Author : Cynthia Halpern
Publisher : State University of New York Press
ISBN 13 : 0791489981
Total Pages : 338 pages
Book Rating : 4.7/5 (914 download)
Book Synopsis Suffering, Politics, Power by : Cynthia Halpern
Download or read book Suffering, Politics, Power written by Cynthia Halpern and published by State University of New York Press. This book was released on 2002-01-03 with total page 338 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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 production and representation and the dilemmas of ascertaining causes and responsibilities.