Editorial
Paul Patton: Deleuze and Derrida on the Concept and Future of Democracy
This paper argues that Deleuze and Derrida share a conception of the open-ended character of political concepts that resembles in some respects the constructivist approach of Rawls and other liberal theorists. It explores the hypothesis that their understanding of concepts is related to their essentially critical conception of the task of political philosophy. It discusses Deleuze's 'becoming-democratic' and Derrida's 'democracy to come' in order to show how both philosophers offer 'transformative' concepts that draw in different ways upon elements of existing conceptions of democracy in order to open up new approaches to democratic politics. It points to strengths and weaknesses of both approaches before suggesting, finally, that Derrida's use of his concept of 'democracy to come' is in some ways the more adventurous.
Keywords: Becoming; concepts; critique; Deleuze; democracy; democracy to come; Derrida.
Mark Bevir: The Subject and Historical Theory
This paper asks two questions: how we should conceive of the subject after Foucault? What implications does rethinking the subject have for historical theory? It attempts to modify Foucault's own persistent hostility to humanist concepts of the subject by distinguishing clearly between autonomy and agency. Autonomy would consist of the ability to hold beliefs and so to perform actions uninfluenced by society or power. Postfoundationalists can reject this concept of autonomy while reclaiming agency, conceived as the ability to modify the beliefs and even practices that one inherits from others. A rejection of autonomy, but not agency, is sufficient to sustain Foucault's main critiques of other concepts of the subject, notably those associated with Sartre, Hegel, and Marcuse. Yet, a clear commitment to agency would significantly alter Foucault's theory of history.
Keywords: Agency; autonomy; Foucault; history; postfoundationalism; subjectivity.
Thomas Lemke: An indigestible meal? Foucault, governmentality and state theory
This article explores the contribution of an 'analytics of government' to state theory. This approach takes up methodological and theoretical considerations that Michel Foucault developed in his lectures of 1978 and 1979 at the Collège de France on the 'history of "governmentality"'. The article argues that an analytics of government is characterized by three theoretical dimensions: a nominalist account that stresses the central importance of knowledge and political discourses in the constitution of the state; a broad concept of technology that encompasses not only material but also symbolic devices, including political technologies as well as technologies of the self; a strategic account that conceives of the state as an instrument and effect of political strategies. After presenting the three analytical dimensions, the last part of the article will compare this theoretical perspective with the concept of governance and with critical accounts of neo-liberalism. The article concludes that Foucault's work on governmentality opens up new directions for state theory.
Keywords: Foucault; governance; governmentality; historical nominalism; political theory; state theory.
Anders Blok: Actor-networking ceta-sociality, or, what is sociological about contemporary whales?
In contemporary urban Euro-American societies, whales have become hugely popular and iconic creatures, arousing controversies more intense than most other instances of animal politics. How to account sociologically, however, for the dramatic social transformation of whales, from natural resource to near-sacrosanct agent, is far from self-evident. This article advocates a change of theoretical perspective, inspired by the work of actor-network theorists Bruno Latour and Michel Callon. Rather than focussing solely on the 'humanity' of human-animal relations, as does most of sociology, actor-network theory (ANT) allows for the inclusion of non-human 'actants' (like whales) into the fabric of sociality. In the ontology of ANT, sociality emerges as semiotic-material configurations of humans, animals, and technologies. Starting from a critical review of the work by Adrian Franklin on growing 'zoocentrism' in late modernity, the article proceeds by demonstrating how an 'ecologised' ANT sociology contributes towards a better understanding of the emergence of whale 'actor-hood' in global society. In broader terms, the article argues that as societies themselves ecologise by weaving ever-denser networks of humans and non-humans, sociology is in need of theoretical reconfiguration. Towards this end, some prospects and limitations for ecologising sociology are set out, suggesting how sociology might come to contribute to the project of living in a hybrid world.
Keywords: Actor-network theory (ANT); anthropomorphism; Bruno Latour; ecologisation; global environment; human-animal relations; late-modern whales.
Eduardo de la Fuente: On the Promise of a Sociological Aesthetics: From Georg Simmel to Michel Maffesoli
This article outlines the contribution of a sociological aesthetics to explaining social life. The central argument is that aesthetic phenomena are neither incidental nor epiphenomenal to social structure; rather the social bond itself possesses an aesthetic dimension. The two central thinkers discussed are Georg Simmel and Michel Maffesoli. The first pioneered a sociology grounded in aesthetics through the study of forms of sociation where, as social interaction becomes more fully autonomous, the aesthetic attraction of doing things together starts to dominate. The second emphasizes what social actors feel they have in common when they share tastes, customs or habits. He terms this an 'ethics of aesthetics' and asks whether it is becoming the dominant form of collective bonding. Synthesizing these insights, the article concludes by advocating that the full potential of a sociological aesthetics is realized only when: (1) careful attention is paid to the specific character of aesthetic forms of integration; (2) aesthetic and non-aesthetic forms of sociation are clearly differentiated; and (3) socio-aesthetic analysis avoids vague 'culturalogical' generalizations.
Keywords: Aesthetics; aestheticization; Maffesoli; Simmel; social bond.
Olli Pyyhtinen: Event dynamics: the eventalization of society in the sociology of Georg Simmel
Commencing from Georg Simmel's notion of the general tendency of modern thought as the 'dissolution of substance into functions', the article analyzes Simmel's own thought as an apotheosis of that dissolution. The focus is on Simmel's conception of society as an 'event' (Geschehen), which rejects the reifying conception of society as a substantive entity, but does not reduce the social to action nor actors either - event has primacy both over subject and substance. The article asserts that the Simmelian event has two main aspects: that of reciprocal causation and inner antagonism. Along with clarifying the event dynamics in accordance with these aspects, the key sociological implications of Simmel's philosophy of life (Lebensphilosophie) are also unfolded: it is claimed that event expresses the deep continuity between the vital and the social in Simmel's thought. In the end, the uses of the notion of the event are elaborated by connecting Simmel's reflections to more recent insightful conceptualizations of the social.
Keywords: Causation; event; form; Georg Simmel; life; social action; society; sociology.
Andreas Herberg-Rothe and Jan Willem Honig: War without End(s): The End of Clausewitz?
This article argues that both anti- and pro-Clausewitzians have tended to base their views on an incomplete understanding of Clausewitz. We claim that the so-called 'new wars' do not require a new analytical paradigm, as is suggested by anti-Clausewitzians like Martin van Creveld and John Keegan. But this does not mean that the prevailing pro-Clausewitzian discourse cannot be challenged. Clausewitz, as is well-known, employed a dialectical method of arguing in extremes. But whereas we suggest that Clausewitz sought to situate actual war between extremes, the modern discourses share the mistake of seeing the extremes as incompatible alternatives. We argue that a deeper understanding of Clausewitz's theory, and in particular his views on the state, on policy and politics, as well as on his so-called 'trinity' of competing forces of war, provides a framework for analysis that is still valid. This also implies that the attempt to replace Clausewitz with another classical thinker, Sun Tzu, may not be necessary; it may in fact be unproductive. Our approach furthermore suggests that a strong strand in anti-Clausewitzian discourse, which sees the new wars as endemic and marked by irrational, barbaric, and purposeless violence, is at least partly mistaken. The wars of the future may be endless, but they are unlikely to be without ends.
Keywords: Clausewitz; contemporary conflict; Keegan; 'new wars'; state as warring community; Sun Tzu; trinity; van Creveld.