The Politics of Responsibility
Publisher: University of Illinois Press
Published: June 25, 2008
Language: eng
Format: Hardcover
Number of pages: 192
ISBN-13: 9780252032974
Subjects: Political Philosophy; Politics / Current Events; Politics/International Relations; Political; Public Policy - Social Policy; Political Science / Social Policy; Philosophy; Political Science; Responsibility
Description: "Politics cannot function without responsibility, but there have been serious disagreements about how responsibility is to be understood and huge controversies about how it is to be distributed, rewarded, legislated, and enforced. The liberal notions of personal responsibility that have dominated political thinking in the West for more than a century are rooted in the familiar territory of individual will and causal blame, but these theories have been assailed as no longer adequate to explain or address the political demands of a global social structure. Informed by Marx, Foucault, and Butler, Chad Lavin argues for a "postliberal" theory of responsibility, formulating responsibility as a process that is anchored in a persistent ability to respond, not reproach. Lavin works this formulation through discussions of contemporary political issues such as globalization, police brutality, and abortion."--BOOK JACKET.