Truth Wars: The Politics of Climate Change, Military Intervention and Financial Crisis PDF
Preview Truth Wars: The Politics of Climate Change, Military Intervention and Financial Crisis
Truth Wars Truth Wars The Politics of Climate Change, Military Intervention and Financial Crisis Peter Lee Principal Lecturer in Ethics and Political Theory, University of Portsmouth, UK © Peter Lee 2015 All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication may be made without written permission. No portion of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted save with written permission or in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, or under the terms of any licence permitting limited copying issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency, Saffron House, 6–10 Kirby Street, London EC1N 8TS. Any person who does any unauthorized act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages. The author has asserted his right to be identified as the author of this work in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. First published 2015 by PALGRAVE MACMILLAN Palgrave Macmillan in the UK is an imprint of Macmillan Publishers Limited, registered in England, company number 785998, of Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS. Palgrave Macmillan in the US is a division of St Martin’s Press LLC, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010. Palgrave Macmillan is the global academic imprint of the above companies and has companies and representatives throughout the world. Palgrave® and Macmillan® are registered trademarks in the United States, the United Kingdom, Europe and other countries. ISBN 978-1-137-29848-5 ISBN 978-1-137-29849-2 (eBook) DOI 10.1057/9781137298492 This book is printed on paper suitable for recycling and made from fully managed and sustained forest sources. Logging, pulping and manufacturing processes are expected to conform to the environmental regulations of the country of origin. A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. A catalog record for this book is available from the Library of Congress. For Lorna, Samantha and Fiona Certainty is a false friend in the quest for truth. Contents Preface v iii Acknowledgements x Introduction 1 Part I Politics, Truth and Climate Change 1 Climate, Science and Truth 15 2 Politics and Climate Truth 35 3 One World, Two Visions 5 5 Part II Politics, Truth and Military Intervention 4 Tyranny, Freedom, Democracy 77 5 Gendering Military Intervention 97 6 Drone Wars 114 Part III Politics, Truth and the Global Financial Crisis 7 It’s All Your Fault 133 8 Governing Greed 150 9 Who Mentioned the War? 167 10 Epilogue 186 Notes 1 91 Bibliography 2 15 Index 221 vii Preface One of the most enjoyable aspects of researching and writing this book has been the reaction of friends, colleagues or even complete stran- gers when I have mentioned that it explores the relationship between politics and truth. There has been a remarkably similar response on almost every occasion: nervous laughter followed by, ‘Well that will be a short book!’ A common perception seems to be that politics – in particular, the governing done by professional politicians – is charac- terised by dishonesty, deception and untruths. Given the frequently self-interested antics of elected representatives it is easy to see why such attitudes prevail. ‘They just tell you what they think you want to hear, so you will do what they want,’ is another accusation that is thrown at politicians, as though everyone does not play that particular game on a daily basis: telling others what we think they want to hear in order to shape their behaviour in some way. Yet politics is much broader, more inclusive, than the actions carried out by governments and professional politicians. Politics permeates every aspect of life, from its most public to its most private and intimate aspects. And the more I paid attention, I mean r eally paid attention, the more it became clear that truth – or at least claims and counter-claims concerning truth – pervades every aspect of politics, from the personal to the global. I will go further and make a truth claim of my own (inevi- tably contestable), that the essence of politics is a perpetual, overlap- ping series of truth wars, fought for the purpose of shaping individual conduct, attitudes and identities. These truth wars take many forms and are prompted by competing claims across multiple domains, including political ideology, religious belief and practice, scientific discovery, the application of logic, philosophical ideals, moral frameworks, economic theory, product advertising, cultural norms and countless more. The scale of global crises only intensifies the ferocity of the truth wars at their core because of the potentially vast human, environmental and economic costs, and the competing interests, involved. The three crises chosen as the focus of this book – climate change, military intervention and global financial crisis – highlight different aspects of the way truth is created, presented, deployed and disputed in the course of shaping, and encouraging us to self-shape, our lives in particular ways. Complicating matters further is the way that language is used in the process. Language viii Preface ix does not merely describe the social world in which we live, it c reates that world. Similarly, language does not simply describe truth, it is used to create and shape truth in specific contexts. By exploring three twenty- first century truth wars, I do not set out to show you, the reader, what the truth is about any of them. Rather, I try to demonstrate how, and the extent to which, truth is constructed, sustained and disputed in the process of shaping the way individuals understand themselves, major political crises, and the relationship between the two.
Description:The list of books you might like
