Empire's New Clothes: Reading Hardt and Negri

by Passavant,Paul; Passavant,Paul

• ISBN13: 9780415935555
• ISBN10: 0415935555
• Format: Nonspecific Binding
• Copyright: 2003-11-12
• Publisher: Routledge

Summary

The publication ofEmpirelast year created a sensation that spread from academia to the media to cocktail-party buzz. A book that causes such a "scholarly commotion" comes along "only once every decade or so" wrote theNew York Times, as the book's radical vision of imperial power in the new millennium sparked both histrionic condemnation and serious academic engagement. After September 11 this discussion ofEmpire'spolitical and legal theories was closely linked with the struggle to redefine America's place in a changed world. The book was read as a diagnosis of our era and a call for liberatory action, while Michael Hardt was acclaimed as the next Jacques Derrida. Framing the debate about this landmark work,The Empire's New Clothesbrings together leading scholars to make sense ofEmpire'snew vocabulary and tackle its claims head on. Does the authors' vision accurately describe the power structure of today's world? Do the processes of "globalization" todayrepresent a fundamental break from the past? Is the book really a "communist manifesto" for the new age? Empire's New Clothesinvestigates these and other key issues, giving academics, students, and lay readers a handle on a work that touches the most vital themes of current political, social, and economic life.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	vii
Introduction: Postmodern Republicanism	1	(20)
Paul A. Passavant
Immanence
1. Can Immanence Explain Social Struggles?	21	(10)
Ernesto Laclau
Transcendence
2. The Immanence of Empire	31	(26)
Peter Fitzpatrick
Market
3. On Divine Markets and the Problem of Justice: Empire as Theodicy	57	(16)
Bill Maurer
Law
4. Legal Imperialism: Empire's Invisible Hand?	73	(22)
Ruth Buchanan and Sundhya Pahuja
Representation
5. From Empire's Law to the Multitude's Rights: Law, Representation, Revolution	95	(26)
Paul A. Passavant
Sovereignty
6. Representing the International: Sovereignty after Modernity?	121	(22)
Mark Laffey and Jutta Weldes
Global
7. Africa's Ambiguous Relation to Empire and Empire	143	(20)
Kevin C. Dunn
Intermezzo
The Theory & Event Interview: Sovereignty, Multitudes, Absolute Democracy: A Discussion between Michael Hardt and Thomas L. Dumm about Hardt's and Negri's Empire	163	(12)
Space
8. The Repositioning of Citizenship: Emergent Subjects and Spaces for Politics	175	(24)
Saskia Sassen
Place
9. The Irrepressible Lightness and Joy of Being Green: Empire and Environmentalism	199	(18)
William Chaloupka
Migration
10. Smooth Politics	217	(14)
Malcolm Bull
Generation
11. Taking the Millennialist Pulse of Empire's Multitude: A Genealogical Feminist Diagnosis	231	(22)
Lee Quinby
Capitalism
12. The Ideology of the Empire and Its Traps	253	(12)
Slavoj Zizek
Communication
13. The Networked Empire: Communicative Capitalism and the Hope for Politics	265	(24)
Jodi Dean
Revolution
14. The Myth of the Multitude	289	(26)
Kam Shapiro
Event
15. Representation and the Event	315	(14)
Paul A. Passavant and Jodi Dean
Contributors	329	(4)
Index	333