Capitalism and Catastrophe questions whether there areprocesses in advanced capitalism that lead inevitably to systemiccollapse. The author challenges those Marxian theories based on aset of historically evolving 'internal contradictions' derived froma purely dialectical analysis of capitalism. In Part I he focuseson the controversy surrounding Rosa Luxemburg's theories ofimperialism and capital accumulation, and on Marx's treatment ofscience and technology in the Grundrisse. In Part I I he criticallyexamines neo- and non-Marxian theories of advanced capitalism, inparticular the work of Jurgen Habermas regarding the problem ofpolitical legitimation in advanced capitalism. Professor Rousseasargues that Marxists have severely underestimated the resilience ofthe capitalist system, which must be taken into account by anytheory of political economy relevant to the twentieth century.
'Deliberative politics' refers to the role of conversation andarguments in politics. Until recently discussion of deliberativepolitics took place almost exclusively among politicalphilosophers, but many questions raised in this philosophicaldiscussion cry out for empirical investigation. This book providesthe first extended empirical study of deliberative politics,addressing, in particular, questions of the preconditions andconsequences of high level deliberation. Using parliamentarydebates in Germany, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the UnitedStates as an empirical base, the authors measure the level ofdeliberation by constructing a 'Discourse Quality Index'. Asdeliberative politics moves to the forefront of political theory,this book makes an important contribution to deliberativedemocracy.
An examination of the nature of political change within avillage, which the author calls Morapitiya, in the Kandyanhighlands of Sri Lanka, during the transition from colony toindependent nation. During the first years of Sri Lanka'sindependence, the United National Party perpetuated the 'indirectrule' policy of the British colonial government. In 1956, with theelection of a coalition government led by the Sri Lanka FreedomParty, this form of rule was rejected. The new government wascommitted to reviving the traditional Sinhalese culture, languageand Buddhist ideals, and to improving the living conditions of thepoor. Soon after assuming power, the S.L.F.P. government began toimplement political and economic policies designed to alter villagestructure in accordance with the new ideals.
This book considers a variety of explanations of why politicaldisagreement is so extensive and persistent. The author examinesvariants of the 'contestability' and 'imperfection' conceptionswhich have dominated political theory: the idea that politicaldisagreement is so pervasive because of its value-ladenness; thatkey political concepts are essentially contested; that those whooccupy very different political positions fail to understand eachother. He argues that we need to develop a framework which borrowselements from both schools of thought, presupposing some form ofmoral cognitivism, while recognizing that many political disputescannot be resolved to the satisfaction of every reasonable person.Within such a framework he shows how empirical models can beconstructed which give an active role not only to the agent'sreasons for his or her beliefs, but also to other psychological andsociological considerations.
Since its first publication in 1945? Lord Russell's A History of Western Philosophy has been universally acclaimed as the outstanding one-volume work on the subject -- unparalleled in its comprehensiveness, its clarity, its erudition, its grace and wit. In seventy-six chapters he traces philosophy from the rise of Greek civilization to the emergence of logical analysis in the twentieth century. Among the philosophers considered are: Pythagoras, Heraclitus, Parmenides, Empedocles, Anaxagoras, the Atomists, Protagoras, Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, the Cynics, the Sceptics, the Epicureans, the Stoics, Plotinus, Ambrose, Jerome, Augustine, Benedict, Gregory the Great, John the Scot, Aquinas, Duns Scotus, William of Occam, Machiavelli, Erasmus, More, Bacon, Hobbes, Descartes, Spinoza, Leibniz, Locke, Berkeley, Hume, Rousseau, Kant, Hegel, Schopenhauer, Nietzsche, the Utilitarians, Marx, Bergson, James, Dewey, and lastly the philosophers with whom Lord Russell himself is most closely associated -- Cantor, Frege, a
It is now 30 years since the publication of seminal articlesby Robert Cox and Richard Ashley, which introduced the project ofcritical theory to the international relations discipline. This2007 book brings together a team of world-class scholars to assessthe impact of critical scholarship on the discipline over thisperiod and point to future directions for the critical project. Thebook is an authoritative overview of the current position ofcritical international relations theory. It is an essentialresource for those working in critical international relationstheory and for undergraduate and graduate courses on InternalRelations theory.
