Power and Politics in Poststructuralist Thought New Theories of the Political (Routledge Innovations in Political Theory)

193 Pages·2005·0.69 MB·English

by  Saul Newman

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,IS!BN 9778-I0-4A15-4364B56-0
Routledge innovations in political theory
www.routledge.com ï an informabusiness
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Power and Politics in
Poststructuralist Thought
This book explores the impact of poststructuralism on contemporary polit-
ical theory by focusing on a number of problems and issues central to
politics today.
Drawing on the theoretical concerns brought to light by the ‘poststruc-
turalist’ thinkers Foucault, Derrida, Lacan, Deleuze and Max Stirner,
Newman provides a critical examination of new developments in
contemporary political theory: post-Marxism, discourse analysis, new
theories of ideology and power, hegemony, radical democracy and psycho-
analytic theory. He re-examines the political in light of these developments
in theory to suggest new ways of thinking about politics through a reflec-
tion on the challenges that confront it.
This volume will be of great interest to students of postmodernism and
poststructuralist theory in political science, philosophy, sociology, philo-
sophy and cultural studies.
Saul Newman is a Research Fellow at UWA and a Lecturer in Politics at
Edith Cowan University, Western Australia. His research focuses on
contemporary and Continental political and social theory. He is the author
of From Bakunin to Lacan: Anti-authoritarianism and the Dislocation of
Power(Lexington 2001).
Routledge innovations in political theory
1 A Radical Green Political Theory
Alan Carter
2 Rational Woman
A feminist critique of dualism
Raia Prokhovnik
3 Rethinking State Theory
Mark J. Smith
4 Gramsci and Contemporary Politics
Beyond pessimism of the intellect
Anne Showstack Sassoon
5 Post-Ecologist Politics
Social theory and the abdication of the ecologist paradigm
Ingolfur Blühdorn
6 Ecological Relations
Susan Board
7 The Political Theory of Global Citizenship
April Carter
8 Democracy and National Pluralism
Edited by Ferran Requejo
9 Civil Society and Democratic Theory
Alternative voices
Gideon Baker
10 Ethics and Politics in Contemporary Theory
Between critical theory and post-Marxism
Mark Devenney
11 Citizenship and Identity
Towards a new republic
John Schwarzmantel
12 Multiculturalism, Identity and Rights
Edited by Bruce Haddock and Peter Sutch
13 Political Theory of Global Justice
A cosmopolitan case for the world state
Luis Cabrera
14 Democracy, Nationalism and Multiculturalism
Edited by Ramón Maiz and Ferrán Requejo
15 Political Reconciliation
Andrew Schaap
16 National Cultural Autonomy and its Contemporary Critics
Edited by Ephraim Nimni
17 Power and Politics in Poststructuralist Thought
New theories of the political
Saul Newman

Power and Politics in
Poststructuralist Thought
New theories of the political
Saul Newman
First published 2005
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon, OX14 4RN
Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada
by Routledge
270 Madison Ave, New York, NY 10016
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group
© 2005 Saul Newman
Typeset in Sabon by Wearset Ltd, Boldon, Tyne and Wear
Printed and bound in Great Britain by MPG Books Ltd, Bodmin
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or
reproduced or utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical,
or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including
photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or
retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
A catalog record for this book has been requested
ISBN 0-415-36456-6
To Fabienne

Contents
Preface x
Acknowledgements xii
Introduction 1
1 Politics of the ego: Stirner’s critique of liberalism 13
2 Ressentiment and radical politics 31
3 New reflections on the theory of power: a Lacanian
perspective 51
4 Spectres of Stirner: a contemporary critique of
ideology 68
5 Derrida’s deconstruction of authority 84
6 On the politics of violence: terror, sovereignty and law 100
7 Spectres of the uncanny: the ‘return of the repressed’
in politics 116
8 Towards a poststructuralist politics of universality 134
Conclusion 153
Notes 162
Bibliography 166
Index 172