Identity/Difference: Democratic Negotiations of Political Paradox - Softcover

Connolly, William E.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0816640866 ISBN 13: 9780816640867

Publisher: Univ Of Minnesota Press, 2002

Synopsis

A new edition of this classic work on the idea of difference.

In this foundational work in contemporary political theory, William Connolly makes a distinctive contribution to our understanding of the relationship between personal identity and democratic politics, particularly in the domains of religion, ethics, sexuality, and ethnicity. Every identity, Connolly argues, whether individual or social, presents us with a fundamental and troubling paradox: an identity establishes itself in relation to a set of differences, and it operates under powerful pressures to fix, regulate, or exclude some of these differences as otherness. The dignity of a people or political regime, and the quality of democratic culture, depends on the acknowledgment and ethos cultivated in response to these pressures.

In a substantial new essay, Connolly responds to the heated controversy surrounding his ideas when Identity\Difference was first published in 1991, while augmenting his discussion of the virtues of critical responsiveness. The issues of identity and difference cannot be ignored, he contends, and are ubiquitous in modern life.

About this title

About the Author

William E. Connolly is professor and chair of political science at the Johns Hopkins University.

Edition details

• Publisher: Univ Of Minnesota Press
• Publication date: 2002
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0816640866
• ISBN 13: 9780816640867
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 280