Across the West, hard-right leaders are surging to power on platforms of ethno-economic nationalism, Christianity, and traditional family values. Is this phenomenon the end of neoliberalism or its ...monstrous offspring? In the Ruins of Neoliberalism casts the hard-right turn as animated by socioeconomically aggrieved white working- and middle-class populations but contoured by neoliberalism's multipronged assault on democratic values. From its inception, neoliberalism flirted with authoritarian liberalism as it warred against robust democracy. It repelled social-justice claims through appeals to market freedom and morality. It sought to de-democratize the state, economy, and society and re-secure the patriarchal family. In key works of the founding neoliberal intellectuals, Wendy Brown traces the ambition to replace democratic orders with ones disciplined by markets and traditional morality and democratic states with technocratic ones. Yet plutocracy, white supremacy, politicized mass affect, indifference to truth, and extreme social disinhibition were no part of the neoliberal vision. Brown theorizes their unintentional spurring by neoliberal reason, from its attack on the value of society and its fetish of individual freedom to its legitimation of inequality. Above all, she argues, neoliberalism's intensification of nihilism coupled with its accidental wounding of white male supremacy generates an apocalyptic populism willing to destroy the world rather than endure a future in which this supremacy disappears.
As Europe enters a significant phase of re-integration of East and West, it faces an increasing problem with the rise of far-right political parties. Cas Mudde offers the first comprehensive and ...truly pan-European study of populist radical right parties in Europe. He focuses on the parties themselves, discussing them both as dependent and independent variables. Based upon a wealth of primary and secondary literature, this book offers critical and original insights into three major aspects of European populist radical right parties: concepts and classifications; themes and issues; and explanations for electoral failures and successes. It concludes with a discussion of the impact of radical right parties on European democracies, and vice versa, and offers suggestions for future research.
Dogmatism, prejudice and bigotry are becoming ever more evident on the contemporary political scene and dissent is one of their main targets. The Politics of Dissent explores the negative impact this ...shift is having on public life, with radically-oriented governments striving to close down dissenting voices in both their political opponents and the mainstream media. It defends dissent as a critical element in the democratic process which ought to be encouraged instead of allowing ourselves to fall into an state of despair, as is increasingly occurring on the political left in the face of the dramatic rise of right-wing populism. The concept is explored in a wide sense to identify how it works in philosophy, religion, science and the arts as well as in politics.
Offering an unparalleled, sweeping survey of the political ideologies that have shaped our world, the seventh edition of Andrew Heywood's seminal undergraduate textbook continues to lead the way in ...guiding students through the political creeds and doctrines that have dominated politics past and present. Covering an impressive array of topics, the first half of the book focusses on traditional ideologies such as Conservatism, Socialism, Liberalism, Anarchism and Fascism, while more contemporary movements such as Populism, Feminism, Green Ideology, Multiculturalism and Religious Fundamentalism form the latter part of the text. Taking into account the remarkable events that have shaken the political sphere in recent years, the text has been revised and updated throughout in order to show how the study of political ideologies can elucidate the significance of such striking phenomena as the decline of liberal democracy and the rise of populist movements and authoritarianism around the world. The most accessible, concise and yet comprehensive introduction to the topic, this is an indispensable textbook for students studying for courses on Political Ideologies, Political Theory and introductory Politics. It should be essential reading for anyone seeking to gain an understanding of political ideologies for the first time.
An exploration of a new concept in critical political theory: the Lacanian Left. This is a field of theoretical and political interventions sharing a common interest in discussing the relevance of ...Lacanianism and psychoanalysis for contemporary theory.
Why nationalism is a permanent political force-and how it can be harnessed once again for liberal ends
Around the world today, nationalism is back-and it's often deeply troubling. Populist ...politicians exploit nationalism for authoritarian, chauvinistic, racist, and xenophobic purposes, reinforcing the view that it is fundamentally reactionary and antidemocratic. But Yael (Yuli) Tamir makes a passionate argument for a very different kind of nationalism-one that revives its participatory, creative, and egalitarian virtues, answers many of the problems caused by neoliberalism and hyperglobalism, and is essential to democracy at its best. InWhy Nationalism, she explains why it is more important than ever for the Left to recognize these qualities of nationalism, to reclaim it from right-wing extremists, and to redirect its power to progressive ends.
Far from being an evil force, nationalism's power lies in its ability to empower individuals and answer basic human needs. Using it to reproduce cross-class coalitions will ensure that all citizens share essential cultural, political, and economic goods. Shifting emphasis from the global to the national and putting one's nation first is not a way of advocating national supremacy but of redistributing responsibilities and sharing benefits in a more democratic and just way. In making the case for a liberal and democratic nationalism, Tamir also provides a compelling original account of the ways in which neoliberalism and hyperglobalism have allowed today's Right to co-opt nationalism for its own purposes.
Provocative and hopeful,Why Nationalismis a timely and essential rethinking of a defining feature of our politics.
Polarized Campbell, James E
2018, 2016., 20180327, 2016, 2018-03-27
eBook
Many continue to believe that the United States is a nation of political moderates. In fact, it is a nation divided. It has been so for some time and has grown more so. This book provides a new and ...historically grounded perspective on the polarization of America, systematically documenting how and why it happened. Polarized presents commonsense benchmarks to measure polarization, draws data from a wide range of historical sources, and carefully assesses the quality of the evidence. Through an innovative and insightful use of circumstantial evidence, it provides a much-needed reality check to claims about polarization. This rigorous yet engaging and accessible book examines how polarization displaced pluralism and how this affected American democracy and civil society. Polarized challenges the widely held belief that polarization is the product of party and media elites, revealing instead how the American public in the 1960s set in motion the increase of polarization. American politics became highly polarized from the bottom up, not the top down, and this began much earlier than often thought. The Democrats and the Republicans are now ideologically distant from each other and about equally distant from the political center. Polarized also explains why the parties are polarized at all, despite their battle for the decisive median voter. No subject is more central to understanding American politics than political polarization, and no other book offers a more in-depth and comprehensive analysis of the subject than this one. James E. Campbell is UB Distinguished Professor of Political Science at the University at Buffalo, State University of New York. His books include The American Campaign: U.S. Presidential Campaigns and the National Vote and The Presidential Pulse of Congressional Elections.
Although politics at the elite level has been polarized for some time, a scholarly controversy has raged over whether ordinary Americans are polarized. This book argues that they are and that the ...reason is growing polarization of worldviews - what guides people's view of right and wrong and good and evil. These differences in worldview are rooted in what Marc J. Hetherington and Jonathan D. Weiler describe as authoritarianism. They show that differences of opinion concerning the most provocative issues on the contemporary issue agenda - about race, gay marriage, illegal immigration, and the use of force to resolve security problems - reflect differences in individuals' levels of authoritarianism. Events and strategic political decisions have conspired to make all these considerations more salient. The authors demonstrate that the left and the right have coalesced around these opposing worldviews, which has provided politics with more incandescent hues than before.
