Challenging the linear view of history which confines or predetermines the outcome of politics, this book argues for an 'untimely' politics, rendering the past problematic and the future unpredictable. Untimely Politics offers close readings of key texts in political theory and enters into debates involving metaphysics, philosophy of language, and psychoanalysis versus discursive analysis - all designed to demonstrate that untimeliness expands the scope of the political. The ideas are weaved together around the theme of the relevance of language analysis to political debate, answering those critics who insist discourse approaches to politics are irrelevant. Calling on key texts of Heidegger, Nietzsche, Foucault and Derrida the book challenges the political burden which is placed on language analysis to prove its value in the real world. To demonstrate his arguments, Samuel Chambers uses the case study of same-sex marriage in the US to interrogate family values politics. In seeking to explore the bearing of contemporary theory on practical political life, this book makes a timely plea for a more politically relevant form of intellectual work. Key Features: * detailed case study of same-sex marriages in the US is used to interrogate family value politics * shows the relevance of contemporary theory to practical political life * makes a plea for a more politically relevant form of intellectual work * aimed at both a Politics and a Cultural Studies readership Books in the series are...Valentine and Arditi Polemicization Shapiro Cinematic Political Thought Chambers Untimely Politics Elden Speaking Against Number Bowman Post-Marxism Versus Cultural Studies Marchart Post-Foundational Political Thought Little Democratic Piety

About the Author
Samuel A. Chambers is a lecturer in Politics at Johns Hopkins University.

Reviews
This tough-minded book considers the politics of political theory... Admirably clear in dealing with difficult concepts, this book will interest theorists looking to deepen the critical project of 'poststructuralism'! 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'. [A] splendid and, yes, timely book This is an excitingly disruptive book. It offers a substantial thesis in philosophy and then employs it productively. It is lucid, argumentative and topical. It wastes no words. Packs a powerful intellectual punch that should at a minimum produce a thoughtful pause in an important debate about the status of contemporary theory and its relevance to political life. This tough-minded book considers the politics of political theory... Admirably clear in dealing with difficult concepts, this book will interest theorists looking to deepen the critical project of 'poststructuralism'! 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'. [A] splendid and, yes, timely book This is an excitingly disruptive book. It offers a substantial thesis in philosophy and then employs it productively. It is lucid, argumentative and topical. It wastes no words. Packs a powerful intellectual punch that should at a minimum produce a thoughtful pause in an important debate about the status of contemporary theory and its relevance to political life.



Book Information
ISBN 9780748617661
Author Samuel A. Chambers
Format Hardback
Page Count 208
Imprint Edinburgh University Press
Publisher Edinburgh University Press
Weight(grams) 467g