Key Contemporary Concepts : From Abjection to Zeno's Paradox

′A book which all students of the human sciences will find useful, both for its range of engagements and its pedagogic ambitions. To be read and to be enjoyed′ - Nigel Thrift, University of Bristol

This book is the essential roadmap to the key concepts which frame our understanding of society and culture. From cybernetics to quantum theory, from ideology to power, from aesthetics to mimesis, this book spans a range of disciplines to provide an insight into the current scientific and intellectual state of society. Written by the author of the international bestseller Fifty Key Contemporary Thinkers (Routledge, 1994) this ambitious pedagogical and intellectual project dazzles with insight and the breadth of knowledge presented.

Each entry provides a history and current meaning of the concept in question. It then outlines its place in the work of a key author, while also offering an interpretation of the term′s significance, both current and classical. Concepts are organized in alphabetical order, complete with references for further research, making this the essential reference for students throughout the social sciences and humanities.

John Lechte is Professor in Sociology at Macquarie University, where he has responsibility for Graduate teaching and research. He has written widely on European philosophy and the image, including the work of Julia Kristeva and Georges Bataille. He has just published a key work on the image, Genealogy and Ontology of the Western Image and its Digital Future (2012), and is currently working on the human and the image. With Saul Newman, he will publish, in 2013, Agamben and the Politics of Human Rights: Statelessness, Images, Violence.