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Democracy and Political Theory
This book examines the central questions of democracy and politics in modern societies. Through an analysis of some of the key texts of 19th and 20th century thought - from Marx, Michelet and de Tocqueville to Hannah Arendt - the author explores the ambiguities of democracy, the nature of human rights, the idea and the reality of revolution, the emergence of totalitarianism and the changing relations between politics, religion and the image of the body. While developing a highly original account of the nature of politics and power in modern societies, he links political reflection to the interpretation of history as an open, indeterminate process of which we are part. This work should interest specialists in social and political theory and philosophers.
295 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1988
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
March 25, 2022
In the chapter “The Question of Democracy” we find that the whole premis of a democracy lies in the displaced power and uncertainty which comes from the dialog between different opinions and ideologies. It’s a beautiful political system, which Lefort then explores in relation to different philosophers and events.
This pretty much sums up his view on democracy:
“Democracy thus proves to be the historical society par excellence, a society which, in its very form, welcomes and preserves indeterminacy and which provides a remarkable contrast with totalitarianism which, because it is constructed under the slogan of creating a new man, claims to understand the law of its organization and development, and which, In the modern world, secretly designates itself as a society without history.” (16)
The chapter “The Question of Democracy” and “Hannah Arendt and the Question of the Political” were in my opinion the highlights of this work on political theory - but also the only highlights. It had a clearcut vision of the representation of a homogeneous and self-transparent society, a society’s strive to be a “People-as-One”, which implicates the risk of developing into a totalitarian state. It explains it simply and clearly. If Lefort could have kept the course on this work of political theory throughout the book, I would have enjoyed it immensely. But as it happens, I felt the different chapters didn’t blend well into one another, and the whole thing felt kind of patch-worky or scattered. It had historically dated events like that of the French Revolution as focus points, and then a more randomly selected collection of other theorists and philosophers. They didn’t compliment eachother well. Don’t get me wrong, I think this would work great as a supplement to academic reading, because one can hand-pluck the chapters in accordance to one’s topic, but I struggled to find clear elements which would make the chapters come together in a higher unit. Also there was a lot of name dropping and “he said”-sentences, which is great references when used in moderation, but I wanted to read this book to dig into Lefort’s thoughts. Not everyone else’s.
This pretty much sums up his view on democracy:
“Democracy thus proves to be the historical society par excellence, a society which, in its very form, welcomes and preserves indeterminacy and which provides a remarkable contrast with totalitarianism which, because it is constructed under the slogan of creating a new man, claims to understand the law of its organization and development, and which, In the modern world, secretly designates itself as a society without history.” (16)
The chapter “The Question of Democracy” and “Hannah Arendt and the Question of the Political” were in my opinion the highlights of this work on political theory - but also the only highlights. It had a clearcut vision of the representation of a homogeneous and self-transparent society, a society’s strive to be a “People-as-One”, which implicates the risk of developing into a totalitarian state. It explains it simply and clearly. If Lefort could have kept the course on this work of political theory throughout the book, I would have enjoyed it immensely. But as it happens, I felt the different chapters didn’t blend well into one another, and the whole thing felt kind of patch-worky or scattered. It had historically dated events like that of the French Revolution as focus points, and then a more randomly selected collection of other theorists and philosophers. They didn’t compliment eachother well. Don’t get me wrong, I think this would work great as a supplement to academic reading, because one can hand-pluck the chapters in accordance to one’s topic, but I struggled to find clear elements which would make the chapters come together in a higher unit. Also there was a lot of name dropping and “he said”-sentences, which is great references when used in moderation, but I wanted to read this book to dig into Lefort’s thoughts. Not everyone else’s.
April 28, 2019
Re-establishing the primacy of the political
to-keep-reference
October 18, 2016Discutido en La razón populista pág.207
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews