Description
Comparable to Hannah Arendt's classic On Violence, Keane's book challenges this indifference. It throws fresh light on the notion that we are drifting towards a "new middle ages" marked by uncivil wars sanctioned by decentralized powers-warlords, gangsters, sects-which the modern state was supposed to eliminate. John Keane shows how the term "violence" is riddled with ambiguities, and he confronts the argument, stretching back from St Augustine to Freud, that violence is rooted in "human nature."
Rejecting simple-minded pacifism, he goes on to formulate a theory of "uncivil society" and to examine the practical possibilities for greater civility. Above all, he insists that political philosophy and democratic politics must urgently address the issue of violence, not only because of the terrible crimes committed during the century now drawing to a close, but also because we are witnessing the significant growth of a new "politics of civility" aimed at publicizing and reducing a range of specific forms of violence, from rape and child abuse to ethnic conflict and uncivil war.
The definitive study of the meaning and future of violence
About the Author
John Keane is Professor of Politics at the University of Sydney and at the Wissenschaftszentrum Berlin. Among his many books are the widely acclaimed biography Tom Paine: A Political Life and The Media and Democracy. The Times has ranked him as one of Britain's leading political thinkers, whose work is of "worldwide importance."
Book Information
ISBN 9781859841150
Author John Keane
Format Paperback
Page Count 212
Imprint Verso Books
Publisher Verso Books
Weight(grams) 293g
Dimensions(mm) 216mm * 137mm * 18mm