Suffering, Politics, Power
Subtitle: A Genealogy in Modern Political Theory
Publisher: State University of New York Press
Published: April 2002
Language: eng
Format: Hardcover
Number of pages: 325
ISBN-13: 9780791451038
Subjects: Political science & theory; Politics / Current Events; Political Philosophy; Political Science; Politics/International Relations; History & Theory - General; Political; Ethics & Moral Philosophy; Suffering
Description: "Suffering, Politics, Power argues that human suffering on a global scale constitutes the most urgent and least understood question of contemporary politics and political theory. In the modern age, the experience of suffering is primarily a political problem, constructed out of crucial, conflicting perspectives. The book draws on a genealogy of suffering through the conflicting perspectives of four major political theorists: Martin Luther, Thomas Hobbes, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, and Friedrich Nietzsche.

Although supplying contradictory accounts of the nature of suffering and human response to it, these theorists, when examined together, provide a historical foundation for the political structures of our time and a trajectory for the problematic of suffering which defies all limits. This book works to foster a contemporary political response to suffering, addressing the techniques of its product and representation and the dilemmas of ascertaining causes and responsibilities."--BOOK JACKET.