The microbial state : global thriving and the body politic / Stefanie R. Fishel.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Fishel, Stefanie R., 1972- author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

State, The--Philosophy.

State, The.

International organization.

Political sociology.

Physical Description:

xii, 144 pages : illustrations ; 23 cm

Place of Publication:

Minneapolis : University of Minnesota Press, [2017]

Summary:

"For three centuries, concepts of the state have been animated by one of the most powerful metaphors in politics: the body politic, a claustrophobic and bounded image of sovereignty. Climate change, neoliberalism, mass migration, and other aspects of the late Anthropocene have increasingly revealed the limitations of this metaphor. Just as the human body is not whole and separate from other bodies--comprising microbes, bacteria, water, and radioactive isotopes--Stefanie R. Fishel argues that the body politic of the state exists in dense entanglement with other communities and forms of life. Drawing on insights from continental philosophy, science and technology studies, and international relations theory, this path-breaking book critiques the concept of the body politic on the grounds of its very materiality. Fishel both redefines and extends the metaphor of the body politic and its role in understanding an increasingly posthuman, globalized world politics. By conceiving of bodies and states as lively vessels, living harmoniously with multiplicity and the biosphere, she argues that a radical shift in metaphors can challenge a politics based on fear to open new forms of global political practice and community. Reframing the concept of the body politic to accommodate greater levels of complexity, Fishel suggests, will result in new configurations for the political and social organization necessary to build a world in which the planet's inhabitants do not merely live but actively thrive"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Introduction : involutionary politics

Corporeal politics

Lively subjects, bodies politic

States in nature, nature in states

Posthuman politics

Coda : new metaphors for global living.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 119-139) and index.

Other Format:

Online version: Fishel, Stefanie R., 1972- author. Microbial state

ISBN:

9781517900120

1517900123

9781517900137

1517900131

OCLC:

982091734