Disorienting democracy : politics of emancipation / Clare Woodford.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Woodford, Clare, author.

Series:

Interventions (Routledge (Firm))

Interventions

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Rancière, Jacques.

Democracy--Philosophy.

Democracy.

Right and left (Political science).

Physical Description:

198 pages ; 24 cm.

Place of Publication:

Abingdon, Oxon ; New York, NY : Routledge, an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, 2017.

Summary:

Drawing on recent developments in political thought Disorienting Democracy rethinks democracy to counter the increasing poverty, inequality and insecurity that mark our contemporary era. In answer to concerns that the contemporary left is not strong enough for these so-called times of crisis this book argues that the left must urgently return to strongly redistributive policies. But this alone is not enough. To bring lasting change it must strive to untangle its longstanding emancipatory ideals from the dominatory tendencies that undermine it. This book proposes that the work of Jacques Rancière is crucial for this task. Countering domination with a resolute assertion of the capacity of all, he gives us a radical politics of emancipation that emerges through subjects who refuse to know their place. In appropriating alternative ways of living they disidentify with everyday consensus, rupturing and subverting our unequal order to force alternatives onto the agenda. Juxtaposing Rancière with other thinkers from Judith Butler to Jacques Derrida, Clare Woodford draws out the practical implications of Rancière's work for our current time. She develops dissensual practices that provoke us to not just assert that another world is possible, but to bring about that other world today. Challenging what it means to do political philosophy, rethinking the role of critical theory, ethics, education, literature and aesthetics for democracy, and rejecting the longstanding divide between theory and activism, this book will be of particular interest to graduates, scholars and activists. Book jacket.

Contents:

1 Equality: The twisted path of emancipation 29

2 Reflexivity: Untangling the revolution 61

3 Aversivity: Provoking the self 90

4 Poeticity: From the glade of cicadas to the island of the people 117

5 Absurdity: Aesthetics of subversion 150.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9780415634298

0415634296

OCLC:

887860766