The Temporality of Political Obligation PDF
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Justin Mueller revivifies the discussion of political obligation by drawing on the temporal philosophies of Bergson and Deleuze. He creates novel concepts to show how traditional theories of political obligation seek to bind us to existing forms of social and political order. His aim is not to deny the role that obligations play in our political and everyday lives, but to point to the ever-present possib- ility of their modification or transformation. The concluding chapter is a tour de force that sketches some of the ways in which this temporal perspective might transform other problems in political philosophy such as the nature of freedom and the understanding of anarchism. This book will be of interest to scholars of political obligation and to anyone interested in the possibilities of productive engagement between political theory and contemporary European philosophy. Paul Patton, The University of New South Wales, UK This is an elegant and pellucid account of a core political concept. Mobilizing his late mentor Michael Weinstein’s method of “love piracy,” Mueller assembles an array of unusual suspects – Henri Bergson, Gilles Deleuze, Justis Buchler, Max Stirner – to confront the blind spot at the heart of both apologists and critics of political obligation-temporality: the political subject’s lived experience of time. At once an exhaustive typology, a cogent refutation of the extant theoretical impasse, and an enactment of the critical freedom it advocates, The Temporality of Political Obligation affirmatively recasts modern and postmodern discussions of political authority. Diane S. Rubenstein, Cornell University, USA This page intentionally left blank The Temporality of Political Obligation The Temporality of Political Obligation offers a critique and reconceptualization of the ways in which our political obligations – what we owe to political authori- ties and communities, and the reasons why we ought to obey their rules – have been traditionally conceptualized, justified, and contested. Drawing from theories of time and temporality, Justin Mueller demonstrates some of the unacknowledged assumptions and theoretical blind spots shared among these ostensibly opposed positions, and the problems and contradictions that this neglect of time poses. Enriching the literature on the philosophers Henri Bergson and Gilles Deleuze, Mueller demonstrates how their theoretical frame- works on time can be used to analyze a political problem that is usually confined to the concerns of normative liberal democratic theory. Politically, this book pro- vides readers with the means to better identify and analyze the diverse temporal- ities they encounter in everyday life, and better understand their experiences of them. The Temporality of Political Obligation is a welcome and timely read which will be of interest to scholars involved in recent efforts to engage with the social and political dimensions and consequences of time and temporality. Justin C. Mueller received his PhD in Political Science from Purdue Univer- sity, and currently lectures at Northeastern University. His research interests include the intersection of time and politics, particularly surrounding questions of obligation, obedience, belonging, and freedom. Routledge Innovations in Political Theory 1 A Radical Green Political Theory 10 Ethics and Politics in Alan Carter Contemporary Theory Between Critical Theory and 2 Rational Woman Post-Marxism A Feminist Critique of Dualism Mark Devenney Raia Prokhovnik 11 Citizenship and Identity 3 Rethinking State Theory Towards a New Republic Mark J. 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Badger 40 Liberal Democracy as the End of History 49 Isaiah Berlin and the Politics Fukuyama and Postmodern of Freedom Challenges “Two Concepts of Liberty” Chris Hughes 50 Years Later Edited by Bruce Baum and 41 Deleuze and World Politics Robert Nichols Alter-Globalizations and Nomad Science 50 Popular Sovereignty in the Peter Lenco West Polities, Contention, and Ideas 42 Utopian Politics Geneviève Nootens Citizenship and Practice Rhiannon Firth 51 Pliny’s Defense of Empire Thomas R. Laehn 43 Kant and International Relations Theory 52 Class, States and International Cosmopolitan Community Relations Building A Critical Appraisal of Dora Ion Robert Cox and Neo-Gramscian Theory 44 Ethnic Diversity and the Nation Adrian Budd State National Cultural Autonomy 53 Civil Disobedience and Revisited Deliberative Democracy David J. Smith and John Hiden William Smith 54 Untangling Heroism 62 Political Philosophy, Empathy Classical Philosophy and the and Political Justice Concept of the Hero Matt Edge Ari Kohen 63 The Politics of Economic Life 55 Rethinking the Politics of Martin Beckstein Absurdity Albert Camus, Postmodernity, 64 The Temporality of Political and the Survival of Innocence Obligation Matthew H. Bowker Justin C. Mueller 56 Kantian Theory and Human 65 Epistemic Liberalism Rights A Defence Edited by Reidar Maliks and Adam James Tebble Andreas Follesdal 66 Democracy, Dialectics, and 57 The Political Philosophy of Difference Judith Butler Hegel, Marx, and 21st Century Birgit Schippers Social Movements Brian C. Lovato 58 Hegel and the Metaphysical Frontiers of Political Theory 67 Ideologies of Experience Eric Lee Goodfield Trauma, Failure, and the Abandonment of the Self 59 Time, Memory, and the Politics Matthew H. Bowker of Contingency Smita A. Rahman 68 The Temporality of Political Obligation 60 Michael A. Weinstein Justin C. Mueller Action, Contemplation, Vitalism Edited by Robert L. Oprisko and Diane Rubenstein 61 Deep Cosmopolis Rethinking World Politics and Globalization Edited by Adam K. Webb This page intentionally left blank The Temporality of Political Obligation Justin C. Mueller
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