looks beyond this, deconstructing the cultural assumptions that have emerged alongside capitalism to offer a devastating critique of the politics of knowledge at the heart of all powerbroking.

Empire of Knowledge is an impassioned account of the need to move towards an emancipatory politics of plurality and democracy that reveals which competing categories of knowledge can claim our allegiance for the future.

Contents:

1 Reckoning with the Millennium 16

Monolithic Temporality 18

Democratizing/Pluralizing Temporality 31

Keeping Watch on Time 39

2 Politics in Our Times 42

Total Violence 45

Decolonization 51

Human Rights 59

3 Governance in the Twenty-First Century 69

Democratic Totalitarianism: Requiem for the US 73

Nations, But Far from United: Neanderthal Politics 82

The Economic Imperium: The Era of the WTO 96

4 Modern Knowledge and its Categories 103

The Violence of Development 109

The Forgetfulness of History 116

The Disciplinary Structure of Modern Knowledge 122

5 Ecology, Economy, Equality 131

The Ecology of Equality: The Ecosystem of a Life 138

The Economics of Inequality: Poverty and Wealth 144

6 Dissenting Futures 152

Finite Games: Hostage to "The Clash of Civilizations" 158

Infinite Games: Dissent in the Gandhian Mode 171

The Civilizational Ethos and the Future of Dissent 175

Postscript: 9-11, or The Terrorism That Has No Name 183

So What's In a Date? 183

Islamic Fundamentalism: So What's In a Name? 185

Fundamentalisms: Family Resemblances 190

A Tale of Countries: The United States (Revisited) and Afghanistan (Discovered) 195.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 237-246) and index.

ISBN:

0745317375

0745317367

OCLC:

49030997