Political Theory
Hobbes and the Democratic Imaginary
A critical interrogation of elements of Hobbes's political and natural philosophy and its capacity to enrich our understanding of the nature of democratic life.
Myth and Authority
Argues that Giambattista Vico's early modern account of Roman mythology was a sophisticated attempt to present an epistemological and political critique of the aristocratic way of conceiving the world.
Truth and Politics
Endorses the pursuit of paradigm shifts in our understandings of faith, truth, and nature to remedy the "underside" of modernity and thus to inaugurate a post-modern (but not anti-modern) and post-secular (but not anti-secular) view of the world.
The Shadow of Totalitarianism
Examines the relationship of evil, action, and judgment in the work of Immanuel Kant, Hannah Arendt, and Jean-François Lyotard.
The Tyranny of Common Sense
Elucidates how neoliberalism rules all areas of life and operates as a form of common sense, taking Mexico as a case study.
Leo Strauss on Democracy, Technology, and Liberal Education
The first book-length study of Leo Strauss' understanding of the relation between modern democracy, technology, and liberal education.
Capitalism for All
Demostrates that a true liberal capitalism still has the capacity to enable personal well-being while dealing with new challenges such as pandemics, climate change, and automation.
The Dialectics of Global Justice
Draws on Marx and the first-generation Frankfurt School to make the case that cosmopolitanism must become a postcapitalist political theory.
The Future of Lenin
Essays that argue in favor of Lenin's continuing relevance for twenty-first century politics and thought.
Liberating Revolution
Provides a novel conceptual and practical theory of revolution, engaging previous theories of revolution, contemporary continental philosophy, and systems theory.
Battling the Prince
This political memoir exposes the weaknesses of democratic culture in the United States and suggests ways to strengthen it in the face of rising authoritarianism.
A Dangerous Passion
Shows the importance of honor for leaders, both as a source of noble ambition to pursue the public good and as dangerous temptation to seek glory through domination.
Material Insurgency
Examines emerging new materialist and posthuman conceptions of subjectivity and agency, and explores their increasing significance for contemporary climate change environmentalism.
Antigone in the Americas
Argues for a decolonial reinterpretation of Sophocles’ classical tragedy, Antigone, that can help us to rethink the anti-colonial politics of militant mourning in the Americas.
Leo Strauss and Contemporary Thought
Broadens the horizons of Strauss’s thought by initiating dialogues between him and figures with whom little or no dialogue has yet occurred.
The Specter of Babel
Presents a new way of thinking about fundamental political concepts such as freedom, justice, and the common good.
Contesting the Global Order
Examines how events in the Cold War and post–Cold War periods shaped the intellectual projects of Perry Anderson and Immanuel Wallerstein.
Contribution to the Correction of the Public's Judgments on the French Revolution
First translation into English of Fichte’s major work on the French Revolution.
Recovering the Liberal Spirit
Develops a theory of spiritual freedom and explores its relationship to problems of liberal political regimes.
Taxation in Utopia
An interdisciplinary exploration of utopian political philosophy from the neglected perspective of taxation.
The Historical Mind
Timely and provocative asessment of various cultural, moral, and political problems in "post-constitutional" America.
Carl Schmitt between Technological Rationality and Theology
Situates Schmitt's legal scholarship in the context of debates regarding whether his thought was more theological or technocratic.
Image and Argument in Plato's Republic
Argues that images are at the heart of the dialogue’s philosophical argumentation.
Cosmopolitan Civility
Essays reflecting on the prolific, pioneering, and wide-ranging scholarship of Fred Dallmayr.
Capital in the Mirror
Analyzes contemporary capitalism through the products of culture and art for fresh insight into emancipatory possibilities concealed within capitalism’s darkest dynamics.
Announcements
A study of novelty through analyses of the language of announcement in revolutionary texts.
Friedrich Engels and Modern Social and Political Theory
Offers a powerful new interpretation of Engels’s contributions to modern social and political theory.
The Art of Jihad
Identifies and traces the evolution of a forgotten “realist” tradition in medieval Islamic political thought, and considers the prospects for its revival in the context of the contemporary Middle East.
Homer's Hero
Draws on Plato to argue that Homer elevated private life as the locus of true friendship and the catalyst of the highest human excellence.
Boundary Lines
Systematically addresses the philosophical implications of the postcolonial.
Thoughtlessness and Decadence in Iran
Bridges Western and non-Western political thought to address the problem of democracy and political decadance in contemporary Iran and, by implication, similar Islamic societies.
Militant Acts
Offers a history of the role of investigations in radical political struggles from the nineteenth century forward.
The Revolution Will Not Be Theorized
Studies the revolutionary theory of the Black Power Movement in the 1960s through ʼ70s, placing it within the broader social theory of black revolution in the United States since the nineteenth century.
John Marshall's Constitutionalism
A study of John Marshall's political thought with special emphasis on his views of constitutional legitimacy, sovereignty, citizenship, and national identity.
Fight to Live, Live to Fight
Examines US foreign and domestic policy through the narratives of post-9/11 US military veterans and the activism they are engaged in.
Totalitarian Space and the Destruction of Aura
Diagnoses our contemporary spatial experience as fundamentally totalitarian through a multilayered critical theory of space.
The New Welfare Consensus
Discusses the conservative ideological and political attack on welfare in the United States.
Roberto Esposito
Analyzes key concepts and arguments in the work of one of Europe’s leading philosophers.
State Violence and Moral Horror
Explores the concept of "moral horror" as the experience of living amidst unjustifiable state violence.
For Foucault
Calls for a Foucauldian approach to political thought that is intrinsically resistant to power and subordination to public policy.
Confrontational Citizenship
Defends confrontational modes of citizenship as a means to reinvigorate democratic participation and regime accountability.
Trendy Fascism
Explores how white supremacist groups use popular music and culture to teach hate and promote violence.
Toward a Critical Theory of States
In-depth study of the enduring impact of the 1970s debate between state theorists Ralph Miliband and Nicos Poulantzas.
Political Theory and the Animal/Human Relationship
Examines how the animal/human divide has influenced power dynamics.
Constitutionalism, Executive Power, and the Spirit of Moderation
Leading scholars and legal practitioners explore constitutional, legal, and philosophical topics.
Power
Deepens our understanding of power through a survey of how its dynamics have been understood from ancient times to the present.
Anarchism and Art
Interprets popular art forms as exhibiting core anarchist values and presaging a more democratic world.
Public Spaces, Marketplaces, and the Constitution
Examines how the Supreme Court has banished free expression from shopping malls and other public spaces.
The Best Kind of College
Small college professors from across the United States explain why liberal arts institutions remain the gold standard for higher education.
Machiavelli's Secret
Uncovers clues regarding the inner life of Machiavelli's political leaders.
Contemporary Italian Political Philosophy
Highlights and critically assesses the work of contemporary Italian political philosophers.
Flower of the Desert
A profound meditation on Leopardi’s art and thought as well as a reframing and reassertion of Negri’s own philosophical and political project of liberation.
The Political Philosophy of Francis Bacon
An ambitious and radically original reading of philosopher Francis Bacon.
Disenchanted Realists, Second Edition
New edition of the provocative history of the tenuous relationship between the scientific study of politics and the real world of American democracy.
Michael Oakeshott and the Conversation of Modern Political Thought
A fresh reading of Oakeshott’s contributions to the ongoing conversation of modern political thought.
After Leo Strauss
Proposes a post-Straussian reading of Plato to advance a reconciliation of ancient and modern theories of natural right.
Happiness, Democracy, and the Cooperative Movement
Examines the political significance of ideas about happiness through the work of utilitarian philosophers William Thompson and Jeremy Bentham.
The Laws of the Spirit
An account of Hegel's political insights and their contemporary relevance.
Catastrophe and Redemption
Offers a striking new reading of Agamben’s political thought and its implications for political action in the present.
In the Spirit of Critique
Offers a new perspective on the political significance of the Hegelian dialectical legacy.
Doing Democracy
Demonstrates how activists and others use art and popular culture to strive for a more democratic future.
Progressive Minds, Conservative Politics
Compelling account of Strauss's mature Maimonidean writings.
On the Ethics of Torture
A detailed, clear, and comprehensive overview of the current philosophical debate on toture.
A Vigilant Society
Uncovers a fundamental change that took place in Western thinking, especially its departure from the Sephardic philosophy found in the Iberian Peninsula during the 13th century.
Felony Disenfranchisement in America, Second Edition
Reveals how state felony disenfranchisement laws are undermining American democracy.
The State of Sovereignty
Considers the problems of sovereignty through the work of Rousseau, Arendt, Foucault, Agamben, and Derrida.
Marxism and Ethics
Accessible introduction to key thinkers of Marxist theory and the debate on the nature of Marxist ethics.
Mimesis and Reason
Excavates the experiential structure of Habermas’s communicative action.
Educating Democracy
Revisionist analysis of the role of strong leadership in democracies, drawing primarily upon the work of Alexis de Tocqueville.
The Other Side of Gridlock
A detailed study of political gridlock in Congress, offering an alternative perspective for evaluating its persistence and charting a course for change.
Toward a Credible Pacifism
Argues that violence is no more reliable than any other means of conducting politics.
The Lockean Commonwealth
Timely reappraisal of John Locke’s thoughts on the clash between executive emergency power and the importance of the rule of law.
Radicalizing Levinas
Levinas ahead of his time--and himself--on politics, postcolonialism and globalization, animals and the environment, and science and technology.
Tragedy and Citizenship
A study of attitudes towards tragedy in both democratic and nondemocractic political theory.
The Illusion of Freedom and Equality
Explores how Enlightenment values have been transformed in a technological civilization.
Deliberative Freedom
The first sustained look at the relationship between deliberative democratic theory and the topic of freedom.
Montesquieu and His Legacy
Essays on Montesquieu and the influence of his thought from the eighteenth century to today.
The Order of Joy
Provocative exploration of a new concept of “joy” within psychoanalytic and cultural studies.
Imagining Law
Essays consider Drucilla Cornell’s contributions to philosophy, political theory, and legal studies.
Aristotle's Politics Today
Examines the implications of Aristotle’s political thought for contemporary political theory.
Identity and Difference
Contributors draw on Hegel’s account of identity and difference to challenge conventional theories of identity.
Against the State
Irreverent and incisive critique of liberal theories of the state.
Musical Democracy
How music functions as a metaphor and model for democracy.
Rethinking the Communicative Turn
Assesses linguistic versus aesthetic visions of critical theory and their capacity to contribute to the analysis of contemporary democratic society.
Theorizing Nationalism
Presents some of the best work by political theorists on themes concerning citizenship, national identity, and the philosophical meaning of political membership.
Subversions of International Order
Uses ethnographic tools to analyze political disorder and its representation at the end of the Cold War.
Hegel's Dialectic of Desire and Recognition
Presents three generations of German, French, and Anglo-American thinking on the Hegelian narrative of desire, recognition, and alienation in life, labor, and language.
The Strategy of Nonviolent Defense
Addresses the question of whether nonviolent defense can be an effective strategy against military violence. Drawing from the strategic theory of Carl von Clausewitz, the nonviolence of Mahatma Gandhi, and recent human needs and conflict theory, Burrow
Reconstructing Political Pluralism
A reappraisal of the pluralist tradition that explores the accounts offered by James, Dewey, Figgis, Cole, Laski, Follett, and Dahl and extracts from them the resources with which to reconstruct a democratic theory of political pluralism.
Real Security
With the end of the Cold War and the extraordinary military competition that characterized it, the meaning of national security is being redefined. This book participates in that task by proposing a new, ...
Intellectuals and the Crisis of Modernity
This book explores the role of intellectuals in politics and social change from traditional society to the present. Its theoretical structure is based upon six distinct types of intellectual activity. ...
Dialectical Social Theory and Its Critics
Establishes that dialectical social theory retains practical importance today and is, in fact, crucial to interdisciplinary attempts to construct a viable theory of the social world.
Political Obligation in a Liberal State
The tension between the individualist view and the communalist view dominates current debate about liberal politics. DeLue establishes a basis for political discourse in a liberal society—an enlarged ...
Idioms of Inquiry
Idioms of Inquiry reflects the most recent and creative thinking in the field of political theory. The contributors agree that the old orthodox political theory is no longer viable, arguing instead for ...
Socrates and the Political Community
This book takes a fresh look at Socrates as he appeared to three ancient writers: Aristophanes, who attacked him for his theoretical studies; Plato, who immortalized him in his dialogues; and Aristotle, ...
The Crisis of Liberal Democracy
Explores Strauss’s teaching on natural right and the tradition of political philosophy and how his perspectives have influenced European and American liberal theory.
Person and Polis
Martin Heidegger cited him as "the most potent philosophical power . .. in all of contemporary philosophy. " Ortega y Gasset called him "the first man of genius, the Adam of the new Paradise. " Writing ...
Tradition, Interpretation, and Science
This book reassesses the academic field of political theory and brings into sharp relief its problems and opportunities. Here for the first time, diverse theorists coordinate their arguments through a ...
What Should Political Theory Be Now?
Confronted with the alienation of political theory from the practice of politics, prominent theorists respond in this book to the growing question: What should political theory be now? New and original ...