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The New Despotism

The Revival of an Old Monster

Bülent Diken

Ours is a post-political society that cannot imagine radical change; a ‘one dimensional’ society in which politics is reduced to economic concerns. Paradoxically, however, everybody today is subjected to the imperative of regular radical change. Populations have grown accustomed to the idea that one constantly needs to adapt to radical transformations, modify one’s life strategy in tune with the demands of the market on the one hand and the politics of security on the other. Indeed, the idea that there are unquestionable authorities, the idea of ‘despotism’, no longer refers to exceptional circumstances in which politics is suspended but rather seems to have become normalized as part of daily life.
This book aims to articulate the genealogy of the despotism-economy-voluntary servitude nexus focusing on their different constellations in the prism of social theory and political philosophy. As it traces the genealogy of this nexus its concern is the field of formation, intervention and intelligibility that arises when and as the three concepts encounter one another.

Rowman & Littlefield Publishers / Rowman & Littlefield International

Pages: 156 • Trim: 6½ x 9

978-1-78660-388-3 • Hardback • March 2021 • $95.00 • (£73.00)

978-1-78660-390-6 • eBook • March 2021 • $45.00 • (£35.00)

Series: Futures of the Archive

Subjects: Philosophy / Social, Philosophy / Political, Social Science / Human Geography, Philosophy / Movements / Critical Theory, Social Science / Sociology / Social Theory

The New Despotism

The Revival of an Old Monster

Hardback

eBook

Summary

Ours is a post-political society that cannot imagine radical change; a ‘one dimensional’ society in which politics is reduced to economic concerns. Paradoxically, however, everybody today is subjected to the imperative of regular radical change. Populations have grown accustomed to the idea that one constantly needs to adapt to radical transformations, modify one’s life strategy in tune with the demands of the market on the one hand and the politics of security on the other. Indeed, the idea that there are unquestionable authorities, the idea of ‘despotism’, no longer refers to exceptional circumstances in which politics is suspended but rather seems to have become normalized as part of daily life.
This book aims to articulate the genealogy of the despotism-economy-voluntary servitude nexus focusing on their different constellations in the prism of social theory and political philosophy. As it traces the genealogy of this nexus its concern is the field of formation, intervention and intelligibility that arises when and as the three concepts encounter one another.

Details

Rowman & Littlefield Publishers / Rowman & Littlefield International

Pages: 156 • Trim: 6½ x 9

978-1-78660-388-3 • Hardback • March 2021 • $95.00 • (£73.00)

978-1-78660-390-6 • eBook • March 2021 • $45.00 • (£35.00)

Series: Futures of the Archive

Subjects: Philosophy / Social, Philosophy / Political, Social Science / Human Geography, Philosophy / Movements / Critical Theory, Social Science / Sociology / Social Theory

Author

Bülent Diken is reader in social and cultural theory at Lancaster University. His previous publications include Nihilism; Revolt, Revolution, Critique: The Paradox of Society; and God, Politics, Economy: Paradoxes of Religion.

Table of Contents

Introduction CHASING THE SKIN
Chapter 1 THE ANCIENT: DESPOTISM OF THE OIKOS
Excursus I Anabasis: The Best Way of Being a Locust
Chapter 2 THE EARLY MODERN: DESPOTISM OF THE POLIS
Chapter 3 THE UNTIMELY: ANTI-DESPOTISM OF FREE USE
Excursus II Don Quixote: A Useless Book for Idle Readers
Chapter 4 THE LATE MODERN: NEO-DESPOTISM OF THE EXCEPTION
Excursus III The Circle: Despotism as Anti-Despotism
Conclusion NEO-DESPOTISM, USE AND DISSENT

The New Despotism

The Revival of an Old Monster

Bülent Diken

The New Despotism

The Revival of an Old Monster

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