The Concept of the Social
Scepticism, Idleness and Utopia
Published on 12. October 2021
256 pages
978-1-83976-701-2 (ISBN)
Description
What does political agency mean for those who don't know what to do or can't be bothered to do it? This book develops a novel account of collective emancipation in which freedom is achieved not through knowledge and action but via doubt and inertia.
In essays that range from ancient Greece to the end of the Anthropocene, Bull addresses questions central to contemporary political theory in novel readings of texts by Aristotle, Machiavelli, Marx, and Arendt, and shows how classic philosophical problems have a bearing on issues like political protest and climate change. The result is an entirely original account of political agency for the twenty-first century in which uncertainty and idleness are limned with utopian promise.
In essays that range from ancient Greece to the end of the Anthropocene, Bull addresses questions central to contemporary political theory in novel readings of texts by Aristotle, Machiavelli, Marx, and Arendt, and shows how classic philosophical problems have a bearing on issues like political protest and climate change. The result is an entirely original account of political agency for the twenty-first century in which uncertainty and idleness are limned with utopian promise.
More details
Edition
Ebook UK & RoW
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Product notice
Reflowable
ISBN-13
978-1-83976-701-2 (9781839767012)
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
Book
10/2021
Verso Books
€21.50
Shipment within 3-4 weeks
Person
Malcolm Bull teaches at Oxford University. His previous books include Anti-Nietzsche and On Mercy, which was a 2019 New Statesman Book of the Year. He is on the editorial board of New Left Review and writes for the London Review of Books.
Content
- Cover Page
- Halftitle Page
- Title Page
- Copyright Page
- Contents
- Acknowledgements
- Introduction
- 1. The Concept of the Social
- 2. Vectors of the Biopolitical
- 3. The Limits of Multitude
- 4. States of Failure
- 5. Softening Up the State
- 6. Slack
- 7. Natural Cosmopolitanism
- Notes
- Index
