Precarious life : the powers of mourning and violence / Judith Butler.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Butler, Judith, 1956-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

War on Terrorism, 2001-2009--Moral and ethical aspects.

War on Terrorism, 2001-2009.

Violence--Political aspects--United States.

Violence.

Nationalism--United States.

Nationalism.

Violence--Political aspects.

United States.

Mass media and public opinion--United States.

Mass media and public opinion.

United States--Foreign relations--21st century.

International relations.

Physical Description:

xxi, 168 pages ; 20 cm

Place of Publication:

London ; New York : Verso, 2004.

Summary:

In this profound appraisal of post-September 11, 2001 America, Judith Butler considers the conditions of heightened vulnerability and aggression that followed from the attack, and the US government's decision to retaliate. She critiques the use of violence that has emerged as a response to loss, and argues that the dislocation of first-world privilege offers instead a chance to imagine a world in which that violence might be minimized, and in which interdependency becomes acknowledged as the basis for a global political community.

Butler considers the means by which some lives become grief-worthy, while others are perceived as undeserving of grief, or even incomprehensible as lives. She discusses the political implications of sovereignty in light of the prisoners in Guantanamo Bay, and argues against the anti-intellectual current of contemporary US patriotism and the power of censorship during times of war. Finally, she takes on the question of when and why the charge of anti-Semitism is leveled against those who voice criticisms of the Israeli state. She counters that we have a responsibility to speak out against both Israeli injustices and anti-Semitism, and argues against the rhetorical use of the charge of anti-Semitism to quell public debate. In her most impassioned and personal book to date, Judith Butler responds to the current US policies to wage perpetual war, and calls for a deeper understanding of how mourning and violence might instead inspire solidarity and a quest for global justice.

Contents:

1 Explanation and Exoneration, or What We Can Hear 1

2 Violence, Mourning, Politics 19

3 Indefinite Detention 50

4 The Charge of Anti-Semitism: Jews, Israel and the Risks of Public Critique 101

5 Precarious Life 128.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages [153]-161) and index.

ISBN:

1844670058

OCLC:

53398140