Cosmopolitanism and the geographies of freedom / David Harvey.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Harvey, David, 1935-

Series:

Wellek Library lecture series at the University of California, Irvine.

Wellek Library lectures in critical theory

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Geography--Philosophy.

Geography.

Cosmopolitanism.

Liberty.

Liberalism.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (352 p.)

Place of Publication:

New York : Columbia University Press, c2009.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Liberty and freedom are frequently invoked to justify political action. Presidents as diverse as Woodrow Wilson, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, John F. Kennedy, Ronald Reagan, and George W. Bush have built their policies on some version of these noble values. Yet in practice, idealist agendas often turn sour as they confront specific circumstances on the ground. Demonstrated by incidents at Abu Ghraib and Guantánamo Bay, the pursuit of liberty and freedom can lead to violence and repression, undermining our trust in universal theories of liberalism, neoliberalism, and cosmopolitanism. Combining his passions for politics and geography, David Harvey charts a cosmopolitan order more appropriate to an emancipatory form of global governance. Political agendas tend to fail, he argues, because they ignore the complexities of geography. Incorporating geographical knowledge into the formation of social and political policy is therefore a necessary condition for genuine democracy. Harvey begins with an insightful critique of the political uses of freedom and liberty, especially during the George W. Bush administration. Then, through an ontological investigation into geography's foundational concepts-space, place, and environment-he radically reframes geographical knowledge as a basis for social theory and political action. As Harvey makes clear, the cosmopolitanism that emerges is rooted in human experience rather than illusory ideals and brings us closer to achieving the liberation we seek.

Contents:

pt. 1. Universal values

Kant's anthropology and geography

The postcolonial critique of liberal cosmopolitanism

The flat world of neoliberal utopianism

The new cosmopolitans

The banality of geographical evils

pt. 2. Geographical knowledges

Geographical reason

Spacetime and the world

Places, regions, territories

The nature of environment

Epilogue: Geographical theory and the ruses of geographical reason.

Notes:

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9786613629326

9781280599484

1280599480

9780231519915

0231519915

OCLC:

785781455