Manhunts : a philosophical history / Gregoire Chamayou ; translated by Steven Rendall.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Chamayou, Grégoire.

Standardized Title:

Chasses à l'homme. English

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Hunting--Philosophy.

Hunting.

Lynching.

Minorities--Crimes against.

Minorities.

Violence--Philosophy.

Violence.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (200 p.)

Edition:

Core Textbook

Place of Publication:

Princeton : Princeton University Press, c2012.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Touching on issues of power, authority, and domination, Manhunts takes an in-depth look at the hunting of humans in the West, from ancient Sparta, through the Middle Ages, to the modern practices of chasing undocumented migrants. Incorporating historical events and philosophical reflection, Grégoire Chamayou examines the systematic and organized search for individuals and small groups on the run because they have defied authority, committed crimes, seemed dangerous simply for existing, or been categorized as subhuman or dispensable. Chamayou begins in ancient Greece, where young Spartans hunted and killed Helots (Sparta's serfs) as an initiation rite, and where Aristotle and other philosophers helped to justify raids to capture and enslave foreigners by creating the concept of natural slaves. He discusses the hunt for heretics in the Middle Ages; New World natives in the early modern period; vagrants, Jews, criminals, and runaway slaves in other eras; and illegal immigrants today. Exploring evolving ideas about the human and the subhuman, what we owe to enemies and people on the margins of society, and the supposed legitimacy of domination, Chamayou shows that the hunting of humans should not be treated ahistorically, and that manhunting has varied as widely in its justifications and aims as in its practices. He investigates the psychology of manhunting, noting that many people, from bounty hunters to Balzac, have written about the thrill of hunting when the prey is equally intelligent and cunning. An unconventional history on an unconventional subject, Manhunts is an in-depth consideration of the dynamics of an age-old form of violence.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Contents

Introduction

Chapter 1. The Hunt for Bipedal Cattle

Chapter 2. Nimrod, or Cynegetic Sovereignty

Chapter 3. Diseased Sheep and Wolf-Men

Chapter 4. Hunting Indians

Chapter 5. Hunting Black Skins

Chapter 6. The Dialectic of the Hunter and the Hunted

Chapter 7. Hunting the Poor

Chapter 8. Police Hunts

Chapter 9. The Hunting Pack and Lynching

Chapter 10. Hunting Foreigners

Chapter 11. Hunting Jews

Chapter 12. Hunting Illegals

CONCLUSION

POSTSCRIPT

NOTES

INDEX

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.

ISBN:

9786613831767

9781283519311

1283519313

9781400842254

1400842255

OCLC:

804664312