
Arbitrary Rule
Slavery, Tyranny, and the Power of Life and Death
Mary Nyquist(Author)
University of Chicago Press
Published on 24. February 2015
Book
Paperback/Softback
435 pages
978-0-226-27179-8 (ISBN)
Description
Slavery appears as a figurative construct during the English revolution of the mid-seventeenth century, and again in the American and French revolutions, when radicals represent their treatment as a form of political slavery. What, if anything, does figurative, political slavery have to do with transatlantic slavery? In Arbitrary Rule, Mary Nyquist explores connections between political and chattel slavery by excavating the tradition of Western political thought that justifies actively opposing tyranny. She argues that as powerful rhetorical and conceptual constructs, Greco-Roman political liberty and slavery reemerge at the time of early modern Eurocolonial expansion; they help to create racialized "free" national identities and their "unfree" counterparts in non-European nations represented as inhabiting an earlier, privative age. Arbitrary Rule is the first book to tackle political slavery's discursive complexity, engaging Eurocolonialism, political philosophy, and literary studies, areas of study too often kept apart.
Reviews / Votes
"Impressively researched, persuasively argued, and clearly written. Anyone who is concerned with freedom, tyranny, and servitude in the modern or ancient world would do well to read Arbitrary Rule." (Bryn Mawr Classical Review)More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Chicago
United States
Publishing group
The University of Chicago Press
Target group
College/higher education
Dimensions
Height: 23 mm
Width: 15 mm
Thickness: 3 mm
Weight
652 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-226-27179-8 (9780226271798)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

E-Book
05/2013
1st Edition
University of Chicago Press
€36.09
Available for download
Person
Mary Nyquist is professor of English and comparative literature at the University of Toronto.