The Disclosure of Politics: Struggles Over the Semantics of Secularization (New Directions in Critical Theory, 35)

Lara, Maria

ISBN 10: 0231162804 / ISBN 13: 9780231162807

Published by Columbia University Press, 2013

About this Item

Pages unmarked. Dust jacket glossy. Binding square & firm. Clean & bright.

Seller Inventory # 118959

Bibliographic Details

• Title: The Disclosure of Politics: Struggles Over the Semantics of Secularization (New Directions in Critical Theory, 35)
• Publisher: Columbia University Press
• Publication Date: 2013
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0231162804
• ISBN 13: 9780231162807
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition: 1st Edition.
• Condition: Fine
• Dust Jacket Condition: Near Fine
• Book Type: Book

About this title

Synopsis

Postmodern political critiques speak of the death of ideology, the end of history, and the postsecular return of religious attitudes, yet radical conservative theorists such as Mark Lilla argue religion and politics are inextricably intertwined. Returning much-needed uncertainty to debates over the political while revitalizing the very terms in which they are defined, Maria Pia Lara explores the ambiguity of secularization and the theoretical potential of a structural break between politics and religion. For Lara, secularization means three things: the translation of religious semantics into politics; a transformation of religious notions into political ideas; and the reoccupation of a space left void by changing political actors that gives rise to new conceptions of political interaction. Conceptual innovation redefines politics as a horizontal relationship between governments and the governed and better enables societies (and individual political actors) to articulate meaning through action-that is, through the emergence of new concepts. These actions, Lara proves, radically transform our understanding of politics and the role of political agents and are further enhanced by challenging the structural dependence of politics on religious phenomena.

About the Author

Maria Pia Lara teaches moral and political philosophy at the Universidad Autonoma Metropolitana in Mexico City. She is a renowned and influential public intellectual and has published many articles on the subjects of critical theory, moral philosophy, and politics. She is also the author of Narrating Evil: A Postmetaphysical Theory of Reflective Judgment and Moral Textures and the editor of Rethinking Evil.