Political Theory and Postmodernism (Modern European Philosophy) - Softcover

White, Stephen K.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0521409489 ISBN 13: 9780521409483

Publisher: Cambridge University Press, 1991

Synopsis

Postmodernism has evoked great controversy and it continues to do so today, as it disseminates into general discourse. Some see its principles, such as its fundamental resistance to metanarratives, as frighteningly disruptive, while a growing number are reaping the benefits of its innovative perspective. In Political Theory and Postmodernism, Stephen K. White outlines a path through the postmodern problematic by distinguishing two distinct ways of thinking about the meaning of responsibility, one prevalent in modern and the other in postmodern perspectives. Using this as a guide, White explores the work of Heidegger, Foucault, Derrida, Lyotard, and Habermas, as well as 'difference' feminists, with the goal of showing how postmodernism can inform contemporary ethical-political reflection. In his concluding chapter, White examines how this revisioned postmodern perspective might bear on our thinking about justice.

About this title

Book Description:

In Political Theory and Postmodernism, Stephen K. White outlines a path through the postmodern problematic by distinguishing two distinct ways of thinking about the meaning of responsibility, one prevalent in modern and the other in postmodern perspectives.

Review:

."..focuses on the issue of responsibility and whether modernist and postmodernist understandings of it can be reconciled...White has written a thought-provoking book that deserves to be widely read and debated." Social Science Quarterly

"White's slim volume assessing the contribution of postmodern thinking to political thought merits inclusion in the excellent 'Modern European Philosophy' series....White's defense of 'post-modern postmodernism' is remarkably free of unexplained jargon and written with an evident clarity and serious engagement with the debate between principled universalism and concrete particularism. Highly recommended for upper-division undergraduate and graduate collections." Choice

."..a useful summary of various positions...." Robert B. Pippin, The Review of Politics

"It is an intelligent book; and although it is an assembly of chapters whose prototypes appeared separately, it is a coherent piece of analysis." Michael J. Shapiro, American Political Science Review

"Suppose we were to cross J^D"urgen Habermas with Martin Heidegger. What sort of offspring might his union of Teutons produce? Stephen White's intriguing exploration of the theoretical resources necessary to postmodern politics offers one possible response to this improbable speculation." Timothy V. Kaufman-Osborn, Philosophy and Literature

"Stephen K. White has written a thoughtful and scrupulously argued book....He wishes to bring two divergent strands of contemporary theory together in a way that preserves their difference while offering an original and distinctive theoretical orientation. His success on this score is considerable: I can think of no other book that so deftly rises above polemics and keeps the two camps in conversation....[A] very substantial achievement, which deserves the attention of both friends and opponents of postmodern theory." Dana Villa, Political Theory

"Despite frequent references to postmodernism in the arts and sciences, precious little analysis of the concept can be found in the extant literature that is both accessible and edifying. White's book goes a long way toward remedying this deficiency....[A] book whose survey of the labrynthine terrain of postmodernism is as scholarly as it is well argued." Ethics

About this edition

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Publication date: 1991
• ISBN 10: 0521409489
• ISBN 13: 9780521409483
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 172