The Temporality of Political Obligation

Rezensionen / Stimmen

'Justin C. 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 possibility 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, Australia

'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 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

'The Temporality of Political Obligation is not only a significant contribution to the question of political obligation but to political theory itself. By putting time at the forefront of his analysis, Mueller demonstrates how political theorists can rethink and reconceive enduring political questions in new and exciting ways. It paves a new way for political theorists to explore political questions and is a model of what political theory at its best can accomplish.'-VoegelinView