Towards a Post-Modern Understanding of the Political: From Genealogy to Hermeneutics

Bielskis, A.

While claiming that liberalism is the dominant political theory and practice of modernity, this book provides two alternative post-modern theoretical approaches to the political. Concentrating on Nietzsche's and Foucault's work it offers a novel interpretation of their genealogical projects. It argues that genealogy can be applied to analyze different forms of cultural kitsch vis-à-vis the dominant political institutions of consumer capitalism. The problem with consumer capitalism is not so much that it exploits individuals, but that it fosters cheap human existence saturated with the artefacts of kitsch. Contrasting genealogy with hermeneutic philosophy, it calls for a renewal of hermeneutics within the Thomistic tradition.

Details

Published by: Palgrave Macmillan

Publication Date: 2005-01-01

Format: Paperback

ISBN-13: 9781349544974

DOI: 10.1057/9780230508347

Dimensions: 216cm x140cm

Pages: 216