What is Political Theory and Why Do We Need It? (Collected Essays) - Hardcover

Bhargava, Rajeev

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0195699335 ISBN 13: 9780195699333

Publisher: Oxford University Press, 2010

Synopsis

In this collection of essays, Bhargava answers important questions related to Political Theory and its aims. The aim of political theory, he says, is not only to clear up conceptual muddles but to reason systematically and ethically about some of the major social and political problems we face, to illuminate which ethical values are relevant to the context and why, and to give some direction to what we should do. Using the tools of political theory, he tells us the value and dangers of multiculturalism, the significance of political secularism in religiously diverse societies, the continuing relevance of some socialist ideas and explains why modernity must not be viewed only as a monolithic, homogenizing process.

What is Political Theory and Why Do We Need It? asks what, if any, the cultural injustices of colonialism are and how we should respond to them, assesses the value of institutions such as Truth and Reconciliation in societies that have gone through violence and injustice on a massive scale, argues why it is urgent to jettison stereotypes of one another held by religious and secular persons, clarifie the importance of free expression in democratic societies, and how the state should act amidst growing intolerance and offers a morally complex reflection on 9/11. The book also includes philosophical essays on the methodology of social science.

About this title

About the Author

Rajeev Bhargava is Director of the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies in India.

Review

"Rajeev Bhargava is one of a very small number of political theorists who can write with equal cogency and clarity about high theoretical issues and hard political questions. He is consistently enlightening (and a pleasure to read), whether he is discussing holism, objectivity, and teleology or multiculturalism, censorship, truth commissions, and 9/11."--Michael Walzer, Institute for Advanced Study "A fine collection of insightful essays, each probing its chosen subject from a particular angle and all collectively offering a systematic and coherent perspective on India and modernity in general. It represents political philosophy at its best and brings a distinctly Indian perspective to the heavily ethnocentric Western political theory."--Bhikhu Parekh, Emeritus Professor of Political Philosophy, Universities of Westminster and Hull "Rajeev Bhargava's work offers a rare combination of incisive conceptual analysis and a real familiarity with the problems on the ground that political theory is supposed to illuminate. Add to this his grasp of the difference in civilizational context between India and the West, and you have the key to this varied and wide-ranging collection, full of interesting and important insights, some of which have already helped shape the international discussion on such key topics as the nature of secularism. An important contribution to contemporary political theory."--Charles Taylor, Professor Emeritus of Philosophy, McGill University

Edition details

• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Publication date: 2010
• ISBN 10: 0195699335
• ISBN 13: 9780195699333
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 406