Abstract
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POLITICAL THEORY
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Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004. 353, £40.00, ISBN 0 19 927125 9
Readership: Academic/Research, professional
Rating: ****
Reviewer: MATT SLEAT
(University of York)
There is the greatest possibility that Vincent's latest book will be read by many, as it should be, though its controversial message will go largely unheard. Vincent wants to make three contributions to the debate surrounding the nature of political theory. First he argues that political theory is pluralistic and internally divided. Political theory in the twentieth century has been an eclectic affair, concerned with institutions, empiricism, social justice, republicanism, pluralism, post-modernism, language, and much more. These concerns crisscross and overlap in the quest for the title of being the ‘true nature’ of political theory but the inherent pluralism of the discipline means that such a title is always open to contestation. This eclecticism means that Vincent covers an admirable amount of ground though this requires him to be thin on detail. Secondly, Vincent tries to bring some cohesion to this eclectic and complex practice by focusing on the foundationalist concerns embedded within the different conceptions of political theory. It was never totally clear to me whether this foundationalist theme was just a useful way of making the eclectic subject coherent or if there was a deeper claim being made about political theory and foundationalism here. Thirdly, and most controversially, Vincent argues that we adjust the way that we think of political theory so that it is more ecumenical, allowing different though equally legitimate answers to the question ‘what is political theory?’ making space for different approaches such as Vincent's own preference for a Gadamerian dialogical approach. The argument is well made and well written and Vincent has produced a superb work of self-understanding for political theory. However, I doubt very much that Vincent's plea for a more ecumenical approach to the practice will find many supporters in departments dominated, for better or for worse, by Anglo-American political philosophy.
MAITLAND: state, trust and corporation
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Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003. 136, ISBN 0 521 52630 2
Readership: Postgraduates, academic/research
Rating: ****
Reviewer: CASPER SYLVEST
(University of Cambridge)
This volume is a collection of five essays by the English legal historian F. W. Maitland (1850–1906). William Holdsworth once proclaimed that ‘in an age of great historians I think that Maitland was the greatest’, and when reading these essays – which all focus on legal, historical and philosophical aspects of the idea of the state and the relations between the state and other associations in England – one cannot but be impressed by the range and depth of Maitland's scholarship. A short extract from Maitland's introduction to Gierke's Political Theories of the Middle Age provides a good inroad to Maitland's examination of the ‘genealogies’ of some peculiar, but important, English legal concepts. We learn (among other things) of the corporation sole (‘that curious freak of English law’, p. 32), the unincorporated body and the trust.
During this tour de force Maitland continuously stresses the contingent nature of political and legal developments (‘Men often act first and think afterwards’, p. 92) as well as the historical interdependence between the state and other associations. The curious, but important, particularities and inconsistencies of English law are often related to turn-of-the-century political developments, particularly the status of trade unions, and held up against the dominant, Austinian theory of jurisprudence. At these points Maitland's importance for later English pluralists is evident. The introduction provided by the editors – along with invaluable explanatory notes, an extremely helpful glossary and bibliographical notes on Maitland – serve to make the essays interesting and relevant for political theorists. Despite the editors’ admirable effort to overcome the specialist nature of at least four of the five essays (Maitland's lecture on ‘Moral and Legal Personality’ is the exception here), for the non-specialist the essays make a demanding, but ultimately rewarding, read.
AN INTRODUCTION TO CONTEMPORARY POLITICAL THOUGHT
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London: Sage, 2003. 189, ISBN 0 7619 4184 3
Readership: Undergraduates, advanced undergraduates
Rating: ****
Reviewer: MATT SLEAT
(University of York)
Though there has been something of an influx of introductions to political theory texts aimed at undergraduates recently, Farrelly's contribution stands out as one of the better ones. Structurally the book is divided into two: The first half covers contemporary liberal philosophy, and individual chapters are dedicated to Rawls, Nozick, Gauthier (good to see him included), and Dworkin. The second half covers the ‘alternative traditions’ – communitarianism, multiculturalism, deliberative democracy and feminism.
The book is pitched at the right level to serve as an undergraduate textbook, balancing the need for accessibility with the need to keep the book informative and detailed. At the end of most sections there are boxes with suggested further reading and questions designed to make the student reflect upon what they have just read. What is particularly impressive is the way that Farrelly constantly uses practical examples in order to bring abstract discussions back down to earth. This allows the students to see the practical implications and relevance of political theory; not something that is always easy to do.
Farrelly's eye is always on the contemporary and the chapters on deliberative democracy and multiculturalism are good illustrations of this. The book is possibly as up to date as it could be and it is good to see a text that wants to engage students in current debates rather than enlighten them about ones that took place decades ago. He is also keen to show both the areas of agreements and disagreement between the different theories discussed, warning the reader away from accepting too easily the ‘isms’ as isolated and mutually exclusive. The first half of the book is, I think, better written and slightly more accessible than the second, but nevertheless this is one of the best introductory texts to political theory recently published.
A FUTURE FOR MARXISM?: Althusser, the analytical turn and the revival of socialist theory
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London: Pluto Press, 2003. 200, £15.99, ISBN 0 7453 1987 4
Readership: Postgraduates, academic/research
Rating: **
INFINITE THOUGHT: truth and the return of philosophy
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London: Continuum, 2003. 196, £16.99, ISBN 0 8264 6724
Readership: Postgraduates, academic/research, professional
Rating: ****
Reviewer: DAVID HOWARTH (Essex University)
The underlying concern of A Future for Marxism? is to resuscitate the socialist tradition. This is because of the sickness of contemporary political culture, evident in a banalized public discourse, the exhaustion of political imagination, where elections are ‘advertising promotions’ between ‘indistinguishable products’, the predominance of the Right, and the disappearance of an organised Left. Levine's diagnosis centres on ‘utopiaphobia’ – the pathological fear of different collective imaginaries that could provide new struggles with a positive hegemonic project. It is in this context, especially the failure of the New Left, that Levine proffers his cure: the need for a renewed Marxist theory and practice to explain contemporary society and set out a rational alternative to it.
Levine singles out Althusserian and ‘analytical’ Marxism for critical attention.
While both are useful antidotes to Marxist historicism, which is committed to theoretical holism, anti-scientism, and the denial of the fact-value distinction, the analytical strain provides ‘a legacy on which to rebuild’ (p. 144). Although Althusser's concept of an ‘epistemological rupture’ in Marxism makes possible a scientific Marxism, the scientific realism and conceptual precision of the analytical school delivers on the promise. Despite their quick abandonment of Marxism, the subjection of Marxist theory to Anglo-American philosophy and social science enabled Marxism to become a legitimate voice in the ongoing theoretical debate.
One might expect Levine to elaborate the explanatory and normative content of a revived Marxist position – the much-vaunted ‘second wave’ of analytical Marxism. But one would be disappointed, as the book lacks explanatory and normative substance. Levine regurgitates Cohen's two ‘Master theses’ on historical materialism and alludes to Marxism's ability to vindicate the ideals of the French revolution. Indeed, the political philosophy connected to Cohen's ‘restricted historical materialism’ simply restates well-rehearsed Marxist themes: ‘the state is the mechanism through which exploiters organize their own class dictatorship’ (p. 157), the proletarian revolution overcomes ‘class divisions altogether’ (p. 159), and politics is class struggle. Little has changed in Levine's universe since the founding fathers wrote their great indictments of industrial capitalism.
Another striking omission is Levine's failure to discuss the intellectual heirs of Althusserian philosophy, who are dismissed as ‘postmodernists’, complicit with an ‘obscurantist’ Continental philosophy. There are two problems with this. Firstly, even though the threat of ‘postmodernism’ casts a long shadow over the book, it is dismissed without any reasoned argument. Secondly, even a broadbrush conception of ‘postmodernism’ could not include post-Althusserians such as Alain Badiou under its embrace. Indeed, it is a doubly strange omission given the resurgent interest in Badiou's work following the English translation of his writings. Infinite Thought collects a series of accessible essays that introduce the range and power of his thought. As Oliver Feltham and Justin Clemens’ lucid introduction clarifies, the central question animating Badiou's philosophy centres on the relationship between ontology and modern subjectivity. Articulating modern set theory with Lacanian psychoanalysis and structural Marxism, Badiou focuses on the way human beings become subjects by acting ‘faithfully’ in relation to a chance encounter with an ‘event’ that disrupts their existing ‘situation’ (p. 6). This claim is worked out and applied to concrete issues – the ‘death of communism’ and the ‘war against terrorism’ – and by a series of ‘philosophy and’ encounters: elaborating his philosophical proposition in relation to psychoanalysis, politics, art, cinema, truth, and desire. The volume concludes with an enlightening interview with Badiou around questions of politics and ontology. Despite Levine's brash dismissal of all things continental, Badiou's interventions are a breath of fresh air; they show that Marxist and continental thought still presents a vibrant alternative to the dead weight of (Levine's) academic Marxism.
ETHICS AND POLITICS IN CONTEMPORARY THEORY
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London: Routledge, 2004. 191, £55.00, ISBN 0 415 23737 8
Readership: Academic/Research
Rating: ***
Reviewer: KRZYSZTOF JASKULOWSKI
(University of Wroclaw)
This work aims to introduce post-Marxist and critical theory represented respectively by Ernesto Laclau, Chantal Mouffe and Jürgen Habermas. The author argues that these theories are of great importance for the contemporary world as they provide the best alternative to the hypocrisy of capitalist liberal democracy. In short, not only does the author seek to objectively investigate nuances of a number of theoretical debates on the nature of politics but he also attempts to offer certain tools to criticize unjust relations of power and provide a positive vision of radical democracy. More specifically, Devenney believes that there has been little dialogue between the proponents of deliberate and radical democracy. He suggests that both theories have shortcomings, which must be considered critically.
Nevertheless, we are not presented with superficial and eclectic fusion. The author argues that the post-Marxist approaches provide a more grounded critique of the evils of modern society than the theory of communicative rationality, which is based on an unrealistic ideal of symmetrical communication. He further agrees with Laclau, who contends that any symmetry or consensus is a masked form of oppression and an effect of hegemonic closure.
It is extremely hard to do justice in a short review to the complex arguments developed in this book. They touch upon fundamental problems such as the nature of language, relations between language and reality, and rationality. Two points must be made in conclusion however. First, the book will be rather inaccessible to a wider audience since it presupposes a quite extensive knowledge of contemporary philosophy and is dotted with post-structuralist jargon. Second, and more importantly, the author's stance seems to be self-defeating, or at least overly pessimistic, as he claims that it is ultimately not possible to free politics from exclusion and unjustified exercise of power.
AUTONOMY, FREEDOM AND RIGHTS
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Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers B.V., 2003. 295, £75.00, ISBN 140201404 X
Readership: Postgraduates, academic/research
Rating: ****
Reviewer: AGUSTÍN JOSÉ MENÉNDEZ
(Universidad De León, Spain)
This book criticises liberal conceptions of autonomy from the double standpoint of Isaiah Berlin's neo-classical conception of freedom and Michel Foucault's post-modern understanding of power.
The author claims that liberalism is essentially a theory of the well-ordered society in which the conception of the autonomous individual is pre-determined by the conception of the good subject, and not the reverse, as is usually assumed. Liberalism is thus a theory ‘about whom and what should be governed’ (p. 67), which hides ‘illiberal’ and individuality-suppressing proclivities by reference to an objectively determined conception of individual autonomy. More specifically, liberalism does this through the dualist-hierarchical conception of autonomy, which splits the moral agent into a higher-rational being and a lower-assional being, and prescribes the domination of the former over the latter (p. 68).
The first chapter offers a basic description of the different variants of the liberal conception of autonomy. A second and long chapter delineates the genealogy of liberal autonomy, and emphasises the major influence of Locke's conception of freedom. The third chapter focuses on contemporary liberal theories, and especially on the work of John Rawls. In the conclusion, the author sketches out an alternative, post-liberal conception of freedom, sensitive to post-modern conditions under which the individual potential ‘for free-volition is highly problematic if not vanishing’ (p. 260). Such a conception is based on a shift from the consideration of the psychological properties of the free individual to the underpinnings of intersubjective communicative action in a Wittgeinsteinian fashion (p. 264).
The book reads well, although the argumentative thread is far from obvious at some points. In substantive terms, it offers a powerful criticism of liberalism based on the original combination of Berlin and Foucault's insights, which is both provocative and fruitful. However, it is not obvious that Santoro's alternative, post-liberal conception is really so different, given that it is reminiscent of theories of communicative action à la Habermas.
THE HYPERCOMPLEX SOCIETY
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New York: Lang Publishing, 2003. 234, $32.95, ISBN 0 8204 5704 3
Readership: Undergraduates, advanced undergraduates, postgraduates, academic/research, professional
Rating: ****
Reviewer: AKINBOLA E. AKINWUMI
(University of Ibadan, Nigeria)
No doubt, the current era is ridden with heavy bouts of complexity, a situation that Lars Qvortrup insists is really not the issue; what is of concern to him are the universalist, institutionalized techniques and perspectives (for example, religion and human rationality) generated in an attempt to manage and cope with the ‘complex’. In this tour de force a pragmatic challenge is posed to celebrated theories offering explanations about transformations in the organization of society. The ‘hypercomplex society’, the author describes, is one ‘differentiated into a large … number of sub-systems, each of which obeys only the demands of its own perspective’ (pp. 191–2). Indeed, by labelling society as presently configured as an amalgam of hypercomplex systems fundamentally imbued with ‘the complexity of complexity’, the author unwraps a very tidy and original thesis on society, modernity, and the aftermath of modernization worth pondering on. The entire argument is largely tied to explanations of the distinguishing features between ‘theocentrism’, ‘anthropocentrism’, and ‘polycentrism’ – the three being a gradualist series of processes that shaped the social system over time. Social development is seen as having evolved ‘from a traditional, theocentric society via a modern, anthropocentric society’ (p. 17), one inherently multi-centred and thus polycentrically observed and interpreted. This is opposed to the divine and linear observation perspectives operationalized in the past to interpret processes of communication, interaction and cultural action. Expectedly, Qvortrup views the internet as a symbol of cultural change and a global medium of communication designed for a polycentric, mutualist form of observation and as such needed in a hypercomplex society. Compelling and fluid, this is a fairly well written in-depth analysis, though flawed by occasional overgeneralization and repetition. This is a book whose place as an intelligent alternative to popular theorizations in the ‘information society’ ilk cannot be easily contested.
THICK MORALITIES, THIN POLITICS: social integration across communities of belief
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Durham NC: Duke University Press, 2003. 240, £15.95, ISBN 0822330938
Readership: Academic/research
Rating: ***
Reviewer: JASON SCOTT FERRELL
(McGill University, Canada)
This is a book for anyone interested in questions concerning pluralism and moral conflict. Gregg attempts to respond to the problems of moral fragmentation, socially, politically, and individually, by arguing that the best way to meet such problems is through ‘thin’ institutions and norms whose moral basis is primarily pragmatic, functional, and contingent. Of the more interesting parts is how Gregg marshals arguments from sociology to support his claims, and also the rather central role he grants the capacity of critical judgement (which serves as a vehicle for accommodation between societies, as well as a means for self-reflection within a society). The result of Gregg's discussion is a vision of ‘thin communitarianism’, a social and political proceduralism he believes is best able to secure the conditions of reciprocity and recognition that are the concerns of many contemporary theorists. Insofar as Gregg's work is interdisciplinary, it contains much that is insightful, and thus much to recommend.
Regarding the text's weaknesses, some of Gregg's observations and conclusions seem fairly familiar. The disadvantages of ‘thick normativity’ (or ‘embedded’ behaviour) have been well noted by many, while the advantages of ‘thin normativity’ appear quite similar to those claimed by others (such as Rawls or Larmore) for their own positions. As a result, the novelty of Gregg's contribution seems somewhat blunted. More, the discussion at times reads more descriptively than argumentatively, as Gregg frequently tells the reader what ‘thin norms’ can accomplish instead of showing it. There are examples, of course, which are used to prove quite a few points. But often the discussion turns upon a simple juxtaposition between ‘thin’ and ‘thick’ ways of doing things, as if this in itself will clinch the debate. I was not always convinced that it did. Regardless, the book does prompt further thought, and consequently is not without merit.
FRENCH FEMINIST THEORY
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London: Continuum, 2003. 200, £15.99, ISBN 0826458866
Readership: Advanced undergraduates
Rating: ***
Reviewer: ASLI COBAN
(Middle East Technical University)
In her work, Cavallaro examines the psychoanalytic feminist approaches that are considered to represent French feminism. Her primary concern is providing a review of the feminist literature about the relationship between the body and writing. In line with this concern, the problems of ‘feminine writing’, ‘materialistic, psychoanalytic, and the symbolic aspects of writing and culture’, ‘the role of Symbolic in identity construction’ and ‘patriarchal construction of diversity and otherness’ are addressed.
The first chapter is allocated to a brief history of French feminism following the gains of the French feminist movement and surrounding theoretical debates in historical order. ‘Sexual and Gendered Identities’, the second chapter of the book, explores the works of familiar French feminists with an eye to their conceptualization of the relationship between sexuality and gender. The third chapter, ‘Language and the Gender’ dwells upon the role of language within the process of construction of the sexes. ‘Patriarchal institutions’ looks at the materialistic, society-wide structures of gender inequality, as well as the symbolic aspects of the issue, searching for reconciliation between materialistic and psychoanalytic feminist positions. ‘Writing and the Body’ draws upon the work of Irigaray, Cixous and Kristeva in an attempt to exhibit the prospects of creating a feminine culture through feminine writing. ‘Power, Race and the Stranger’ looks at the diversity problem within the context of women's subordination.
As the book draws upon the work of Freud and Lacan heavily, a considerable degree of Lacan reading is advisable so that you can fully grasp Carvallaro's tome. On the other hand, Carvallaro provides succinct analysis of the work of the authors she places in the spotlight. In conclusion, it's an easy and well-organized entry-level book.
MAX WEBER: the vocations lectures
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Cambridge MA: Hackett Publishing, 2004. 100, £9.95, ISBN 0 87220 665 3
Readership: Undergraduates, advanced undergraduates, postgraduates, academic/research, professional
Rating: *****
Reviewer: JEFFREY ROBERTS
(University of Kent)
Arguably, the constant reinterpretation of a body of work makes it a classic and Weber's corpus is no exception. With this new translation of two of his most important lectures – the vocation lectures – Owen and Strong have offered us a wonderful opportunity to rediscover why Weber's shadow looms so largely across so many academic disciplines. The introduction alone justifies purchase. Owen and Strong have done an excellent job of reconstructing the multiple milieux from which Weber's work emerged. They beautifully weave together the historical, philosophical, academic and personal circumstances that shaped Weber's world-view and these efforts reward the reader with a nuanced and thorough understanding. Spanning 62 pages, they clarify Weber's larger project of understanding the rise of the West, explaining how these lectures form part of this programme. Both of the essays are given an independent background in which Owen and Strong explain the key themes. For ‘Science as a Vocation’ they explicate Weber's focus on the organisational contexts in which science develops vocational meaning and connect this to Weber's larger theme of disenchantment. Their discussion of the politics lecture again invokes Weber's interest in the organisational factors shaping politics, but also includes introductions to bureaucracy and charisma. I would be remiss if I didn't also highlight Rodney Livingstone's superb translation, which is augmented by providing background to key concepts and people in clear and concise footnotes. Students, and even established academics, will benefit tremendously from this new edition. With higher education under assault from a myriad of outsides forces, it is refreshing to return to a classic text that not only identified nearly 100 years ago similar problems to those faced today, but also provides ways to respond to those who do not understand our calling.
UNTIMELY POLITICS
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Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2003,196. £45.00, ISBN 0 7486 1766
Readership: Postgraduates, academic/research
Rating: ****
Reviewer: ALAN FINLAYSON
(University of Wales, Swansea)
This tough-minded book considers the politics of political theory: should theorists provide comment on the present, the immediacy around us? Chambers thinks not. The ‘politicality’ of theory resides in ‘untimeliness’: not lateness or a historicism, but being outside of a linear conception of time, attentive to voices that call from beyond the present.
Chambers is unafraid of taking on the big kids if they have made mistakes. He challenges ‘constructionist’ theories of language (a riposte to those who reduce ‘postie’ theories to showy forms of constructionism), rejecting concepts of language as objective tool. Chastising Rorty and Taylor for idly reading Heidegger he extracts from his later work an alternative conception that leads onto theorisations of ‘historicity’ via Derrrida. He then exposes poor readings of Foucault (Rorty again) and showcases a performance in close reading that might shame a biblical exegete in its textual attentiveness. As a closing flourish Chambers turns to ‘agency’, beating down Butler for the injudicious addition of psychoanalysis to her Foucauldian/Derridean stew pot. This, says Chambers, dehistoricises agency and, in a strong section, he explains Foucault's concern with institutional, physical and discursive power and shows Butler's criticisms of Foucault deriving from a misreading of him (and of herself). A final section looks at the 1996 Defence of Marriage Act to show how untimely politics is at work in and around such formal political processes.
Admirably clear in dealing with difficult concepts, this book will interest theorists looking to deepen the critical project of ‘poststructuralism’. I missed a consideration of some older theorists of ‘historicity’: Benjamin but also Marx (see the 18th Brumaire); Vico and Collingwood could be usefully plundered and there are gains from re-reading Hegel. This is a lively book, a good addition to EUP's admirably left-field series ‘Taking on the Political’, and Chambers is certainly ‘one to watch’.
LIBERAL DEMOCRACY AND ENVIRONMENTALISM: the end of environmentalism?
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London: Routledge, 2004. 220, £65.00, ISBN 0 415 32196 6
Readership: Postgraduates, academic/research, professional
Rating: *****
Reviewer: STEWART DAVIDSON
(University of Strathclyde)
The debate surrounding the relationship between environmentalism and liberal democracy now represents well-trodden ground. In such cases there is always the danger that stagnation and repetition set in. However, the question that forms the sub-title of this excellent collection of essays forces its contributors to approach the subject from an unusual angle, guiding them away from repetition and towards originality.
With all governments and political parties shouting their ‘greenness’ from the rooftops, and with environmental movements becoming ever more institutionalised and insider in status, are we once again witnessing liberal democracy's seemingly boundless ability to integrate and pacify radical social movements? Indeed, are we witnessing the end of environmentalism? It is to these questions that the contributors apply themselves. However, they do so on a theoretical rather than an empirical level, thereby creating space to explore whether such empirical trends towards reconciliation are simply masking deeper incompatibilities between the normative foundations of environmentalism and liberal democracy.
There is a nice flow to this collection, which starts with Talshir's useful overview of environmentalism's chequered history. The main body is then split into four parts. The first investigates how we should conceptualise the ‘end of environmentalism’. The second then explores the contents of these ends, and whether we should conceive of them in procedural or substantive terms. Part three examines the accomplishments of environmentalism with regards to certain pursued ends, such as intergenerational justice. And, logically placed, part four explores remaining theoretical gaps, and possibilities for their closure. The closing chapter by Barry is also the highlight of the collection, concluding that ‘environmentalism is alive and well’ (p. 191). This is a focused and innovative collection. The only warning is that readers should be aware of the narrow question being asked of the contributors – this is a book with very specific aims.
THE INTERNATIONAL THEORY OF LEONARD WOOLF
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Basingstoke: Palgrave, 2003. 273, £40.00, ISBN 0312294735
Readership: Postgraduates, academic/research
Rating: ****
Reviewer: CASPER SYLVEST
(University of Cambridge)
Peter Wilson's book – the second in Palgrave's new Series on the History of International Thought – is a detailed examination of Leonard Woolf's contribution to debates concerning international politics in Britain in the first half of the 20th century. The book demonstrates Woolf's achievements and importance and convincingly refutes the conventional image of him as an unsophisticated, naïve idealist. We are introduced to all dimensions of Woolf's international thought, including his fundamental assumptions and ideas about international order (economic as well as political), his anti-imperialism, and his influential policy proposals regarding the League of Nations and its mandates system. The book is written in an engaging and clear manner and reflects Wilson's meticulous research. Particularly instructive is the final chapter; a comparison of the international thought of Woolf and the much-misread icon of ‘realism’, E. H. Carr. As it turns out, there was more common ground between these two figures than is often acknowledged.
Although Wilson challenges and cogently revises Woolf's received reputation within the field of International Relations (IR), he is also clear that it would be ‘foolish to pretend that Woolf was a great political thinker’ (p. viii). Nevertheless, it sometimes seems as if Wilson has a preference for the disinterested, Fabian trained, social scientific Woolf and a slight contempt for the more ideological or even propagandistic Woolf (see, for example, the discussion of sanctions on p. 70). But overall Wilson's book is a valuable contribution to the ongoing attempt to historicise IR theory and British liberal international thought. Along with Wilson's other writings it is a helpful reminder of the inadequacies of traditional narratives about the development of IR theory. It is also what makes the book interesting for specialists with an interest in early 20th century British intellectual history, as well as for a wider audience within political theory and IR.
LEVIATHAN AFTER 350 YEARS
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Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004. 308, £40.00, ISBN 0 19 9264619
Readership: Postgraduates, academic/research
Rating: ***
Reviewer: ADRIAN BLAU
(University of Manchester)
This set of essays marks the 350th anniversary of the publication of Hobbes's Leviathan. The book is solid but largely unspectacular. Kinch Hoekstra's essay stands out. Hoekstra rejects previous accounts of Hobbes's theory of obligation, arguing that Hobbes includes ‘attributed consent’ – consent that one should give even if one has not. This risks diluting the notion of consent but is a valuable interpretation. Tom Sorrell's chapter explains how self-interested Hobbesian sovereigns should severely curtail their actions, an aspect of Hobbes's absolutism that is often overlooked. Luc Foisneau suggests that Hobbes changes his theory of justice in Leviathan, replacing ‘the principle of fair exchange’ with ‘the law of supply and demand as a price-fixing mechanism’ (p. 105). Given the title of this volume, Foisneau might also have drawn comparisons with recent theories of justice. Karl Schuhmann's typically microscopic analysis exposes De Cive as ‘the major direct source of Leviathan’ (p. 28). Ted Miller's chapter, by contrast, stresses the uniqueness of Leviathan: Miller relates its rhetorical character to new audiences rather than the new intellectual concerns that Quentin Skinner's work stresses.
Less successful is Richard Tuck's depiction of Hobbes as a utopian who seeks to purge citizens of many of their passions. Tuck does not define ‘utopian’, and overlooks Hobbes's other proposals for dealing with passions, especially education and institutional reform. Tuck's argument is important but, in my view, incorrect. Yves Charles Zarka's discussion of subjects and sovereigns lacks clarity; its most lucid statements are the direct quotations from Hobbes. University libraries should buy a copy of Leviathan After 350 Years, and Hobbes specialists will read this book with great relish. Undergraduate readers will still learn more from the Rogers and Ryan collection, published 337 years after Leviathan.
DILEMMAS OF RECONCILIATION: cases and concepts
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Waterloo, ON: Wilfrid Laurier University Press, 2003. 368, $34.95, ISBN 0 88920 415 2
Readership: Postgraduates, academic/research
Rating: ****
Reviewer: MAGDLENA ZOLKOS
(Copenhagen University)
Carol A. L. Prager and Trudy Gouvier's book focuses on the issues of transitional justice and responsibility for past human rights abuses in newly democratizing societies. This publication aims to demonstrate the increased political and legal importance of transitional justice in the post-Cold War era, and outlines its potential for a cross-disciplinary research. Its contributions cover several topics (for example, acknowledgement, reconciliation, retribution, peace building) and approaches (legal, political and philosophical). In addition to theoretical deliberations, it also includes five case studies of reconciliatory politics in relation to the Aboriginal mistreatment in Canadian history, apartheid in South Africa, genocides in Guatemala and Cambodia, and the Stalinist wrongdoings in Russia. The variety of issues, disciplinary approaches and levels of inquiry represented in this book makes it interesting and instructive reading for postgraduate students and researchers within the areas of politics, peace studies, human rights law, anthropology and contemporary philosophy.
The volume is largely successful in accomplishing its objectives in that it both provides an extensive mapping of the research territory of transitional justice and produces in-depth and thorough analysis of its different aspects. Its contributions make interesting and novel attempts to locate the questions of reconciliation within, for example, the framework of the contemporary moral theory of justice, or approaches them from the perspectives of the gender and ethnic categories. Nevertheless, the mosaic-like composition of this volume remains somehow problematic in that it gives an impression of disarray and eclecticism. On the one hand the contributions tend to overlap; on the other, however, they have not avoided omissions and ‘silences’ of potentially relevant issues. It remains unclear why these particular problems and cases – and not others – have been considered representative of the ‘dilemmas of reconciliation’. In spite of these minor imperfections, this book is an informative and inspiring read.
KANT'S TRANSCENDENTAL IDEALISM: an interpretation and defence
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London: Yale University Press, 2004. 535, 315.95, ISBN 0 300 10266 6
Reviewer: CHRIS J. ONOF
(Birkbeck College, University of London)
This is the second edition of an in-depth 1983 commentary of Kant's Critique of Pure Reason (CPR). Over the past 20 years, Kant scholars have reacted in different ways to Allison's dual claim that the metaphysics of Transcendental Idealism (TI) are both defensible and essential to understanding the CPR. This edition addresses these reactions through substantial additions and some revisions of the original position. The CPR is interpreted as identifying conditions for objective knowledge: for TI, things can be thought but not known as they are in themselves. Allison defends this dual-aspect theory against claims that it reduces Kant's position to a trivial doctrine by emphasising how Kant breaks with the empiricist-rationalist tradition in developing an anthropocentric model of knowledge. A systematic interpretation of Kant's theory of reason enables Allison to emphasise the therapeutic function of TI in dealing with the transcendental illusion of knowledge of the in-itself.
The additions to the previous edition are useful in the light of Guyer, Langton and Ameriks's important contributions to Kant scholarship. Thus, the discussions of the nature of Transcendental Idealism, of Kant's reply to Hume's challenge to causality (second Analogy), and of the derivation of the principle of interaction between substances (third Analogy), are well argued responses. Together with some interesting revised interpretations (for example, arguments for the ideality of space/time; cognitive role of the imagination), a clearer account of the Transcendental Deduction, and additions (for example, comprehensive analysis of the Transcendental Dialectic), this amounts to a substantial alteration of the previous edition. Allison is systematic in discussing alternative interpretations of Kant's text, and the extent of his scholarship is impressive. His analyses of the often-covert articulations of Kant's argument are detailed, but their force is only fully appreciated by keeping in mind his overall interpretative stance. This book is essential to the study of Kant's CPR.
PURSUING EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES: the theory and practice of egalitarian justice
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Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2004. 280, $24.00, ISBN 0 521 53021 0
Readership: Advanced undergraduates, postgraduates, academic/research
Rating: ****
Reviewer: FAITH ARMITAGE
(London School of Economics)
This book presents a theory of opportunity equality and a ‘prescription for … [pursuing] egalitarian justice in civil society’ (p. 23). Like other liberal egalitarians, Jacobs's theory requires not only the traditional ‘procedural fairness’, but also ‘background fairness’, which says that real opportunity equality is obtained between two individuals when contingent factors in their personal backgrounds or circumstances are neutralized. To these two familiar requirements of egalitarian justice, Jacobs adds a third: ‘stakes fairness’. Stakes fairness regulates the division of winnings in competitive opportunities. The splitting of prize money in a boxing match – 75 percent to the winner, 25 percent to the loser – is an example. The combination of these principles, in Jacobs's view, yields his distinctively ‘three-dimensional model of equal opportunities as a regulative ideal’ (p. 10), which is set out in the first third of the book. The rest examines, in light of this framework, social policies designed to reduce or eliminate race, class and gender inequalities. He shows how social policies favoured by egalitarians draw, or fail to draw, normative support from his model. Thus, for example, race- and gender-conscious affirmative action programmes mesh with his version of opportunity equality (Chs 5, 8). Workfare programmes, however, trump welfare schemes because the former are said to be superior in achieving stakes fairness (Ch. 6). His analysis is confined to Canadian, American and British contexts.
In my view, Jacobs's claim about the innovativeness of his stakes fairness dimension is not commensurate with the work that concept actually does in justifying egalitarian social policies above and beyond what his commitment to background fairness accomplishes. However, the book is thorough, accessible and clearly written. It does a better job than others in shedding philosophical light on a range of social policies. Jacobs's attempt to limit the principle of equality of opportunity to domains where competition for resources is appropriate is also welcome.
WHAT IS HISTORY? AND OTHER ESSAYS: Michael Oakeshott
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Exeter: Imprint Academic, 2004. 454, £30.00, ISBN 0 907845 835
Readership: Postgraduates, academic/research
Rating: ****
Reviewer: MATTHEW BRITNELL
(Warwick University)
Luke O'Sullivan is to be congratulated for assembling (literally in places) this highly readable volume of mainly unpublished papers from the Oakeshott archive at the LSE. That he has chosen a title that gives an overly one-sided view of the range of topics the papers cover, while also closely resembling Oakeshott's last book, On History and Other Essays (1983), is, perhaps, unfortunate, because the 30 essays, reviews, and miscellaneous papers it contains discuss in detail or touch upon every significant interest pursued by their author – history, politics, university education, the status of philosophy, poetry and religion. Arranged chronologically from 1923–81 they span almost the duration of Oakeshott's academic life.
In ‘The Philosophy of History’ (1928) Oakeshott explores the way the philosopher and the historian are each inclined to think about the past, at once dispelling the misconception that Oakeshottian history is impossible: every historian has an ‘individual and unique approach’ (p. 131). This idea is elaborated with reference to Gibbon and Macaulay in the fascinating ‘What do we look for in an Historian?’ (also 1928). Important later pieces discuss the emergence of historical understanding itself (No. 25, from 1967), and the difficulties attending intellectual history (No. 28, 1980). Oakeshott's controversial interpretative idea of ‘character’, both individual and collective, features prominently (Nos. 5, 7, 8, and especially 16). Admirers of Oakeshott's mannered post-war style will particularly enjoy ‘The Voice of Conversation in the Education of Mankind’ (c. 1948), and the hilarious ‘On Arriving at a University’ (c. 1961).
This valuable book supplements other unpublished writings that have been made available since the early 1990s and will be mainly of interest to scholars looking to broaden their understanding of the core texts. Students seeking an introduction to this most engaging of writers are still best advised, however, to begin with ‘Rationalism in Politics’ (1962).
ANOTHER PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY AND SELECTED POLITICAL WRITINGS
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Cambridge MA: Hackett Publishing, 2004. 166, £11.95, ISBN 0 87220 715 3
Readership: Undergraduates, advanced undergraduates, postgraduates
Rating: *****
Reviewer: CLIFFORD ANGELL BATES, JR
(Warsaw University)
The role that Herder plays in the transition between enlightenment political thought and romantic/nationalistic period is all too overlooked in most general surveys of the history of political thought. Herder is often referred to, along with Rousseau, as one of the fathers of the nation. Thus he will often be mentioned during a discussion of the nation-state or nationalism. Yet although he is mentioned much, he is read rather little.
The reason for this has been the fact that Herder's most central tome, Ideas on the Philosophy of History of Mankind published in four volumes, requires too big of a first bite for most students of political theory. So Evrigenis and Pellerin should be congratulated for editing this volume, which publishes Herder's smaller and early work, Another Philosophy of History, including six smaller essays on the same topic ('Of the Changes in the Tastes of Nations through the Ages’, ‘Do We Still Have a Fatherland?’, ‘Do We Still Have the Fatherland of the Ancients?’, ‘On the Character of Nations and Ages’, ‘Governments as Inherited Regimes’ and ‘The Influence of Free Legislation on the Sciences and Arts’). This volume offers the opportunity to introduce Herder to students in a survey of the history of political thought, along with his better-known contemporaries such as Rousseau, Kant, Burke and Hegel, as well as their predecessors Machiavelli, Locke and Hobbes.
Evrigenis and Pellerin's edition gives the reader a fine introduction to Herder and his thought. The selections of the smaller essays are very helpful in allowing someone unfamiliar with Herder to see how his important thoughts could be responsible in shaping how thinkers in the later half of the 19th Century thought about the nation and the role of politics in general.
THE GREEN STATE: rethinking democracy and sovereignty
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Cambridge MA: MIT, 2004. 331, £16.95, ISBN 0 262 55056 3
Readership: Advanced undergraduates, postgraduates, academic/research, professional
Rating: ****
Reviewer: CLARE ELAINE SAUNDERS
(University of Kent)
Rather than regarding states as increasingly undemocratic and exploitative institutions that have their hands tied by neo-liberalism, Eckersley paints a positive picture. States are, she contends, viable institutions for positive change uniquely placed to deal with local and global pressure. Ultimately she would like to see them repackaged as green transnational bodies engaged in stewardship of human and non-human species.
States, she argues, need not necessarily be preoccupied with power and physical and economic security. Moral and cultural norms espoused by social agency, moral entrepreneurship and environmental multilateralism can rub off, and examples abound in today's world. The treadmill of production only persists because of the political and discursive dominance of this frame of reference. It could be superseded via social agency and a change in norms, by ‘strong’ and reflexive ecological modernisation. Liberal dogmas that have blindly been followed are increasingly being challenged by the grassroots, and need to be continually challenged through inclusive deliberative democratic practices that tolerate difference, favour the oppressed, and represent current and future rights of human and non-human species. Transnational states working in local, national and global arenas are preferable to Eckersley over cosmopolitan democracy, which she argues amounts to over-optimistic green imperialism. States may initially resist being reframed as ecological stewards, but non-coercive pressure from above (multi-lateral agreements), below (civil society) and next-door (other countries) could ensure that green states spread globally.
Although Eckersley is optimistic about the role of states, for me this book confirms that the road to ecological democracy will be long and winding, if we ever get there at all. Overall, this is a very good book, which effectively balances theoretical and practical issues. It is comprehensively researched and well structured, and carries a crucial yet complex message that needs to be repackaged into bite-sized pieces to enable it to be used as a political tool for spurring on ecological democracy.
RESEARCH METHODS IN POLITICS
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Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2004. 308, £17.99, ISBN 0 333 96254 0
Readership: Undergraduates, advanced undergraduates, postgraduates
Rating: ***
Reviewer: ALAN RENWICK
(New College, University of Oxford)
This book seeks to introduce students to political science research methods. The substantial portions that pursue this goal are largely successful. Chapters on survey methodology, archival research, Internet research, elite interviewing, participant observation, content and discourse analysis, and research ethics are all good, offering a wealth of practical advice for beginner researchers.
The authors recognize, additionally, that the use of methods requires some understanding of substantive theories and methodologies. But their treatment of these issues is much weaker. Chapter 1 discusses three ‘dominant paradigms’: behaviouralism, new institutionalism, and rational choice. But sometimes ‘new institutionalism’ is used to refer to all of Peter's seven variants (p. 19), elsewhere only to the sociological or historical versions (pp. 18, 21); the question of whether new institutionalism and rational choice can be reconciled is discussed (pp. 21–2) without mentioning rational choice institutionalism.
Chapter 3 identifies ‘two basic comparative research designs: most similar research designs, and most different research designs’ (p. 62). These are intended to correspond to Przeworski and Teune's most similar and most different systems designs; in fact, they correspond to Mill's methods of difference and agreement – yet Mill is not cited. The well-known limits of Mill's methods are acknowledged (p. 66), but means of overcoming them are not discussed.
Chapter 6, ‘Making Inferences’, gives a definition of inference that is in fact a definition of descriptive inference (p. 143). Drawing on a very limited conception of causation, it contends that causal inference is generally beyond political scientists’ reach, without acknowledging this claim as controversial (p. 144); it also asserts, improbably, that ‘causal claims are rare in the discipline’ (p. 149). These and other confusions render the chapters on theories and methodologies unhelpful. Nevertheless, the chapters on methods are generally good, and can be recommended for students undertaking research.
WHAT IS POLITICAL THEORY?
by
London: Sage Publications, 2004. 222, $36.95, ISBN 0 7619 4261 0
Readership: Postgraduates, professional
Rating: **
Reviewer: CLIFFORD ANGELL BATES, JR
(Warsaw University)
The various essays in this volume were written mostly at the start of the 21st Century for Political Theory, celebrating the journal's 13th anniversary and responding to Isaiah Berlin's essay ‘Does Political Theory Still Exists?’. This is a hard book to like. Although many of the individual essays published here are interesting and thought provoking, the overall tone and character of the book is little more than one more attempt to show how political theory is still alive and well. Also the need to show that political theory is speaking to the current trends or fads of multiculturalism and ‘the need to speak to the global prospective’. This book reads like just one more typical roundtable at a political theory convention where all the discussants are trying to show the audience (who are generally made up of fellow academics) why what they are doing is important.
Perhaps this might be of some interest to someone wishing to see the current state of political theory profession as existing in the American academy (although there are an Italian, Australian and Canadian voice thrown in for measure and diversity). But for non-political theory specialists, this collection of essays comes across too much like a very intense in-group discussion that offers the outsider little opportunity to get beyond the ‘academic’ and ‘professional’ games being played by the various authors. The whole thing comes across as an excuse to create another publication to add to the contributor's CV's father than producing a tome that will stand the test of time and this wave of intellectual fads.
PHILOSOPHICAL THEORY AND THE UNIVERSAL DECLARATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS
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Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2003. 242, £9.00, ISBN 0 7766 0558 5
Readership: Postgraduates, academic/research
Rating: ***
Reviewer: RONALD TINNEVELT
(University of Leuven, Belgium)
According to Rorty, one of the shapes Western culture has recently assumed is that of a ‘human rights culture’. Following Eduardo Rabossi, Rorty claims that we should think of this culture ‘as a new, welcome fact of the post-Holocaust world’ (p. 115) and stop trying to reconstruct its philosophical presuppositions. The main aim of this volume stands in sharp contrast to Rorty's dismissal of human rights foundationalism as outmoded. It tries to investigate the relationship between philosophy and human rights documents. The volume consists of three parts. The first deals with our contemporary philosophical conceptions of rights. It examines the way in which these conceptions have been challenged and explores to what extent they are able to give a convincing justification for basic human rights. How, for example, do we deal with the claim that human rights are vague and ambiguous? The second focuses on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and its place in the practice of human rights. What circumstances gave rise to the development of the declaration? Has it made a practical contribution to the protection of human rights? The last part deals with the way human rights have been theorized and applied since the UDHR.
Although all the essays collected here are aimed at the discourse of human rights and the political and legal instruments we need to protect them, they vary considerably in scope and quality. They lack a necessary unity and give the volume a fragmented feel. In addition, the volume focuses too much on the work of the French philosopher Jacques Maritain and the case of Canada to be of interest to a broad audience of readers. In the end, however, the volume is written in an accessible style and contains some very interesting arguments.
EDUCATION AND THE GOOD SOCIETY
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London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2004. 186, £45.00, ISBN 0 333 80234 9
Readership: Undergraduates, advanced undergraduates, postgraduates, academic/research, professional
Rating: ***
Reviewer: SIMON SOROKOS
(University of Kent)
In this edited volume, Fred Inglis has collected contributions from theorists, critics and teachers. The book seeks to remoralize the debate about the true purposes of education and suggest that learning should inculcate a concern for others and a commitment to the best values of society rather than simply the ability to earn a living. The editorial, which sets up Keith Joseph as a hate figure, makes it clear what Inglis considers these values to be. Trust and civil affection together with a love of learning for its own sake, something which our current Secretary of State for Education might consider ‘a bit dodgy’, are at the centre of Inglis’ vision of the good society. Just to make it clear who is primarily responsible for the decline of these sentiments and for turning citizens into consumers, elsewhere in the book Inglis refers to Margaret Thatcher as a ‘she-rhino’. He stresses that art seeks unenvisigeable ends and notes that these do not sit well with modern education's language of aims, objectives and measurability.
Roy Hattersley writes the book's keynote chapter. He outlines his conception of the good society, a place where there is the greatest possible freedom for the largest number of people. Readers of the Political Studies Review will probably be most interested in Chantal Mouffe's contribution. She writes of the need for a vibrant public sphere, makes a plea for the reformulation, rather than the abandonment, of the left/right distinction, criticizes the idea of cosmopolitan citizenship and ends with a plea for the rediscovery of the federalist ideal. Among other things, the book also features some theses for a reform of education, written by Ulrich Beck, and a chapter by Peter Scott on the ‘Transformation of the Idea of a University’. This is a competently edited book, but one which contains few surprises. Useful, but not essential reading.
MAX WEBER: a critical introduction
by
London: Pluto Press, 2004. 218, £11.99, ISBN 0 7453 2238 7
Readership: Undergraduates
Rating: *
Reviewer: SIMON SOROKOS
(University of Kent)
Like many of us, Kieran Allen deplores the scale of inequality in our world and regrets the commodification of nearly all aspects of human life. He suggests that an understanding, rather than an acceptance, of societal norms is the first step on the road to rebellion against them. The author appears to think that, at heart, sociology is about a confrontation between Marxist and Weberian thought. What is more, he implies that Weber's ideas currently have the upper hand in the battle and that this is due to some kind of conspiracy in which Parsons, Hayek and Mills have all played a part. Allen wants us to question Weber's status and to engage in a critical and political inquiry into modern capitalism. He seeks to encourage us to do this by offering an orthodox Marxist critique of Weber's work. Consequently, he is wont to refer to ‘contradictions’, ‘dialectics’ and ‘materialism’.
Despite its self-proclaimed radical agenda this is, in many ways, a conservative book. The chapters are titled rather unimaginatively and cover such topics as capitalism, bureaucracy, class, status and party. There is also a chapter on Weber's methodology and, more interestingly, an attempt to characterise him as a sociologist of empire. Unsurprisingly, mention is also made of his use of ideal types and his classic definitions of the state and power. Allen does not write elegantly, and his book suffers from poor editing. In a single sentence the names of Douglas Kellner and Max Horkheimer are misspelt. Elsewhere, the author refers to the title of Frank Parkin's best-known book incorrectly. Most importantly, the book fails in its main objective, which is to repaint Weber as a prototypical neo-liberal unduly influenced by Nietzsche. Allen concludes by inviting us to lift the shutter on intellectual pessimism and let the light – and the wind – in. Unfortunately, all that he can do is blow hot air.
CITIZENSHIP BEYOND THE STATE
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London: Sage, 2004. 200, £60, ISBN 0 7619 4942 9
Readership: Undergraduates, advanced undergraduates, academic/research
Rating: ****
Reviewer: DAVID SULLIVAN
(University of Wales, Bangor)
Citizenship has traditionally been taken to be intimately connected with membership of a state and for this reason many radicals have been uneasy with the whole idea of citizenship, arguing that there are elements within it which can be used to suppress freedom and subjugate people to the demands of those who rule the state. John Hoffman challenges this idea forcefully, arguing that citizenship and state are distinct and in many respects mutually exclusive. The state is neither natural nor desirable – it can and should be dispensed with. Citizenship, by contrast, is inclusive and emancipatory and, freed from the constraints of the state, provides people with the capacity to govern themselves within a genuinely democratic society. The book, he acknowledges, ‘stands or falls as an attempt to separate the concept of citizenship from that of the state’ (p. 2), but even those who are not convinced by his central argument will find a stimulating discussion of a range of topics, which are central to the contemporary discussion of citizenship. Hoffman's analysis is based in part on a subtle and sympathetic reworking of Marx's arguments about the dynamic, dialectical relationships within society and the economy and the prospect, in the long term, of the withering away of the state. He develops his argument through analysis of a range of central ideas including nationality/nationalism, feminism, globalization as well as a sustained discussion of the nature of the state. This book will be read with profit by anyone who is interested in the contemporary debate on citizenship, and it is a particularly good book to give to undergraduates, covering as it does the main themes of the current debate about citizenship clearly and fairly. But I will suggest to my students that they read it as their third or fourth book on the topic, so that they will understand just how radical and thought provoking Hoffman's arguments are.
HOMO DEMOCRATICUS: universal desirability and the not so universal possibility of democracy and human rights
by
Buckinghamshire: Cambridge Scholars Press, 2003. 555, £39.99, ISBN 1904303269
Readership: Postgraduates, academic/research, professional
Rating: **
Reviewer: CLARE ELAINE SAUNDERS
(University of Kent)
The focus of this book is on democracy and human rights, and why they are desirable. It considers how democracy and human rights are both precursors to, and outcomes of, a healthy society. The foundations of democracy discussed include freedom of speech, tolerance/diversity, non-discrimination, healthy public discourse, public participation, legal and cultural rights, economic redistribution, peace between and within states, political equality, social freedom, and federal management of political power. Arguments and counterarguments for each of these are given, and the intricate relationships between their cause and effect in relation to democracy are (albeit sometimes in the form of a circular argument) discussed. The book is loosely structured around the content of international human rights treaties, which are usefully reproduced in the appendix.
The book is a wholesome 469 pages long (excluding appendices and bibliography) and at times is difficult to absorb. Whilst the ambitious aim may have been to give a balanced view of the pros and cons of democracy and human rights, and their important foundations, the approach taken makes for an incoherent argument. There are few structural cues, none of the chapters have summaries, the chapter/section lay out is confusing, the text is repetitious, and at times the supposed disadvantages of democracy are discussed with as much gusto and persuasive power as the advantages. Other factors that contribute to making the text inaccessible are occasional quotes in foreign languages, tables that are not referred to in the text, several typographical errors, pages of text presented in list format, and the book's overbearing philosophical style. To contribute to the confusion, the word ‘democracy’ means different things in different sections, despite Spagnoli's preferred definition as ‘rule of the people by the people’ (p. 19).
However, the book covers some important ground. Democracy and human rights are increasingly being recognised as the cornerstones of many contemporary social movements across the globe. Whilst political scientists and sociologists might find the text inaccessible, philosophers may be more accustomed to loosely structured texts, and be able to use it as Spagnoli intends – to help promote democratic imperialism.
METAPHYSICS, METHOD AND POLITICS
by
Exeter: Imprint Academic, 2003. 336, £25.00, ISBN 0 907845 312
Readership: Academic/research
Rating: ***
Reviewer: MATT SLEAT
(University of York)
Having declared that his book aims not at convincing the reader of the value of Collingwood's work but at showing that it comprises a unity that did not undergo any ‘radical’ break around the mid-1930's, it is clear from the outset that this book is written for the Collingwood scholar. Having hopefully shown that his philosophical work comprises such a whole, Connelly's aim is then to show that it is therefore legitimate for us to construe Collingwood's political philosophy also as a unified whole. It is the author's contention that the latter cannot be shown without first proving the former.
The issue of the unity of Collingwood's work is the central argument of this book, to such an extent that it takes 160 pages for any discussion of Collingwood's political philosophy to begin. Maybe Connelly is right to think that we cannot properly talk about Collingwood's political philosophy without showing that his work did not experience a radical break. However, that question is unlikely to have much resonance with people other than Collingwood scholars. For those non-specialists nevertheless seeking a detailed overview of Collingwood's political philosophy that issue will often feel like a distraction, for even the second half of the book, which is dedicated to his political philosophy, is repeatedly punctuated with discussions of the unity issue.
However, against his avowed aim, Connelly does more than simply show how we can think of Collingwood's political philosophy as unified. The book is a sustained detailed systematic analysis of Collingwood's work and Connelly's enthusiasm shines through. By the end, he has given us reasons to both reject the thesis that Collingwood's work experienced a radical break and to think of that unified work as valuable. A book mainly for the Collingwood scholar, though not without its worth for those unfamiliar with his writing.
HEAVEN ON EARTH: the rise and fall of socialism
by
London: Politico, 2004. 418, £25.00, ISBN 1 84275 094 1
Readership: Undergraduates, advanced undergraduates
Rating: ****
Reviewer: CLIFFORD ANGELL BATES, JR
(Warsaw University)
Joshua Muravchik offers a wonderfully written (targeting the general reader rather than the academic community), attention grabbing and thought provoking history of socialism and its child communism. Starting with personal reflections on his own introduction to socialism by his parents, and how and why he became disillusioned with it, he turns to socialism's beginnings, triumphs and collapse. In looking at its beginnings of the idea of socialism he turns to Babeuf, Owen, Engels and Bernstein to give the reader a picture of how socialism progressed as an idea in its early stages. Muravchik spends a chapter on each of these thinkers, showing how they play key roles in shaping the direction socialism was to take.
Then in the next section on the triumph of socialism, Muravchik has four chapters dealing with Lenin and his seizure of power, Mussolini and his path from socialism to fascism, Attlee and the birth of social democracy, and Nyerere's synthesis for the third world. Each of these chapters focuses on changes that socialism confronts in its move from theory to implementation in practice. The chapter dealing with Mussolini will provoke some who forget or don't know about Mussolini's early history as a socialist and in doing show the two faces of socialism, one that F. A. Hayek referred to in his dedication of The Road to Surfdom.
In the third part, Muravchik deals with the collapse of socialism as a real political possibility. First he looks at the role American Union leaders such as Gompers and Meany played in opposing socialism both at home and abroad. It is no small irony that the leaders of American labour unions saw little in socialism that offered the working man anything more than empty promises. He then turns to the attempts to reform the socialistic systems of the USSR and PRC by Gorbachev and Deng, which turn out to be in practice a repudiation of socialist principles and leads to the rejection of it as a practical political alternative. Then finally he turns to Tony Blair and how he has redefined social democracy from being an opponent to and critic of business to the friend and supporter of business. The book concludes with a look at how even the Kibbutz, the Zionist socialist idea, embraced the market and market forces. This book offers a very useful and interesting history of the idea of socialism and how that idea goes wrong and eventually fails.
THE POLITICS OF IDENTITY
by
Cambridge: Polity Press, 2004. 224, £16.99, ISBN 0 7456 1905 3
Readership: Advanced undergraduates, postgraduates, academic/research
Rating: ****
Reviewer: LAWRENCE BLACK
(University of Durham)
Focusing on Britain and the USA, Kenny describes debates between liberal Universalists and their pluralist critics over the meaning of identity politics. Kenny is critical of liberal thinkers’ fears that politics centred on identities of ethnicity, gender, religion and so forth corrode democracy and of multicultural critics that their challenge represents the inefficacy of liberalism. The (untenable) bipolarity of this debate perturbs Kenny. Common ground lays in Universalists being more sensitive (for example, less colour-blind) and alive to some normative categorizations and in making the needs of a communicative public sphere more apparent to ethical particularists. For Kenny, the most propitious approach to this is Rawl's ‘political liberalism’. He also asserts that ‘identity’, rather than alien to liberalism, has – nationalism most saliently – long been part of its remit.
Drawing on an extensive literature, the intellectual origins of identity politics are moored in the fall out from the New Left.
The decline of civil society posited by Putnam is contested for privileging traditional frameworks over the potentiality of identity politics and social movements to invigorate citizenship and associational life. Rather than decline, identity might be redrawing the boundaries of the ‘self’ and ‘political’ (from interests and ideology towards lifestyle, making the personal political). The politics of difference are critically explored in Iris Young and William Connolly's work and the politics of recognition through that of Charles Taylor.
Painstakingly argued and theoretically suggestive as this is, might concrete examples have illustrated what are often fine distinctions between and within philosophical positions and traditions? In concluding a chapter on social movements Kenny urges dialogue between political theory and social context and ‘to combine empirical enquiry with high theory’ (p. 127). Given the multifariousness of identity, ascriptive, voluntary, deeply and thinly held and beyond those discussed here to areas like sport, this seems in order.
Political Theory
New books received
Mark R. Amstutz (2005) The Healing of Nations. Lanham MD: Rowman and Littlefield, 281, £20.95, ISBN 0 7425 3581 9
Peter Atterton, Mathew Calarco (eds) (2004) Animal Philosophy: ethics and identity. London: Continuum, 220, £16.99, ISBN 0 8264 6414 9
Shlomo Avineri (2004) Hess: the holy history of mankind and other writings. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 148, £15.99, ISBN 0 521 38756 6
David Boucher (ed.) (2004) The Scottish Idealist: selected philosophical writings. Exeter: Imprint Academic, 201, £19.99, ISBN 0 907845 72X
Michael Boylan (2004) A Just Society. Lanham MD: Rowman and Littlefield, £20.95, ISBN 0 7425 3327 1
Harry C. Boyte (2004) Everyday Politics: reconnecting citizens and public life. Philadelphia PA: University of Pennsylvania Press, 239, £19.50, ISBN 0 8122 3814 1
Laura Brace (2004) The Politics of Property: labour, freedom and belonging. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 256, £16.99, ISBN 0 7486 1535 0
Henry E. Brady and David Collier (2004) Rethinking Social Inquiry: diverse tools, shared standards. Lanham MD: Rowman and Littlefield, 358, £20.95, ISBN 0 7425 1126 X
David Braybrooke (2004) Utilitarianism: restoration; repairs; renovations. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 212, £35.00, ISBN 0 8020 8732 9
Harry Brighouse (2004) Justice. Cambridge: Polity Press, 180, £14.99, ISBN 0 7456 2596 7
Archie Brown (ed.) (2004) The Demise of Marxism-Leninism in Russia. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 233, $24.95, ISBN 0 333 65124 3
Terrell Carver (2004) Men in Political Theory. Manchester: Manchester University Press, 261, £55.00, ISBN 0 7190 5913 5
Colin Crouch (2004) Post-Democracy. Cambridge: Polity Press, 135, £12.99, ISBN 0 7456 3315 3
Peter Dickens (2004) Society and Nature. Cambridge: Polity Press, 286, £17.99, ISBN 0 7456 2796 X
Keith Dowding, Robert E. Goodin and Carole Pateman (eds) (2004) Justice and Democracy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 228, £14.99, ISBN 0 521 54543 9
Douglas Holtz-Eakin and Harvey S. Rosen (2004) Public Policy and the Economics of Entrepreneurship. Cambridge MA: MIT Press, 213, £19.95, ISBN 0 262 08329 9
Jon Elster (2004) Closing the Books: transitional justice in historical perspective. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 297, £40.00, ISBN 0 521 54854 3
Amitai Etzioni (2004) The Common Good. Cambridge: Polity, 251, £55.00, ISBN 0 7456 3267 X
Mike Feintuck (2004) ‘The Public Interest’ in Regulation. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 280, £50.00, ISBN 0 19 926902 5
Mark Garnett (2004) The Snake that Swallowed its Tail. Exeter: Imprint Academic, 95, £8.95, ISBN 0907845 886
Gal Gerson (2004) Margins of Disorder: new liberalism and the crisis of European consciousness. Albany NY: State University of New York Press, 239, $45.00, ISBN 0 7914 6147 5
Gordon Graham (2004) Scottish Philosophy: selected writings 1690–1960. Exeter: Imprint Academic, 246, ISBN 0 907845 746
Penny Green (2004) State Crime: governments, violence and corruption. London: Pluto Press, 256, £14.99, ISBN 07453 1784 7
Jonathan Grix (2004) The Foundations of Research. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 189, $22.95, ISBN 1 4039 2145 8
James A. Harris (2004) James Beattie: selected philosophical writings. Exeter: Imprint Academic. 204, ISBN 0 9077845711
Stein Helgeby (2004) Action as History: the historical thought of R. G. Collingwood. Exeter: Imprint Academic, 238, £25.00, ISBN 0907845576
Harro Haply (2004) Jesuit Political Thought: the society of Jesus and the state, c. 1540–1630. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 406, ISBN 0 521 83779 0
Paul Hegarty (2004) Jean Baudrillard: live theory. London: Continuum, 180, £9.99, ISBN 0 8264 6238 9
David Ingram (2004) Rights, Democracy, and Fulfilment in the Era of Identity Politics: principled compromises in a compromised world. Lanham MD: Rowman and Littlefield, 267, $27.95, ISBN 0 7425 3348 4
Luce Irigary (2004) Key Writings. London: Continuum, 258, £19.99, ISBN 0 8264 6940 X
Michael Rabinder James (2004) Deliberative Democracy and the Plural Polity. Lawrence KS: University Press of Kansas, 239, $17.95, ISBN 0 7006 1319 6
Ralph Ketcham (2004) The Idea of Modern Democracy in the Modern Era. Lawrence KS: University Press of Kansas, 302, $35.00, ISBN 0 7006 1334 X
Elias L. Khalil (2004) Dewey Pragmatism and Economic Methodology. London: Routledge, 384, £80, ISBN 0 415 70014 0
Richard H. King (2004) Race, Culture, and the Intellectuals, 1940–70. Washington DC: Woodrow Wilson Centre Press, 398, £18.00, ISBN 0 8018 8066 1
David Laycock (ed.) (2004) Representation and Democratic Theory. Toronto: UBC Press, 282, $29.95, ISBN 0 7748 1079 3
Denys P. Leighton (2004) The Greenian Moment: T. H. Green, religion and political argument in Victorian Britain. Exeter: Imprint Academic, 375, £25.00, ISBN 0 907845 541
Ruth Lister (2004) Poverty. Cambridge: Polity Press, 238, £14.99, ISBN 0 7456 2564 9
Iain Mackenzie (2004) The Idea of Pure Critique. New York: Continuum, 114, £14.99, ISBN 0 8264 6807 1
Esther McIntosh (ed.) (2004) John Macmurray: selected philosophical writings. Exeter: Imprint Academic, 198, £12.95, ISBN 0 907845 738
Kenneth B. McIntyre (2004) The Limits of Political Theory: Oakeshott's philosophy of civil association. Exeter: Imprint Academic, 208, £25.00, ISBN 1 84540 010 0
Gerald M. Meier (2004) Biography of a Subject: an evolution of development economics. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 250, £40.00, ISBN 0 19 517002 4
Jeanne Morefield (2005) Convenants Without Swords: idealist liberalism and the spirit of empire. Princeton NJ: Princeton University Press, 251, £26.95, ISBN 0 691 11992 9
Oliver O'Donovan and Joan Lockwood O'Donovan (2004) Bonds of Imperfection: Christian politics, past and present. Grand Rapids MI: Eerdmans Publishing, 324, ISBN 0 8028 4975 X
James R. Otteson (ed.) (2004) Adam Smith: selected philosophical writings. Exeter: Imprint Academic, 247, £12.95, ISBN 1 84540 001 1
Megan Shaw Prelinger and Joel Schalit (2004) Collective Action: a bad subjects anthology. London: Pluto Press, 221, £14.99, ISBN 07453 2179 8
Jack Reynolds and Jonathan Roffe (2004) Understanding Derrida. London: Continuum, 169, £17.99, ISBN 0 8264 7316 4
Willem E. Saris and Paul M. Sniderman (eds) (2004) Studies in Public Opinion: attitudes, nonattitudes, measurement error and change. New Jersey NJ: Princeton University Press, 366, £18.95, ISBN 0 691 11903 1
Ian Shapiro, Roger M. Smith and Tarek E. Masoud (2004) Problems and Methods in the Study of Politics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 419, £21.99, ISBN 0 521 53943 9
Patrick Spread (2004) Getting it Right: economics and the security of support. Sussex: Book Guild, 218, £16.95, ISBN 1 85776 860 4
Robert Stevens (2004) University to UNI: the politics of higher education in England since 1944. London: Pimlico, 196, £15.99, ISBN 1 84275 102 6
William Twining (ed.) Bentham: selected writings of John Dinwiddy. Stanford CA: Stanford University Press, 190, $45.00, ISBN 0 8047 4519 6
Shaun P. Young (2004) Political Liberalism: variations on theme. Albany NY: State University of New York Press, 183, $40.00, ISBN 0 7914 6175 0