Emergency Politics

Paradox, Law, Democracy

Nonfiction, Social & Cultural Studies, Political Science, Politics, Leadership, Religion & Spirituality, Philosophy
Cover of the book Emergency Politics by Bonnie Honig, Princeton University Press
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Bonnie Honig ISBN: 9781400830961
Publisher: Princeton University Press Publication: August 24, 2009
Imprint: Princeton University Press Language: English
Author: Bonnie Honig
ISBN: 9781400830961
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Publication: August 24, 2009
Imprint: Princeton University Press
Language: English

This book intervenes in contemporary debates about the threat posed to democratic life by political emergencies. Must emergency necessarily enhance and centralize top-down forms of sovereignty? Those who oppose executive branch enhancement often turn instead to law, insisting on the sovereignty of the rule of law or demanding that law rather than force be used to resolve conflicts with enemies. But are these the only options? Or are there more democratic ways to respond to invocations of emergency politics? Looking at how emergencies in the past and present have shaped the development of democracy, Bonnie Honig argues that democracies must resist emergency's pull to focus on life's necessities (food, security, and bare essentials) because these tend to privatize and isolate citizens rather than bring us together on behalf of hopeful futures. Emphasizing the connections between mere life and more life, emergence and emergency, Honig argues that emergencies call us to attend anew to a neglected paradox of democratic politics: that we need good citizens with aspirational ideals to make good politics while we need good politics to infuse citizens with idealism.

Honig takes a broad approach to emergency, considering immigration politics, new rights claims, contemporary food politics and the infrastructure of consumption, and the limits of law during the Red Scare of the early twentieth century. Taking its bearings from Moses Mendelssohn, Franz Rosenzweig, and other Jewish thinkers, this is a major contribution to modern thought about the challenges and risks of democratic orientation and action in response to emergency.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

This book intervenes in contemporary debates about the threat posed to democratic life by political emergencies. Must emergency necessarily enhance and centralize top-down forms of sovereignty? Those who oppose executive branch enhancement often turn instead to law, insisting on the sovereignty of the rule of law or demanding that law rather than force be used to resolve conflicts with enemies. But are these the only options? Or are there more democratic ways to respond to invocations of emergency politics? Looking at how emergencies in the past and present have shaped the development of democracy, Bonnie Honig argues that democracies must resist emergency's pull to focus on life's necessities (food, security, and bare essentials) because these tend to privatize and isolate citizens rather than bring us together on behalf of hopeful futures. Emphasizing the connections between mere life and more life, emergence and emergency, Honig argues that emergencies call us to attend anew to a neglected paradox of democratic politics: that we need good citizens with aspirational ideals to make good politics while we need good politics to infuse citizens with idealism.

Honig takes a broad approach to emergency, considering immigration politics, new rights claims, contemporary food politics and the infrastructure of consumption, and the limits of law during the Red Scare of the early twentieth century. Taking its bearings from Moses Mendelssohn, Franz Rosenzweig, and other Jewish thinkers, this is a major contribution to modern thought about the challenges and risks of democratic orientation and action in response to emergency.

More books from Princeton University Press

Cover of the book Young Islam by Bonnie Honig
Cover of the book Elaborations on Emptiness by Bonnie Honig
Cover of the book Theory of Games and Economic Behavior by Bonnie Honig
Cover of the book Empire and Revolution by Bonnie Honig
Cover of the book Sexing the World by Bonnie Honig
Cover of the book Island of Shame: The Secret History of the U.S. Military Base on Diego Garcia by Bonnie Honig
Cover of the book Phase Transitions by Bonnie Honig
Cover of the book States and Power in Africa by Bonnie Honig
Cover of the book Imperialism and Jewish Society by Bonnie Honig
Cover of the book Nation, Language, and the Ethics of Translation by Bonnie Honig
Cover of the book Why Tolerate Religion? by Bonnie Honig
Cover of the book Lyric Poetry by Bonnie Honig
Cover of the book Food Fights over Free Trade by Bonnie Honig
Cover of the book The Tyranny of Guilt by Bonnie Honig
Cover of the book Albert Einstein, The Human Side by Bonnie Honig
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy