Terence Ball
- Published in print:
- 1994
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780198279952
- eISBN:
- 9780191598753
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0198279957.001.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, Political Theory
The book—the second volume of my trilogy Political Theory and the Human Sciences—is divided into two sections. The first and shorter section (Chs. 1 and 2) deals with methodological and interpretive ...
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The book—the second volume of my trilogy Political Theory and the Human Sciences—is divided into two sections. The first and shorter section (Chs. 1 and 2) deals with methodological and interpretive questions and advocates a methodologically `pluralist’ and `problem‐driven’ approach to the interpretation and reappraisal of works of political theory. The second and much longer section (Chs. 3–12), applying the method outlined and defended in the first, consists of a series of reinterpretations and reappraisals of thinkers, texts, themes, and topics in political theory.Less
The book—the second volume of my trilogy Political Theory and the Human Sciences—is divided into two sections. The first and shorter section (Chs. 1 and 2) deals with methodological and interpretive questions and advocates a methodologically `pluralist’ and `problem‐driven’ approach to the interpretation and reappraisal of works of political theory. The second and much longer section (Chs. 3–12), applying the method outlined and defended in the first, consists of a series of reinterpretations and reappraisals of thinkers, texts, themes, and topics in political theory.
Karma Nabulsi
- Published in print:
- 1999
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780198294078
- eISBN:
- 9780191599972
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0198294077.003.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, International Relations and Politics
This short introduction describes the approach taken by the book and gives a brief outline of its contents. The story is about wars and military occupation, and the ideas underlying them, and the ...
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This short introduction describes the approach taken by the book and gives a brief outline of its contents. The story is about wars and military occupation, and the ideas underlying them, and the search for these ideas is carried out in the domain of the laws of war by addressing the challenge posed by a particular principle in these laws: the distinction between combatant and non-combatant, a concept which has been recognized as the fundamental principle upon which the entire notion of ‘humanity in warfare’ rests (and has also been acknowledged as the most fragile). The forces underpinning this distinction (more precisely, a distinction between the lawful and unlawful combatant) are explored by presenting three ideologies, each representing a distinct political tradition of war, and each rooted in incommensurable conceptions of the good life; the overall argument of the book is that this incommensurability lay at the source of the failure fully to resolve the problem of distinction between lawful and unlawful combatants between 1874 and 1949. The book makes use of concepts and methods borrowed from a range of intellectual disciplines: political thought, history, and the ‘classical’ traditions of international theory. In the case of the latter, it examines the influence of key thinkers on war, such as Machiavelli, Grotius, and Rousseau, but differs from this orthodox approach in two ways: first, it is not seeking to ascertain the ‘true’ meaning of their philosophies, but rather to find how their political thoughts were interpreted and shaped by later generations; second, the examination is not restricted to abstract theorists and philosophers but is centrally concerned with paradigms constructed by practitioners of war, both professional and civilian.Less
This short introduction describes the approach taken by the book and gives a brief outline of its contents. The story is about wars and military occupation, and the ideas underlying them, and the search for these ideas is carried out in the domain of the laws of war by addressing the challenge posed by a particular principle in these laws: the distinction between combatant and non-combatant, a concept which has been recognized as the fundamental principle upon which the entire notion of ‘humanity in warfare’ rests (and has also been acknowledged as the most fragile). The forces underpinning this distinction (more precisely, a distinction between the lawful and unlawful combatant) are explored by presenting three ideologies, each representing a distinct political tradition of war, and each rooted in incommensurable conceptions of the good life; the overall argument of the book is that this incommensurability lay at the source of the failure fully to resolve the problem of distinction between lawful and unlawful combatants between 1874 and 1949. The book makes use of concepts and methods borrowed from a range of intellectual disciplines: political thought, history, and the ‘classical’ traditions of international theory. In the case of the latter, it examines the influence of key thinkers on war, such as Machiavelli, Grotius, and Rousseau, but differs from this orthodox approach in two ways: first, it is not seeking to ascertain the ‘true’ meaning of their philosophies, but rather to find how their political thoughts were interpreted and shaped by later generations; second, the examination is not restricted to abstract theorists and philosophers but is centrally concerned with paradigms constructed by practitioners of war, both professional and civilian.
Farah Godrej
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199782062
- eISBN:
- 9780199919123
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199782062.001.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, Political Theory, Comparative Politics
This book takes cosmopolitanism as its central problematic, asking the question of what it might mean for the very practices of political theorizing to be cosmopolitan? It suggest that methodological ...
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This book takes cosmopolitanism as its central problematic, asking the question of what it might mean for the very practices of political theorizing to be cosmopolitan? It suggest that methodological questions about the practice of what is commonly called comparative political theory—namely, the substantive and methodological turn beyond ideas and modes of inquiry determined by the West—are intimately and necessarily linked to the reenvisioning of political theory as a more cosmopolitan endeavour. It is therefore an argument for applying the idea of cosmopolitanism—understood in a particular way—to the discipline of political theory itself. It argues that reflections about four crucial methodological questions constitute this cosmopolitan intervention: the choice of units of analysis, the methods for interpreting non-Western texts and ideas, the application of these ideas transculturally across geographical boundaries, and the deconstruction of Eurocentrism. Taken together, each of these interventions calls upon the scholar to examine her own location as both insider and outsider to various traditions at different times, often dislocating herself through immersion within foreign civilizations, as well as relocating herself within her former disciplinary home and bringing new insights to bear on it. Examples used to illuminate these reflections will be taken from Gandhi’s political thought.Less
This book takes cosmopolitanism as its central problematic, asking the question of what it might mean for the very practices of political theorizing to be cosmopolitan? It suggest that methodological questions about the practice of what is commonly called comparative political theory—namely, the substantive and methodological turn beyond ideas and modes of inquiry determined by the West—are intimately and necessarily linked to the reenvisioning of political theory as a more cosmopolitan endeavour. It is therefore an argument for applying the idea of cosmopolitanism—understood in a particular way—to the discipline of political theory itself. It argues that reflections about four crucial methodological questions constitute this cosmopolitan intervention: the choice of units of analysis, the methods for interpreting non-Western texts and ideas, the application of these ideas transculturally across geographical boundaries, and the deconstruction of Eurocentrism. Taken together, each of these interventions calls upon the scholar to examine her own location as both insider and outsider to various traditions at different times, often dislocating herself through immersion within foreign civilizations, as well as relocating herself within her former disciplinary home and bringing new insights to bear on it. Examples used to illuminate these reflections will be taken from Gandhi’s political thought.
Michael Freeden
- Published in print:
- 1998
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780198294146
- eISBN:
- 9780191599323
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/019829414X.003.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, Political Theory
Makes clear its central aim—which is to challenge the predominant attitudes to ideologies and their scholarly analysis. It emphasises that the thinking encapsulated in ideologies deserves examination ...
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Makes clear its central aim—which is to challenge the predominant attitudes to ideologies and their scholarly analysis. It emphasises that the thinking encapsulated in ideologies deserves examination in its own right, and should no longer be pigeon‐holed as an impoverished and inferior relation of analytical and normative political philosophies. Proceeding from the political concept as the unit of analysis in political thought, the main thesis of the book is that ideologies are distinctive configurations of political concepts, and that they create specific conceptual patterns from a pool of indeterminate and unlimited combinations; that indeterminate range is the product of the essential contestability of political concepts. It is a parallel thesis that the furtherance of understanding of political thinking will be best assisted by comprehending political concepts as obtaining meaning on three dimensions—time, space, and the morphology of their interlinkages—and that these have to be integrated in an overarching analytical perspective. While the first two dimensions are commonly used in interpreting political thought, the third is not, and is a special aspect of the approach offered in the book; this perspective is considered by the author to be long overdue.Less
Makes clear its central aim—which is to challenge the predominant attitudes to ideologies and their scholarly analysis. It emphasises that the thinking encapsulated in ideologies deserves examination in its own right, and should no longer be pigeon‐holed as an impoverished and inferior relation of analytical and normative political philosophies. Proceeding from the political concept as the unit of analysis in political thought, the main thesis of the book is that ideologies are distinctive configurations of political concepts, and that they create specific conceptual patterns from a pool of indeterminate and unlimited combinations; that indeterminate range is the product of the essential contestability of political concepts. It is a parallel thesis that the furtherance of understanding of political thinking will be best assisted by comprehending political concepts as obtaining meaning on three dimensions—time, space, and the morphology of their interlinkages—and that these have to be integrated in an overarching analytical perspective. While the first two dimensions are commonly used in interpreting political thought, the third is not, and is a special aspect of the approach offered in the book; this perspective is considered by the author to be long overdue.
Sudhir Hazareesingh
- Published in print:
- 2001
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780199247943
- eISBN:
- 9780191599446
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0199247943.001.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, Political Theory
This innovative study of nineteenth‐century French political thought explores the republican theory and political practice of five intellectuals: Jules Barni, Charles Dupont‐White, Emile Littré, ...
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This innovative study of nineteenth‐century French political thought explores the republican theory and political practice of five intellectuals: Jules Barni, Charles Dupont‐White, Emile Littré, Eugène Pelletan, and Etienne Vacherot. Through their writings and political activities these figures made major contributions to the founding of the Third Republic in France after 1871. Drawing on a range of archival and published sources, Intellectual Founders of the Republic sheds new light on modern French political thought. It focuses on key issues that continue to resonate in French political and philosophical debates up to the present day: such questions as the interpretation of the 1789 Revolution, the definition of citizenship, the meaning of patriotism, the relationship between central government and local democracy, the value of individual liberty, and the place of education and religion in public and private life. Through its evaluation of the contributions of these thinkers, the book offers a new perspective on the making of modern republican ideology. It shows that the influence of positivism was far from hegemonic, and that republican political thought was also permeated with Saint‐Simonism, socialism, Doctrinaire liberalism, and neo‐Kantianism. It also demonstrates that republicans were far less hostile to Bonapartism than is often believed. It thus emerges that the ideological potency of republican doctrine lay in its complexity and sophistication, as reflected in its capacity to effect a synthesis among a range of overlapping doctrines. The book is essential for all those seeking to understand modern republicanism, and its distinctiveness as a French political tradition since the Revolution of 1789.Less
This innovative study of nineteenth‐century French political thought explores the republican theory and political practice of five intellectuals: Jules Barni, Charles Dupont‐White, Emile Littré, Eugène Pelletan, and Etienne Vacherot. Through their writings and political activities these figures made major contributions to the founding of the Third Republic in France after 1871. Drawing on a range of archival and published sources, Intellectual Founders of the Republic sheds new light on modern French political thought. It focuses on key issues that continue to resonate in French political and philosophical debates up to the present day: such questions as the interpretation of the 1789 Revolution, the definition of citizenship, the meaning of patriotism, the relationship between central government and local democracy, the value of individual liberty, and the place of education and religion in public and private life. Through its evaluation of the contributions of these thinkers, the book offers a new perspective on the making of modern republican ideology. It shows that the influence of positivism was far from hegemonic, and that republican political thought was also permeated with Saint‐Simonism, socialism, Doctrinaire liberalism, and neo‐Kantianism. It also demonstrates that republicans were far less hostile to Bonapartism than is often believed. It thus emerges that the ideological potency of republican doctrine lay in its complexity and sophistication, as reflected in its capacity to effect a synthesis among a range of overlapping doctrines. The book is essential for all those seeking to understand modern republicanism, and its distinctiveness as a French political tradition since the Revolution of 1789.
Derek Drinkwater
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- April 2005
- ISBN:
- 9780199273850
- eISBN:
- 9780191602344
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0199273855.003.0003
- Subject:
- Political Science, International Relations and Politics
Sir Harold Nicolson’s philosophy of international relations is well summed up by the term ‘liberal realism’, a fusion of two key approaches to the resolution of international problems: realism and ...
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Sir Harold Nicolson’s philosophy of international relations is well summed up by the term ‘liberal realism’, a fusion of two key approaches to the resolution of international problems: realism and idealism. It has its origins in ancient Greek and Roman political thought and history, notably, the writings of Aristotle and Thucydides. It also owes much to the contributions to international theory of Grotius and Kant. The liberal realist outlook closely resembles the conception of a via media. Notwithstanding this, it represents one man’s distinctive theorizing (born of his background, education, and experience) about the main issues of international relations.Less
Sir Harold Nicolson’s philosophy of international relations is well summed up by the term ‘liberal realism’, a fusion of two key approaches to the resolution of international problems: realism and idealism. It has its origins in ancient Greek and Roman political thought and history, notably, the writings of Aristotle and Thucydides. It also owes much to the contributions to international theory of Grotius and Kant. The liberal realist outlook closely resembles the conception of a via media. Notwithstanding this, it represents one man’s distinctive theorizing (born of his background, education, and experience) about the main issues of international relations.
Antony Black
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- May 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780199533206
- eISBN:
- 9780191714498
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199533206.003.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, Political Theory
Comparison between cultures throws light on each one. It helps to explain similarities and divergences. To do so effectively, one needs to compare all relevant genres and periods. There has been no ...
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Comparison between cultures throws light on each one. It helps to explain similarities and divergences. To do so effectively, one needs to compare all relevant genres and periods. There has been no systematic comparison between Western, Islamic, and Byzantine political thought, at least since Weber. Political thought here includes both philosophical argument and everyday beliefs. Each of these cultures was monotheistic and neoplatonic, but they applied these features differently.Less
Comparison between cultures throws light on each one. It helps to explain similarities and divergences. To do so effectively, one needs to compare all relevant genres and periods. There has been no systematic comparison between Western, Islamic, and Byzantine political thought, at least since Weber. Political thought here includes both philosophical argument and everyday beliefs. Each of these cultures was monotheistic and neoplatonic, but they applied these features differently.
Michael Freeden
- Published in print:
- 1998
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780198294146
- eISBN:
- 9780191599323
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/019829414X.003.0014
- Subject:
- Political Science, Political Theory
The latter part of the twentieth century has seen the emergence of a number of groupings of political thought that attempt to escape from the morphological and interpretative constraints of the older ...
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The latter part of the twentieth century has seen the emergence of a number of groupings of political thought that attempt to escape from the morphological and interpretative constraints of the older established ideologies. One way of effecting this has been through the processes of redefining the domain of the political, reconceptualizing the ideational elements of the contending ideologies, renaming the components of political vocabulary, and revalorizing marginal political concepts. Another has been through decreased internal integration in comparison to existing ideological families, the outcome being the formation of thin‐centred assimilative ideologies, which then either challenge the relevance of additional ideological baggage, or thicken by ingesting the patterns of other ideologies. This chapter and the next examine two of the more prominent exemplars, and illustrate a potentially deep divide among analysts: are these ideologies extensive but eclectic or unique but truncated? Here, feminism is examined; the eight sections of the chapter are: (a) The feminist core: between critique and prescription; (b) Gender and power; (c) The political domain; (d) Paradigms lost and regained; (e) Postmodernism: an alliance of convenience?; (f) Equality and the feminist traditions; (g) An ideological reading of ideologies; and (h) The role of the concrete.Less
The latter part of the twentieth century has seen the emergence of a number of groupings of political thought that attempt to escape from the morphological and interpretative constraints of the older established ideologies. One way of effecting this has been through the processes of redefining the domain of the political, reconceptualizing the ideational elements of the contending ideologies, renaming the components of political vocabulary, and revalorizing marginal political concepts. Another has been through decreased internal integration in comparison to existing ideological families, the outcome being the formation of thin‐centred assimilative ideologies, which then either challenge the relevance of additional ideological baggage, or thicken by ingesting the patterns of other ideologies. This chapter and the next examine two of the more prominent exemplars, and illustrate a potentially deep divide among analysts: are these ideologies extensive but eclectic or unique but truncated? Here, feminism is examined; the eight sections of the chapter are: (a) The feminist core: between critique and prescription; (b) Gender and power; (c) The political domain; (d) Paradigms lost and regained; (e) Postmodernism: an alliance of convenience?; (f) Equality and the feminist traditions; (g) An ideological reading of ideologies; and (h) The role of the concrete.
Antony Black
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- May 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780199533206
- eISBN:
- 9780191714498
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199533206.001.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, Political Theory
This history of political thought — philosophical argument and everyday attitudes — examines what the Western and Islamic approaches to politics had in common and where they diverged. Byzantium is ...
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This history of political thought — philosophical argument and everyday attitudes — examines what the Western and Islamic approaches to politics had in common and where they diverged. Byzantium is also compared. In all three civilizations, political and religious ideas were intertwined and issues of ‘church and state’ were crucial. This book considers how various ancient and medieval thought-patterns did or did not lead to modern developments; and how sacred monarchy, justice — revealed or natural — the legitimacy of the state, and the role of the people were looked upon in each culture. The book examines in particular the period from the rise of Islam to the end of the European Middle Ages, but account is taken of all genres of political thought up to the present. Up to the mid-11th century, Europe, Islam, and the Byzantine world had more in common than is commonly thought. What made the West different was the papal revolution of the late 11th century, Europe's 12th-century ‘renaissance’ and the gradual secularization of political thought which followed; while Islam, after an early blossoming, interpreted its revelation more and more narrowly. With a few major exceptions (Ibn Rushd, Ibn Khaldun), Islamic political philosophy declined after c.1100. European or Western political thought developed more slowly, but it developed continuously. It underwent major transformations and encompasses a wide variety of opinions. These influenced both the Islamic world (except for fundamentalists) and the post-Byzantine world of Russia.Less
This history of political thought — philosophical argument and everyday attitudes — examines what the Western and Islamic approaches to politics had in common and where they diverged. Byzantium is also compared. In all three civilizations, political and religious ideas were intertwined and issues of ‘church and state’ were crucial. This book considers how various ancient and medieval thought-patterns did or did not lead to modern developments; and how sacred monarchy, justice — revealed or natural — the legitimacy of the state, and the role of the people were looked upon in each culture. The book examines in particular the period from the rise of Islam to the end of the European Middle Ages, but account is taken of all genres of political thought up to the present. Up to the mid-11th century, Europe, Islam, and the Byzantine world had more in common than is commonly thought. What made the West different was the papal revolution of the late 11th century, Europe's 12th-century ‘renaissance’ and the gradual secularization of political thought which followed; while Islam, after an early blossoming, interpreted its revelation more and more narrowly. With a few major exceptions (Ibn Rushd, Ibn Khaldun), Islamic political philosophy declined after c.1100. European or Western political thought developed more slowly, but it developed continuously. It underwent major transformations and encompasses a wide variety of opinions. These influenced both the Islamic world (except for fundamentalists) and the post-Byzantine world of Russia.
Gerhard Bowering
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691164823
- eISBN:
- 9781400866427
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691164823.003.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Islam
This introductory chapter begins with a historical perspective of the Islamic world. Islam has grown consistently throughout history, expanding into new neighboring territories without ever ...
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This introductory chapter begins with a historical perspective of the Islamic world. Islam has grown consistently throughout history, expanding into new neighboring territories without ever retreating (except on the margins, as in Sicily and Spain, where it was expelled by force). It began in the seventh century as a small community in Mecca and Medina in the Arabian Peninsula, led by its messenger the Prophet Muhammad (d. 632), who was eventually to unite all the Arab tribes under the banner of Islam. Within the first two centuries of its existence, Islam came into global prominence through its conquests of the Middle East, North Africa, the Iberian Peninsula, the Iranian lands, Central Asia, and the Indus valley. In 2014, the year 1435 of the Muslim calendar, the Islamic world was estimated to account for a population of approximately a billion and a half, representing about one-fifth of humanity. The remainder of the chapter discusses the evolution of Islamic political thought; foundations of Islamic political thought; and Islamic political thought in the early Middle Ages (750–1055), high Middle Ages (1055–1258), late Middle Ages (1258–1500), early modern period (1500–1800), and later modern period (from 1800 to the present).Less
This introductory chapter begins with a historical perspective of the Islamic world. Islam has grown consistently throughout history, expanding into new neighboring territories without ever retreating (except on the margins, as in Sicily and Spain, where it was expelled by force). It began in the seventh century as a small community in Mecca and Medina in the Arabian Peninsula, led by its messenger the Prophet Muhammad (d. 632), who was eventually to unite all the Arab tribes under the banner of Islam. Within the first two centuries of its existence, Islam came into global prominence through its conquests of the Middle East, North Africa, the Iberian Peninsula, the Iranian lands, Central Asia, and the Indus valley. In 2014, the year 1435 of the Muslim calendar, the Islamic world was estimated to account for a population of approximately a billion and a half, representing about one-fifth of humanity. The remainder of the chapter discusses the evolution of Islamic political thought; foundations of Islamic political thought; and Islamic political thought in the early Middle Ages (750–1055), high Middle Ages (1055–1258), late Middle Ages (1258–1500), early modern period (1500–1800), and later modern period (from 1800 to the present).
