Overview
- Formulates a new understanding of a common concept (enlightenment) by framing it as a trans-historical and cross-cultural phenomenon
- Provides an alternative to current resistance theory in arguing for new modes of intellectual engagement in politics in an age of crisis
- Contextualizes the practice of critical theory within contemporary political discussions on topics such as climate change, nuclear proliferation, and war
Part of the book series: Critical Political Theory and Radical Practice (CPTRP)
Access this book
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Other ways to access
Table of contents (4 chapters)
Keywords
About this book
This book is about the ways in which modern enlightenment, rather than liberating humanity from tyranny, has subjected us to new servitude imposed by systems of mass manipulation, electronic vigilance, compulsive consumerism, and the horrors of a seemingly unending global war on terror. The main intellectual aims of this title are the following: the analysis of spectacle, the criticism of providential enlightenment, and the examination of positive dialectics. The spectacle, in this case, is the apotheosis of the culture industries, a total inversion of reality and of our existences. Providential enlightenment is not only a critique of the failure of enlightenment, but of the mutilation of historical enlightenments. Positive dialectics signal a new era of intellectual engagement in the construction of our historical future. During a time in which national democracies seem an imperial farce, it is not enough for intellectuals faced with all this destruction to blithely recommend resistance. The book thus ties American, British, French and German theoretical traditions into a reflexive challenge to the notion of intellectual as critic, and argues instead for a trespassive tradition of cultural leadership.
Authors and Affiliations
About the authors
Christopher Britt is Associate Professor at The George Washington University, USA. He is the author of Quixotism: The Imaginative Denial of Spain’s Loss of Empire (2005) and of Imperial Idiocy: A Reflection on Forced Displacement in the Americas (Forthcoming: 2017).
Paul Fenn is the leader of the Community Choice Energy movement to localize energy in the United States. He is the author of several hallmark U.S. laws (California AB117, 2002; Massachusetts Chapter 164; San Francisco Charter Section 9.107.8, 2001; Oakland Measure X, 1998); primary architect of implemented policies to localize and democratize energy (San Francisco, 2013, Sonoma County, 2014); and author of numerous published essays.
Eduardo Subirats is Professor at New York University, USA. He is the author of some forty books in Spanish, as well as many articles in Spanish, German, English, and Portuguese. His main books deal with topics of aesthetics, cultural theory, colonialism, and literary theory.
Bibliographic Information
Book Title: Enlightenment in an Age of Destruction
Book Subtitle: Intellectuals, World Disorder, and the Politics of Empire
Authors: Christopher Britt, Paul Fenn, Eduardo Subirats
Series Title: Critical Political Theory and Radical Practice
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-70784-6
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan Cham
eBook Packages: Political Science and International Studies, Political Science and International Studies (R0)
Copyright Information: The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2018
Hardcover ISBN: 978-3-319-70783-9Published: 08 February 2018
Softcover ISBN: 978-3-319-88989-4Published: 04 June 2019
eBook ISBN: 978-3-319-70784-6Published: 30 January 2018
Series ISSN: 2731-6580
Series E-ISSN: 2731-6599
Edition Number: 1
Number of Pages: IX, 171
Number of Illustrations: 3 b/w illustrations
Topics: Political Theory, Comparative Politics, Political Philosophy, British Politics, US Politics, Critical Theory